Imogene Coca
Born
November 18, 1908
Died
June 2, 2001 (92 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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.
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Known For
Mel Brooks: Unwrapped
Self (archive footage)
2018
In the Beginning: The Caesar Years
Self
2012
Television: The First Fifty Years
Self (archive footage)
1999
Hollywood: The Movie
Roxy
1996
Bobby's World
(1 episode)
1990
Buy & Cell
Reggie's Mother
1989
Monsters
(1 episode)
1988
The Little Match Girl
Self - Host
1987
Papa Was a Preacher
Missy B
1986
Alice in Wonderland
Cook · (1 episode)
1985
Moonlighting
Clara DiPesto · (1 episode)
1985
Nothing Lasts Forever
Daisy Schackman
1984
National Lampoon's Vacation
Aunt Edna
1983
Reading Rainbow
Herself - Narrator (voice) · (1 episode)
1983
Mama's Family
(1 episode)
1983
Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner
Molly - Bag Lady
1981
The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies
Granny's Maw
1981
The Big Show
Self · (1 episode)
1980
Trapper John, M.D.
(1 episode)
1979
A Special Sesame Street Christmas
Self
1978
Rabbit Test
Madam Marie
1978
Too Easy to Kill
Mrs. Bradshaw
1975
Ten from Your Show of Shows
1973
Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes
Princess Jane Klockenlocher (voice)
1972
Night Gallery
Wife (segment "The Merciful") · (1 episode)
1970
Love, American Style
Doctor's wife · (1 episode)
1969
The Brady Bunch
(1 episode)
1969
The Carol Burnett Show
Self - Guest · (4 episodes)
1967
It's About Time
Shad · (26 episodes)
1966
Bewitched
(2 episodes)
1964
The Hollywood Palace
Self - Host · (2 episodes)
1964
The Hollywood Palace
Self - Sketch Actor · (1 episode)
1964
The Sound of Laughter
Miss Klutz (Ballerina)
1963
Under the Yum-Yum Tree
Dorkus Murphy
1963
The Danny Kaye Show
Self · (6 episodes)
1963
Grindl
Grindl · (32 episodes)
1963
Promises! Promises!
Woman Under Hair Dryer (uncredited)
1963
The Merv Griffin Show
Self · (2 episodes)
1962
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self · (1 episode)
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
Self · (2 episodes)
1961
Shirley Temple's Storybook
Miss Clavel · (1 episode)
1958
The Steve Allen Show
Self - Guest Performer · (1 episode)
1956
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee/Performer · (1 episode)
1956
The Imogene Coca Show
Host · (1 episode)
1954
General Electric Theater
Virginia Odell · (1 episode)
1953
This Is Your Life
Self · (1 episode)
1952
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self · (1 episode)
1950
The Bob Hope Show
Self · (4 episodes)
1950
Your Show of Shows
Self - Regular Performer · (136 episodes)
1950
What's My Line?
Self - Mystery Guest · (3 episodes)
1950
The Admiral Broadway Revue
(2 episodes)
1949
Buzzy Wuzzy
(4 episodes)
1948
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self · (3 episodes)
1948
Dime a Dance
Esmeralda
1937
Bashful Ballerina
Miss Klutz
1937