Imogene Coca (November 18, 1908 – June 2, 2001) was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows.Starting out in vaudeville as a child acrobat, she studied ballet and wished to have a serious career in music and dance, graduating to decades of stage musical revues, cabaret and summer stock. In her 40s, she began a celebrated career as a comedian in television, starring in six series and guesting on successful television programs from the 1940s to the 1990s.She was nominated for five Emmy awards for Your Show of Shows, winning Best Actress in 1951 and singled out for a Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting in 1953. Coca was also nominated for a Tony Award in 1978 for On the Twentieth Century and received a sixth Emmy nomination at the age of 80 for an episode of Moonlighting.She possessed a rubbery face capable of the broadest expressions — Life magazine compared her to Beatrice Lillie and Charlie Chaplin, and described her characterizations as taking "people or situations suspended in their own precarious balance between dignity and absurdity, and push(ing) them over the cliff with one single, pointed gesture"—the magazine noted a "particularly high-brow critic" as observing, "The trouble with most comedians who try to do satire is that they are essentially brash, noisy and indelicate people who have to use a sledge hammer to smash a butterfly. Miss Coca, on the other hand, is the timid woman who, when aroused, can beat a tiger to death with a feather." Aside from vaudeville, cabaret, film, theater and television, she voiced children's cartoons and was even featured in an MTV music video by the band EBN-OZN, working well into her 80s.
November 18, 1908, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died
June 2, 2001, Westport, Connecticut, United States
Place Of Birth
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Height
5' 3" (1.6 m)
Profession
Actress, Soundtrack
Nationality
American
Spouse
King Donovan (m. 1960–1987), Robert Burton (m. 1935–1955)
Parents
Sadie Brady, José Fernandez de Coca
Awards
Peabody Award, Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actress
Nominations
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actress Starring In A Regular Series, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, Primetime Emmy Award for Best Comedian Or...
Movies
National Lampoon's Vacation, Under the Yum Yum Tree, Nothing Lasts Forever, Buy & Cell, Alice in Wonderland, Return of the Beverly Hillbillies, Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner, Ten From Your Show of Shows, The Sound of Laughter, The Fabulous '50s, Too Easy to Kill
TV Shows
Your Show of Shows, Admiral Broadway Revue, It's About Time, Grindl, The Imogene Coca Show, Buzzy Wuzzy, The Sid Caesar Show
The trouble with most comedians who try to do satire is that they are essentially brash, noisy and indelicate people who have to use a sledge hammer to smash a butterfly. Miss Coca, on the other hand, is the timid woman who, when aroused, can beat a tiger to death with a feather. -- TV critic
2
I never thought of myself in comedy at all... I loved going to the theater and seeing people wearing beautiful clothes come down the staircase and start to dance. I wanted to play St. Joan.
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Fact
1
During an evening talk show (1960), she described the comical side of audiences thinking she and Sid Caesar were married, due to their long, successful work together. she described Sid's wife as tall and gorgeous, and who invariably heard restaurant customers whisper loudly "Well, I wonder what Imogene will think when she hears about this" As she walked by with Sid, her husband. Imogene always complimented Sid's wife on her sense of humor at her acceptance of these comments.
2
Was of Spanish and Irish descent. Her paternal grandfather emigrated to the US from Coca, Segovia, Spain.
Was nominated for Broadway's 1978 Tony Award as Best Actress (Featured Role - Musical) for "On the Twentieth Century."
5
Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 109-111. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
6
Suffered from Alzheimer's disease at the time of her death.
7
In 1973, she was severely injured in a car accident. She lost her sight in her right eye when the rearview mirror hit her eye, split her leg open, broke her cheekbone, and fractured her ankle.
8
Offstage, Imogene Coca was extremely shy and gentle.
9
A devoted animal lover, she once bought a crippled duck for 60 cents while vacationing in California. She nursed the bird back to health on the terrace of her Manhattan penthouse.
10
Made breakthrough in Broadway revue 'New Faces of 1934.'
