Imogene Coca Biography

Fast Facts

• In 1954, she received a Peabody Award for her work in broadcasting
• An animal rights activist, she founded the Imogene Coca Charitable Foundation
• Received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy at the 1988 American Comedy Awards
• A professional singer by the age of 11, she started perfoming in New York nightclubs at the age of 15
• When the heating failed in a theatre in which she was performing a revue, she got her big break when her director asked her to improvise a miming act in order to keep the audience occupied
• Was widely recognized for her collaborations with Sid Caesar
• Is credited with inspiring Carol Burnett, Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg and Tracey Ullman to enter comedy