Cunha Family History & Genealogy

Carmen Miranda was born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha on February 9, 1909, near Porto, Portugal, in the town of Marco de Canavezes. Not long after her birth her family moved to Brazil, where her father was involved in the produce business. The family settled in the then-capital city of Rio de Janeiro. After leaving school, Carmen got a job at a local store, and began singing on the job. Before long she was discovered and got a singing job on a local radio station. She ultimately got a recording contract with RCA. By 1928 she was a genuine superstar in Brazil. As with other popular singers of the era, she eventually made her way into the film world. She made her debut in the Brazilian documentary A Voz do Carnaval (1933). Two years later she appeared in her first feature film, Alô, Alô, Brasil (1935). However. it was Estudantes (1935) that seemed to solidify Carmen in the minds of the Brazilian movie audiences. Now they realized she could act as well as sing. Although there was three years between "Alo, Alo Carnaval" and Banana-da-Terra (1939), Carmen continued to churn out musical hits in Brazil. The latter film would be the last in her home country. In late 1939 Carmen arrived, with much fanfare in the press, in New York City. She was now ready to capture Americans' hearts with her talent. She appeared in some musical revues on Broadway and, just as everyone thought, was a huge hit. In 1940 Carmen was signed to appear in the Twentieth Century-Fox production Down Argentine Way (1940), with Betty Grable and Don Ameche. The only complaint that critics had was the fact that Carmen was not on the screen enough. In 1941 she was again teamed with Ameche in addition to Alice Faye in That Night in Rio (1941). The film was extremely popular with the theater patrons. Her unique songs went a long way in making her popular. It was after Weekend in Havana (1941) that American cartoon artists began to cash in on Carmen's ever-growing popularity. In the 1930s and 1940s cartoons were sometimes shown as a prelude to whatever feature film was showing. Sure enough, the cartoon version of Carmen came wriggling across the screen, complete with her trademark fruit hat and wide, toothy grin. In 1942 Carmen starred in Springtime in the Rockies (1942) with Betty Grable and Cesar Romero, both of whom she had worked with before. It was shortly after this that America began adopting her style of dress as the latest fad. 1944 saw her in three films: Something for the Boys (1944), Four Jills in a Jeep (1944) and Greenwich Village (1944). The first two did well at the box-office, but the last one left a lot to be desired. It was her last busy year in film. Carmen made one film each in 1945, '46, '47 and '48. After that she didn't make a film for two years, until Nancy Goes to Rio (1950), a production for MGM. Once again she didn't make a film for several years, returning with Scared Stiff (1953). She did stay busy, singing on the nightclub circuit and appearing on the relatively new medium of television. However, "Scared Stiff" was her final performance on the silver screen. On August 4, 1955, she suffered a heart attack, although she didn't realize it at the time, during a video taping of The Jimmy Durante Show (1954). She went home after attending a party. Early the next morning, on August 5, Carmen suffered a fatal heart attack. She was just 46 years old. Her body was flown to her adopted country of Brazil, where her death was declared a period of national mourning.

Magdlena (Cunha) Corriea was born on January 29, 1893 in Half Moon Bay, California United States, and died at age 82 years old on February 16, 1975. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Magdlena (Cunha) Corriea.

Carl C Cunha of Redding, Shasta County, CA was born on September 12, 1920, and died at age 76 years old on April 12, 1997.

Gabriel M Cunha of New Bedford, Bristol County, MA was born on October 22, 1919, and died at age 85 years old on June 19, 2005.

William C Cunha of Alameda, Alameda County, CA was born on August 10, 1922, and died at age 69 years old on July 24, 1992.

William Francis Cunha of North Providence, Providence County, RI was born on November 5, 1918, and died at age 71 years old on January 10, 1990. William Cunha was buried at Rhode Island Veteran Memorial Cemetery Section G-7 Row 4 Site 173 301 South County Trail, in Exeter.

Morris F Cunha of Moraga, Contra Costa County, CA was born on June 1, 1923, and died at age 71 years old on February 6, 1995.

George M Cunha of Pawtucket, Providence County, RI was born on April 27, 1925, and died at age 74 years old on January 9, 2000.

Antonio Cunha of Visalia, Tulare County, CA was born on December 7, 1915, and died at age 79 years old on January 24, 1995.

Garcindo S Cunha of Seekonk, Bristol County, MA was born on October 2, 1925, and died at age 73 years old on October 12, 1998.

Lawrence D Cunha of Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, CA was born on December 18, 1910, and died at age 85 years old on October 19, 1996.

Manuel Cunha of Rumford, Providence County, RI was born on August 10, 1918, and died at age 75 years old on April 13, 1994.

Manuel C Cunha of Lawrence, Essex County, MA was born on November 13, 1912, and died at age 96 years old on March 23, 2009.

Manuel Jr Cunha of Newark, Essex County, NJ was born on February 16, 1907 in Andorra or Portugal, and died at age 81 years old on December 8, 1988.

Edward M Cunha of Santa Clara, Santa Clara County, CA was born on January 29, 1922, and died at age 77 years old on April 23, 1999.

Edward J Cunha of Hopatcong, Sussex County, NJ was born on November 30, 1927, and died at age 70 years old on August 20, 1998.

Edward N Cunha of Fall River, Bristol County, MA was born on May 18, 1926, and died at age 83 years old on July 19, 2009.

John P Cunha of Oakley, Contra Costa County, California was born on July 18, 1925, and died at age 59 years old in June 1985.

Arthur D Cunha of Bristol, Bristol County, RI was born on January 9, 1921, and died at age 74 years old on December 1, 1995.

Bernard A Cunha of Santa Clara, Santa Clara County, CA was born on February 13, 1910, and died at age 86 years old on April 27, 1996.