Theatre Register

Imogene Coca

Shows · Imogene Coca

Actor 1908–2001 On stage 19251978

Imogene Coca (born Emogeane 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 pursued 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 on television, starring in six series and guest-starring on successful television programs from the 1940s to the '90s. 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. Coc…

On stage 14 productions, 53 years

1925 When You Smile National Theatre · Original · directed by Oscar Eagle 49 perf.
1930 Garrick Gaieties Guild Theatre · Revival · directed by Philip Loeb 158 perf.
1931 Shoot the Works Theatre not recorded · Original · directed by Ted Healy 87 perf.
1932 Flying Colors Imperial Theatre · Original · directed by Howard Dietz 188 perf.
1934 Fools Rush In Playhouse Theatre · Original · directed by Edwin Strawbridge 14 perf.
1934 New Faces Fulton Theatre · Original · directed by Leonard Sillman 149 perf.
1934 New Faces of 1934 Fulton Theatre · Original · directed by Elsie Janis 149 perf.
1936 New Faces of 1936 Vanderbilt Theatre · Original · directed by Ned McGurn 193 perf.
1939 The Straw Hat Revue Ambassador Theatre · Original · directed by Jerome Andrews 75 perf.
1940 All in Fun Majestic Theatre · Original · directed by John Murray Anderson 3 perf.
1945 Concert Varieties Ziegfeld Theatre · Original 36 perf.
1955 Janus Plymouth Theatre · Original · directed by Reginald Denham 251 perf.
1958 The Girls in 509 Belasco Theatre · Original · directed by Bretaigne Windust 117 perf.
1978 On the Twentieth Century St. James Theatre · Original · directed by Harold Prince 449 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once12 names

Robert Burton 3 productions
Lee Brody 3 productions
Charles Walters 3 productions
Winnie Johnson 2 productions
William Archibald 2 productions
Teddy Lynch 2 productions
Roger Stearns 2 productions
Robert Emhardt 2 productions
O Z Whitehead 2 productions
Jerome Robbins 2 productions
Hildegarde Halliday 2 productions
Henry Fonda 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 8 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

In the literature8 passages

  • The night I took over for good, Imogene Coca, who also starred in the play, and her husband presented me with a bottle of Dom Perignon that they had been given the night they did The Four Poster . It was one of those torch-passing experiences. Imogene was the iron butterfly, a delicate lovely creature who hits the wings and then the stage…ebooks/Frommer, Myrna Katz & Frommer, Harvey/It Happened on Broadway_ An Oral History of the Great White Way - Myrna Katz Frommer & Harvey Frommer.txt
  • Cast: Clifton Webb, Charles Butterworth, Tamara Geva, Patsy Kelly, Philip Loeb, Vilma & Buddy Ebsen, Larry Adler, Imogene Coca, Monette Mooreebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • Cast: Leonard Sillman, Imogene Coca, Nancy Hamilton, Charles Walters, Henry Fonda, Teddy Lynch, James Shelton, Billie Heywoodebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • Cast: John Cullum, Madeline Kahn, Imogene Coca, George Coe, Dean Dittman, Kevin Kline, Judy Kaye, George Lee Andrewsebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • With: Imogene Coca, Arnold Stang, Mort Marshall, Richard Castellano, and Armand Assanteebooks/Kissel, Howard/David Merrick - The Abominable Showman_ The Unauthorized Biography (Applause Books) - Howard Kissel.txt
  • Clockwise from top: Mayor Ed Koch with the 1985 cast. Carol Charming and Imogene Coca with Gerard. Ann Miller sings "That's Entertainment!" with Gerard, Fred, and Nora.ebooks/Portantiere, Gerard Alessandrini;Michael/B0030EGEYY EBOK - Gerard Alessandrini;Michael Portantiere.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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