Jessica Pickens by day, Carmen Miranda by night

This year I was Carmen Miranda for Halloween-other wise known as “The Lady with the Tutti Fruitti hat.”  Miranda was popular for her crazy outfits, samba singing style and was one of the highest paid actresses in the 1940s. I’ve always loved Carmen Miranda and decided to mix in my classic movie love with this year’s costume, even if some people thought I was Chiquetta Banana, I corrected in my attempt to educate my generation with classic film.

   Miranda was known as the “Brazilian Bombshell,” and lived most of her life in Brazil though she was born in  Portugal.  Brazilians were upset that she made her success with an exaggerated accent, colorful costumes and playing Americanized South American stereotypes. She was criticized when she performed this way in Brazil in the 1940s, but redeemed herself when she performed several samba style songs in Portuguese that made fun of her Americanized persona, according to the BBC documentary “Under the Tutti Fruitti Hat.”

Was anyone else anything classic film related for Halloween? Comment and share!

Check out of Carmen Miranda singing in “Weekend in Havana” (1941):

Check out the Comet Over Hollywood Facebook page and Radio Waves Over Hollywood Facebook page.