Sam Costa
Sam Costa | |
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| Born | Samuel Gabriel Costa 17 June 1910 Stoke Newington, London, England |
| Died | 23 September 1981 (aged 71) Hillingdon, London, England |
| Known for | Singer, comic actor, broadcaster |
| Spouse | Esther Comer |
Samuel Gabriel Costa (17 June 1910 – 23 September 1981) was an English singer, entertainer and broadcaster. Initially a popular singer in the dance band era and a comic actor on the show Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh, he was later a disc jockey for Radio Luxembourg and the BBC.
Life and career
Costa was born in
Sam Costa began his career as a pianist with
In 1950, he started hosting Record Rendezvous on the BBC, and also hosted The Sam Costa Show on Radio Luxembourg.[2] On Sundays he did both Breakfast Time and Glamorous Nights and he also presented Housewives' Choice and Midday Spin, transitioning to BBC Radio 2 from 1967. On BBC Radio 2 he had various shows; morning, lunchtime, afternoon, early evening, and late night. Costa would sign off saying "Thank you for the pleasure of your company".[1]
On Radio Luxembourg in the early 1960s, he hosted an hour-long show sponsored by Guards Cigarettes. Along with Kenneth Horne, Costa also appeared in an episode of The Men from the Ministry which co-starred Richard Murdoch. While he generally disliked TV work, Costa did appear on several Juke Box Jury shows. In 1964 he linked a musical short film, Just for You which featured some prominent "pop" bands of the day, including The Applejacks and Freddie and the Dreamers. Costa was also a regular on David Frost's Frost on Sunday in 1970.
He married Esther Comer in 1938; they were married for over 40 years. Sam Costa died in London in 1981.
Filmography
- A Piece of Cake (1948)
- Trouble in the Air (1948)
- One Wild Oat (1951)
- The Pickwick Papers (1952)
- Just For You (1964)
References
- ^ a b c d "Sam Costa", Jewish Lives Project. Retrieved 16 March 2021
- ^ ISBN 0-7134-4235-2, pp. 59–60
Further reading
- Obituary, Jewish Chronicle, 2 October 1981
- R2OK! Radio 2 Preservation Society and Radio 2 Timeline Project (2007)
- This England's Second Book of British Dance Bands (2001).
- British Dance Bands on Record 2nd Ed. (1989) by Brian Rust and Sandy Forbes.
External links
- "Internet Archive Search: Sam Costa – archive.org (multimedia content in the public domain)". Retrieved 30 April 2012.
- "British Pathé Search: Sam Costa – britishpathe.com". Retrieved 3 May 2012.
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