Happy birthday to Imogene Coca--actress, dancer, comedian, all around entertainer.She was born Imogene Fernandez de Coca in 1908. Her father was a conductor, and her mother was a dancer and magician's assistant, so it's no surprise that she went into the entertainment business. By her late teens, Imogene was a chorus girl on Broadway, but she went up from there to become a comedic giant in the company of Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett.
In the 50s, she starred with Sid Caesar in Your Show of Shows, but that was before my time. I didn't discover her until she appeared as the tooth fairy on Bewitched and later as Aunt Jenny on The Brady Bunch. Aunt Jenny was a name-dropping, wealthy world-traveler who shipped outrageous gifts. Jan found a photo of Aunt Jenny as a girl, and the two looked so much alike. When the adult Aunt Jenny appeared, Jan was in crisis because she was afraid she would grow up to be ugly and look like Imogene Coca. Aunt Jenny's response--"There's a lot of pretty faces around, but how often do you see a puss like this?"
So, hats off to Imogene Coca.
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We didn't get any of those shows over here (except Bewitched, but all I can remember about that is how crap Darren was at everything), so this is my first glimpse of her.
Happy Birthday, Imogene!