Irene Miracle Biography
Irene Miracle is an American film and television actress and director. Her first film was as a murder victim in Night Train Murders in 1975, an Italian Last House on the Left-clone. Her most prestigious role was in Alan Parker’s Midnight Express in 1978, a worldwide box office success.
For her role as the girlfriend of the incarcerated protagonist, she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Female. Miracle followed that film with another major role in Dario Argento’s Inferno in 1980, as a woman who comes to believe the New York City apartment building she lives in also houses a centuries-old witch.
Since then, she has continued her acting work, while also writing, directing and producing. In 1979, Miracle appeared in the episode “Now You See Her…” of the NBC television crime drama series The Eddie Capra Mysteries.
Irene Miracle Age
She was born on January 24, 1954, in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. She is 65 years old as of 2019.
Irene Miracle Height
She stands a height of 5 feet 9 inches(1.75) meters tall.
Irene Miracle Married
There is no information about her marriage or husband. This information will be updated soon.
Irene Miracle Midnight Express
Midnight Express is a 1978 American prison drama film directed by Alan Parker, produced by David Puttnam and starring Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins, Paolo Bonacelli, Paul L. Smith, Randy Quaid, Norbert Weisser, Peter Jeffrey, and John Hurt. It is based on Billy Hayes’ 1977 non-fiction book Midnight Express and was adapted into the screenplay by Oliver Stone.
Hayes was a young American student sent to a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle hashish out of Turkey. The film deviates from the book’s accounts of the story, especially in its portrayal of Turks, and some have criticized this version, including Billy Hayes himself. Later, both Stone and Hayes expressed their regret about how Turkish people were portrayed in the film. The film’s title is prison slang for an inmate’s escape attempt.
Irene Miracle Inferno
Inferno is a 1980 Italian supernatural horror film written and directed by Dario Argento. The film stars Irene Miracle, Leigh McCloskey, Eleonora Giorgi, Daria Nicolodi and Alida Valli. The cinematography was by Romano Albani, and Keith Emerson composed the film’s musical score.
The plot follows a young man’s investigation into the disappearance of his sister, who had been living in a New York City apartment building that also served as a home for a powerful, centuries-old witch. A thematic sequel to Suspiria (1977), the film is the second part of Argento’s Three Mothers trilogy. The long-delayed concluding entry, The Mother of Tears, was released in 2007.
All three films are partially derived from the concept of “Our Ladies of Sorrow” (Mater Lachrymarum, Mater Suspiriorum, and Mater Tenebrarum) originally devised by Thomas de Quincey in his book Suspiria de Profundis (1845). Rose Elliot (Irene Miracle), a poet living alone in New York City, finds an ancient book titled The Three Mothers.
Irene Miracle Obituary
She does not have an obituary. Irene is alive and healthy.
Irene Miracle Net Worth
She has an estimated net worth of $300,000.
Irene Miracle Puppet Master
Puppet Master (also titled The Puppet Master, and Puppetmaster) is a 1989 American horror film written by Charles Band and Kenneth J. Hall, and directed by David Schmoeller. It is the first film in the Puppet Master franchise and stars Paul Le Mat, Irene Miracle, Matt Roe, and Kathryn O’Reilly as psychics who are plotted against by a former colleague, using puppets animated by an Egyptian spell.
Originally intended for theatrical release in summer 1989, before being released on home video the following September, Puppet Master was ultimately pushed to a direct-to-video release on October 12, 1989, as Charles Band felt he was likely to make more money this way than he would in the theatrical market. The film was very popular in the video market and since developed a large cult following that has led to the production of twelve sequels.
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Tamav Irene Walking Thunder
Walking Thunder is a 1994 film starring James Read, John Denver, and David Tom and Bart the Bear, written and directed by Craig Clyde. It relates the memoirs of a young boy Jacob McKay who travels with his family on a wagon on their way to California and become stranded in the Rockies.
