Imogene Coca is best remembered for her iconic performances opposite Sid Caesar in the live 90-minute television show "Your Show of Shows" (1950),which aired every Saturday night on NBC from February 1950 to June 1954. The show featured a wide range of comedy acts, including the memorable and hilarious married couple Charlie and Doris Hickenlooper.
Coca's early life was marked by a strong desire to perform, nurtured by her parents who were both involved in the entertainment industry. Her father was a conductor at a small Philadelphia opera house, and her mother performed in vaudeville. Coca began her career as a dancer, studying piano, vocal training, and dance. By the time she was 13, she was tap dancing, somersaulting, and performing acrobatics.
At 15, Coca left Philadelphia for New York, where she began performing as a dancer in the chorus of the musical "When You Smile." For the next 30 years, music and dance were her staple, with appearances in musical revues and her own acts in Manhattan clubs. Her first husband, Robert Burton, arranged music for many of her performances.
Comedy and pantomime entered her routines by accident, when she and three male dancers improvised a routine to keep warm during a cold performance. The bit was a hit, and Coca went on to hone her comedic skills in the Poconos with Danny Kaye, Carol Channing, and others.
Coca's breakthrough in comedy came near the end of World War II, when she was paired with Sid Caesar in "The Admiral Broadway Revue" (1949). The show was short-lived, but it paved the way for "Your Show of Shows" in 1950. Coca won an Emmy for her contributions to the program and went on to star in her own show, "The Imogene Coca Show" (1954),as well as several other TV programs and films.
In the 1960s, Coca starred in two single-season sitcoms, "Grindl" (1963) and "It's About Time" (1966). She also made guest appearances on "The Carol Burnett Show" and "The Dick Cavett Show." In the 1970s and 1980s, she appeared sporadically on TV and in films, including "National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983).
In her later years, Coca and Caesar reunited for a stage show, "Together Again," which they toured throughout the country. Coca lived in Connecticut and Manhattan with her second husband, actor King Donovan, until his death in 1987.
