Imogene Coca
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- November 18, 1908
- Died
- June 2, 2001 (aged 92)
- Birthplace
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Biography
Imogene Fernandez de 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. Finally in her 40s she began a celebrated career as a comedienne 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." In addition to vaudeville, cabaret, theater and television, she appeared in film, voiced children's cartoons and was even featured in an MTV video by a New Wave band. Though her fame began late, she worked well into her 80s. Twice a widow, Coca died in 2001. Description above from the Wikipedia article Imogene Coca, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Mel Brooks: Unwrapped
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
In the Beginning: The Caesar Years
Movie · as Self
Television: The First Fifty Years
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: The Movie
Movie · as Roxy
Caesar's Writers
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Bobby's World
TV · 1 ep
Buy & Cell
Movie · as Reggie's Mother
Monsters
TV · as The Old Woman · 1 ep
The Little Match Girl
Movie · as Self - Host
Papa Was a Preacher
Movie · as Missy B
Moonlighting
TV · as Clara DiPesto · 1 ep
Alice in Wonderland
TV · as Cook · 1 ep
Nothing Lasts Forever
Movie · as Daisy Schackman
National Lampoon's Vacation
Movie · as Aunt Edna
Mama's Family
TV · 1 ep
Reading Rainbow
TV · as Self - Narrator (voice) · 1 ep
Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner
Movie · as Molly - Bag Lady
The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies
Movie · as Granny's Maw
The Big Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Trapper John, M.D.
TV · 1 ep
Rabbit Test
Movie · as Madam Marie
A Special Sesame Street Christmas
Movie · as Self
Too Easy to Kill
Movie · as Mrs. Bradshaw
Ten from Your Show of Shows
Movie
The Emperor's New Clothes
Movie · as Princess Jane Klockenlocher (voice)
Night Gallery
TV · as Wife (segment "The Merciful") · 1 ep
The Brady Bunch
TV · 1 ep
Love, American Style
TV · as Doctor's wife · 1 ep
The Carol Burnett Show
TV · as Self - Guest · 4 eps
It's About Time
TV · as Shad · 26 eps
Bewitched
TV · 2 eps
The Hollywood Palace
TV · as Self · 3 eps
The Sound of Laughter
Movie · as Miss Klutz (Ballerina)
Under the Yum Yum Tree
Movie · as Dorkus Murphy
Promises! Promises!
Movie · as Woman Under Hair Dryer (uncredited)
Grindl
TV · as Grindl · 32 eps
The Danny Kaye Show
TV · as Self · 6 eps
The Merv Griffin Show
TV · as Self · 2 eps
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Mike Douglas Show
TV · as Self · 3 eps
Shirley Temple's Storybook
TV · as Miss Clavel · 1 ep
Made in Heaven
Movie · as Elsa Meredith
The Steve Allen Show
TV · as Self - Guest Performer · 1 ep
Tony Awards
TV · as Self - Nominee / Performer · 1 ep
The Imogene Coca Show
TV · as Host · 1 ep
General Electric Theater
TV · as Virginia Odell · 1 ep
This Is Your Life
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Your Show of Shows
TV · as Self - Regular Performer · 136 eps
The Bob Hope Show
TV · as Self · 4 eps
What's My Line?
TV · as Self · 3 eps
Danger
TV · 1 ep
The Admiral Broadway Revue
TV · 2 eps
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV · as Self · 3 eps
Buzzy Wuzzy
TV · 4 eps
Dime a Dance
Movie · as Esmeralda
Bashful Ballerina
Movie · as Miss Klutz
Imogene Coca Screen Test
Movie