There they learn to survive, adapt to their surroundings and make the most of what they have with the help of a mountain man, an elderly Sioux medicine man and a legendary bear known by the Native Americans as Walking Thunder. The film won a Silver Award at the Worldfest Film Festival. It was released in 1995 but was not widely distributed until 1997
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Irene Miracle Interview
All Scream For Irene… The IRENE MIRACLE interview
Among the many stunning visual set pieces with which Dario Argento’s eccentric oeuvre is freighted, one of the most fondly remembered by his fans is the surrealistic tour-de-force from Inferno (1980) in which poetess Rose Elliot (Irene Miracle) goes diving for her keys in a submerged ballroom, only to encounter a previous victim of The Mother Of Darkness…
Pasta Paura buffs will also recognize Miracle as one of the terrorized teens in Aldo Lado’s brutal Night Train Murders (1975) and many Freudstein followers will probably recall her turn as the bitchy psychic in David Schmoeller’s Puppet Master (1989). Irene’s powerful performance in Midnight Express (1978) was rewarded with a Golden Globe and this engaging Oklahoma-born actress has kept busy with a big screen and theatrical roles, latterly branching out into producing and directing for herself. The breadth of her artistic vision (including environmental concerns and the rights of indigenous peoples) is informed by a peripatetic and adventurous life that has, on occasion, seen her braving situations far scarier than anything even Dario Argento could have dreamed up.
It’s a real pleasure to launch the blog with a portrait of this beguiling, multi-talented lady, whose constant encouragement has been a key factor in getting it off the ground. Thanks, pal!
Irene, thank you so much for taking the time out to talk to us… or, as your recent filmography suggests, do you prefer to be addressed as Klara these days?
I prefer Irene. Klara is my first name but I’ve always gone by middle name.
You’ve been blessed with a wonderful surname, which is a gift to people writing about you… do you think it’s helped you stand out when casting directors are looking at people’s resumes?
Most certainly. I am often greeted with a ‘miracle’ joke, e.g: “It’s a MIRACLE” or “Miracles do exist”… it’s always a delightful opener.
Can you please tell us something about your early life and how you picked up the acting bug?
It fell into my lap, but I do believe it was my guiding angels who dumped it there, with a thud, as if to say, “This is your path, now run for it”. One summer while visiting my father in Nairobi, Kenya, I was teaching ballet. I always passed the 19th Century Norfolk Hotel on my way home. An Italian producer happened to be staying there. He spotted me from its outdoor cafe and offered his card. He was scouting locations for an Antonioni film and asked if I’d be interested in acting. At the time, I didn’t take him seriously. Some days later a crisis broke out in which JM Kariuki was found dead in the Ngong Hills. His body had been chopped to pieces and thrown onto the side of a road where baboons were found nibbling at him. It was and is believed that President Kenyatta had him executed, as he was next in line for the presidency and was expected to win the coming elections. Anyone associated with JM or his family was now in danger, and I had dined at their home on occasion. I was among many who’d received threatening calls and soon heard that some people had already been silenced with a shot to the head. I fled the country with just my handbag, taking the only seat left on the last airplane leaving, and it happened to be headed for Italy. I knew but one person in Italy, and it was that producer who’d handed me his card in Nairobi.
Which led to you hanging out with Antonioni, Pasolini, Fellini, and Bertolucci… absolute titans of Cinema!
When I landed in Rome I called this producer. He was in Sardinia and quickly arranged a flight for me to meet him and his family there. My taxi let me out at a remote area along the Sardinian coastline, where an enormous white bubble sat, nestled amongst the craggy rocks. I knocked on the door, was greeted by a maid, assured that the producer would be back soon and was shown to my room. Feeling exhausted from not having slept in 48 hours, I had a shower, crawled into my crisp white sheets and fell asleep to the sound of bird calls and waves crashing. The next morning I found myself seated at a kitchen alcove where several people were eating breakfast. After introductions around the table, I turned to the gentleman next to me and asked, “So what do you do”? He was startled. “You don’t know who I am!?!” It was Michelangelo Antonioni. Charmed by my ignorance, he turned to the other guests at the table: “She’s marvellous, so fresh, so innocent”! Everybody laughed with him, all chattering in Italian. They were Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bernardo Bertolucci and Federico Fellini. During the next few days, Michelangelo followed me around the house with his Super8 camera as I sunbathed, read or played ping-pong with other guests. I wish I had a copy of that film. Bernardo and Michelangelo would later become dear friends.
