Carmen Miranda: 5 things you may not have known about the renowned Samba dancer and actress

Animated Google Doodle shows series of samba dances, and Miranda, shining in white dress in picture's centre

Google Doodle is marking the 108th birthday of the Brazilian samba singer, dancer and Broadway actress, Carmen Miranda.

Here are five things you probably did not know about the 1940s icon.

1. Humble beginnings

Growing up in Rio de Janeiro, where her father worked in a barber shop, she went to work in a tie shop at age 14 to help pay for her sister’s medical bills for tuberculosis. She next worked in a boutique, learning to make hats, and opened her own hat business.

2. Lucky break

A guitarist reportedly overheard one of her impromptu performances and invited her to sing on a local radio station.

How Google illustrated Carmen's 198th birthday Google (Google)

3. Rebirth

Her real full name is Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha, but her father, who beat her mother when he discovered she had allowed Maria to audition for a radio show, did not want her performing with the family name.

4. Legacy

A city square in Hollywood was named after her, in a ceremony headed up by her friend and TV producer Johnny Grant, in 1998.

5. Taken too early

She suffered a fatal heart attacked, aged 46 in 1955, after earlier falling to one knee while filming a performance for an NBC series.