# Carmen Miranda: I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi, I Like Her Very Much **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 29, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929 "2003-11-29T18:09:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/1 "2003-11-29T18:09:17Z")
Was just clearing some old videos out of the closet, and settled down to watch _The Gang’s All Here_, in which Carmen Miranda sings “The Lady in the Tutti-Fruitti Hat.” Had forgotten how _adorable_ she was, what a good singer and comic actress; how she always had this wink in her eye to show you she knew how ridiculous it all was. Any other Carmen fans? Sadly, the only English-language bio is [this one](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1556111282/qid=1070128951/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/103-4608040-6573412?v=glance&s=books), which is sooooo serious and socio-political. I recommend renting the documentary [Bananas Is My Business](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1572522720/qid=1070129266/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-4608040-6573412?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846), which is more in the spirit of things, and has some great film clips. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/2 "2003-11-29T19:32:07Z")
Loved that twinkle in her eye. Have you ever heard this song? [http://www.ovff.org/pegasus/songs/carmen-mirandas-ghost.html](http://www.ovff.org/pegasus/songs/carmen-mirandas-ghost.html) > [@](#): > > Carmen Miranda’s ghost is haunting Space Station Three. > Half the staff has seen her, plus the Portmaster and me. > And if you think we’ve had too much of Cookie’s homemade rum, > Just tell me where those basket-hats of fruit keep coming from. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/3 "2003-11-29T21:00:20Z")
_The Gang’s All Here_ is good – if you’re only going to watch one Carmen Miranda flick, though, I’d have to vote for [_Down Argentine Way_](http://imdb.com/title/tt0032410/), which also features the Nicholas Brothers, a truly stunning tap team. (Watch them do splits over each other down the stairs!) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/4 "2003-11-29T21:06:46Z")
Ooooh, I just realized I am the same age as Carmen Miranda when she died . . . JFK, too . . . ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/5 "2003-11-30T01:36:08Z")
In the words of Tom Lehrer: “It is a sobering thought, for example, that when Mozart was my age he had been dead for two years.” ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/6 "2003-11-30T01:38:44Z")
Did you know that we Americans owe our Miranda Rights to Carmen Miranda? It’s true! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/7 "2003-11-30T01:51:39Z")
The problem with Carman Miranda is that most people know her from the imitations and don’t know what the real thing was like. I agree. When I saw her in “Sprintime in the Rockies,” singing “Chattanooga Choo Choo” in Portugese, I realized she was a delight. She knew she was kidding around and I’ve rarely seen someone show so much joy in doing a song. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/8 "2003-11-30T01:54:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Any other Carmen fans? Sadly, the only English-language bio is this one, which is sooooo serious and socio-political. I recommend renting the documentary Bananas Is My Business, which is more in the spirit of things, and has some great film clips. Didn’t A&E’s **Biography** do a piece on her? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/9 "2003-11-30T05:45:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > Didn’t A&E’s **Biography** do a piece on her? Yes, sometime in the past year or two, I think. It was the first time I saw the clip of her staggering on the “Jimmy Durante Show” from her heart attack a few hours before her death. I was just paging through a “Far Side” collection and one cartoon is captioned “Carmen Miranda’s Family Reunion”. All of the other family members have things like steaks, cucumbers, cheese, and pie on their heads. Of course, the dog has dog food in a can and a dish. Strange origins of exotic headware! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/10 "2003-12-01T01:22:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Any other Carmen fans? Sadly, the only English-language bio is this one, which is sooooo serious and socio-political. So, here we have **Eve** lamenting the shortage of biographies of a female celebrity. One would think that there would be an obvious next step to this… ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/11 "2003-12-01T03:01:26Z")
Ah, no–no more foreigners for _me!_ Research is too hard and too expensive . . . ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/12 "2003-12-01T13:31:01Z")
“The problem with Carman Miranda is that most people know her from the imitations and don’t know what the real thing was like.” Either that, or they know her from the photograph of her dancing with Casear Romero where it is very obvious that she isn’t wearing any underwear. Carmen Miranda - “The Lady in the Tutti Fruitti Hat and No Underwear” ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/13 "2003-12-01T15:21:46Z")
I “discovered” Carmen Miranda a few years ago myself. I remember too being surprised at how _knowing_ she seemed to be as she performed those silly numbers. I’d always assumed from the imitators that she was to be appreciated only at an ironic remove; to discover that she came with irony included was pretty refreshing. Since then I’ve accumulated a bunch of her recordings: she was not only very funny, but extremely talented (not to mention influential: would Bette Midler ever have put a typewriter on her head for the Oscars if Carmen hadn’t paved the way?). Truly iconic; truly unique. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/14 "2003-12-01T15:32:52Z")
I have a record album (remember those?) that has her Hollywood songs on one side and her Portuguese songs on the other—really a remarkable singer, and she made Gilbert & Sullivan patter songs sound like Ol’ Man River. ---
**Author:** ![International\_Playboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/48db29/32.png) [@International\_Playboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/International_Playboy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/15 "2003-12-01T18:44:35Z")
Just flashed on an old Johnny Carson joke: If Carmen Miranda married Yves Montand, when she did her hair, she’d be Carmen Miranda Montand when she combs. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carmen-miranda-i-yi-yi-yi-yi-i-like-her-very-much/215929/16 "2003-12-01T19:31:04Z")
She had great legs and a really cute figure. And I loved the way she turned her eyes sorta “up”. A real doll.