So you wound up acting in Italy…
I needed a job. My only friends were filmmakers. It was a natural progression. I was grateful to be working but had no idea how fortunate I was. It all felt so organic — my work, my friends, my life in Rome.
Your screen debut was in Aldo Lado’s notorious Night Train Murders. You’re so young in that… was it as grueling experience to make that film as it is to watch it?
I tend not to see the films I’ve done. I’ve never liked seeing myself on the big screen. I was especially put off when I learned about the pending rape sequence but was relieved it wouldn’t be ME subjected to that ordeal, and felt like having to run around half naked was a fair trade-off. In any case, nudity wasn’t such a big deal to me — I’ve always thought of my body as an instrument for my craft. I’m not sure I’d have taken the job if I had any idea about the rape sequence beforehand. A few months ago, I finally did watch Night Train Murders, to prepare an interview for the Blu-Ray edition. It was like watching someone else, in another lifetime, from another dimension — another “me”, like science-fiction.
I was wondering if Flavio Bucci, Gianfranco De Grassi, and Macha Meril tried to make it easier for you and Laura D’Angelo by cracking jokes and being friendly on set, or whether Lado kept them in character to maintain the tension on screen?
I have strong memories of Flavio Bucci. He was easy going, supportive and kind. Funny guy, too! I remember Macha as being very private and insular, so I didn’t have much interaction with her. Everyone on that set was respectful and gentle with me.
Large parts of Night Train Murders seem to have been actually shot on a moving train… were there any particular logistical difficulties involved in shooting like that?
No doubt that held challenges for the film crew, but for me, working on an actual train gave authenticity to the story we were playing out. I don’t recall having shot anything on movie sets. We were in Germany for the whole shoot.
Lado’s films are often thinly-veiled Marxist allegories… did he talk to you and the other actors about the message he was trying to get across to the viewer?
No, I wasn’t given to much to work with, just told that I was one of two friends on vacation who run into some thugs along the way. It seemed innocent enough, so you can imagine my shock when they started bringing knives out!
The film is pretty closely modeled on Wes Craven’s controversial The Last House On The Left. Was you aware of, or did you subsequently become aware of, that film?
I was never into horror, not the blood and guts kind. Funny, isn’t it? Given the films I’ve ended up doing, my taste often surprises people. I do love Gothic, atmospheric stories, even if they include touches of horror — provided they have a psychological bent, and heart. Vampire films in the manner of Anne Rice, or James Whale’s original movie of Frankenstein, or The Picture of Dorian Grey are favorites. Lately, I’m totally hooked on the Penny Dreadful TV series. It combines everything I do like about these genres in a marvelous way.
In the UK during the 1980s there was a big moral panic about such horror movies becoming available on home video. The yellow press over here dubbed them “video nasties” and the police had an official list of banned titles… were you aware that you appeared in two of them (Night Train Murders and Inferno)? And what are your views on censorship and the alleged bad influence of horror films?
I had not heard about the “video nasties” scandal, but think it sounds like an appropriate term. Let’s face it, these films ARE trashy. I wouldn’t want my kids watching stuff like that. If I’d had children at the time of making these films I doubt I’d have made them at all. Some fans won’t like hearing this, but I’m most proud of my work in Midnight Express and theatre work. I made those “horror” films because I liked the director or because I wanted to keep working.
Your sophomore film appearance was in the “sexy comedy” La Portiera Nuda, directed by Luigi Cozzi. Cozzi was better known as a sci-fi specialist and later as an assistant to Dario Argento… I wondered how you found working with him?
I LOVED working with Luigi. I’ve only recently seen the film for the first time and found it funny. I do have memories of having to be constantly aware of where the camera was at any given moment. The angles felt invasive to me; I often called my agent to alert him to situations on the set. In one particular instance the costume department wanted to shave my pubes for a bath scene. No way: My agent managed to tone down any expectations of filming the lower part of my body that day. In another scene I had to climb a tall ladder wearing garter belts, supposedly to dust something up high, and the camera was shooting from very very low, below. All I could do was to keep pulling my skirt down and prayed for something more intellectually challenging in my future. All in all it was a fun experience, though.