11
A talented singer and dancer who took piano lessons at 5, singing lessons at 6, and dance class at 7. Made stage debut as 9-year-old dancer, then solo singing stint at age 11.
12
First husband Robert Burton arranged music for many of her sketches. Second husband was actor King Donovan, who often performed with her in theater.
13
Was the daughter of José Fernandez de Coca, a violinist and vaudeville band leader, and Sadie Brady Coca, a dancer who also performed in a magician's act.
Netta Clark (segment "Love and the Out-of-Town Client") / Doctor's Wife (segment "Love and the Fighting Couple")
The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor's New Clothes
1972
TV Movie
Princess Jane Klockenlocher
The Brady Bunch
1972
TV Series
Aunt Jenny
Night Gallery
1971
TV Series
Wife (segment "The Merciful")
Bewitched
1971
TV Series
Mary
One Life to Live
1968
TV Series
Gladys Mason (1983-1984)
It's About Time
1966-1967
TV Series
Shad / Shag / Krek
Grindl
1963-1964
TV Series
Grindl
Under the Yum Yum Tree
1963
Dorkus Murphy
Promises..... Promises!
1963
Woman under hair dryer (uncredited)
Shirley Temple's Storybook
1960
TV Series
Miss Clavel
The Sid Caesar Show
1958
TV Movie
Arline Phillips
General Electric Theater
1957
TV Series
Virginia Odell
Producers' Showcase
1957
TV Series
Effie Floud
Playhouse 90
1956
TV Series
Elsa Meredith
Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre
1956
TV Series
Janet Blaine
As the World Turns
1956
TV Series
Alice Hammond (1983)
The United States Steel Hour
1956
TV Series
Jackie Connors
The Imogene Coca Show
1954
TV Series
Betty Crane
Your Show of Shows
1950
TV Series
Heself - Regular Performer
Buzzy Wuzzy
1948
TV Series
They Meet Again
1941
Lulu Ford (uncredited)
Beauty Shoppe
1938
Short
Beauty Shop Operator
Dime a Dance
1937
Short
Esmeralda
Bashful Ballerina
1937
Short
Miss Klutz
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Moonlighting
1988
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Alice in Wonderland
1985
TV Movie performer: "There's Something to Say for Hatred"
A Special Sesame Street Christmas
1978
TV Movie performer: "Tomorrow" - uncredited
The 32nd Annual Tony Awards
1978
TV Special performer: "On The Twentieth Century"
The Danny Kaye Show
1964
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Your Show of Shows
1950
TV Series performer - 1 episode
The Admiral Broadway Revue
1949
TV Series performer - 7 episodes
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The 2th Annual Lucy Awards
1995
TV Special
Herself - Winner
The Second Annual Comedy Hall of Fame
1994
TV Special
Herself
Danny Kaye: Nobody's Fool
1994
TV Movie documentary
Comic Relief VI
1994
TV Special documentary
Herself
The First Annual Comedy Hall of Fame
1993
TV Movie
Herself
One on One with John Tesh
1991
TV Series
Herself
The Chuck Woolery Show
1991
TV Series
Herself
Today
1990
TV Series
Herself
The 2nd Annual American Comedy Awards
1988
TV Special
Herself - Winner: Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy
The 38th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
1986
TV Special
Herself
Reading Rainbow
1986
TV Series
Herself
Broadway Plays Washington on Kennedy Center Tonight
1982
TV Movie
Herself
Women I Love: Beautiful But Funny
1982
TV Movie
Herself
The 33rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
1981
TV Special
Herself - Presenter: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series & Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series
A Gift of Music
1981
TV Special
Herself
The Big Show
1980
TV Series
Herself
A Special Sesame Street Christmas
1978
TV Movie
Herself
A Salute to American Imagination
1978
TV Movie documentary
Herself
The 32nd Annual Tony Awards
1978
TV Special
Herself - Performer & Nominee: Best Featured Actress in a Musical