Sam Costa

Sam Costa
Born
Samuel Gabriel Costa

(1910-06-17)17 June 1910
Stoke Newington, London, England
Died23 September 1981(1981-09-23) (aged 71)
Hillingdon, London, England
Known forSinger, comic actor, broadcaster
SpouseEsther 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 Stoke Newington, London, the son of journalist Gabriel Costa and Annie (née Sawer), and was of Sephardic Jewish-Portuguese ancestry – Costa is a Jewish, and non-Jewish, Portuguese surname.[1]

Sam Costa began his career as a pianist with Bert Firman's band. He later became a popular British dance band singer in the 1930s making many records with bands such as Jack Jackson, Lew Stone, Harry Leader, Maurice Winnick and Jay Wilbur.[1][2] After his crooning days, his BBC radio career began in 1939 with the It's That Man Again (ITMA) shows with Tommy Handley, in which he took the part of Lemuel the office boy.[2] He then worked with Kenneth Horne, Richard Murdoch and Maurice Denham in Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh.[1]

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. He was the great-uncle of the radio presenter Andy Jacobs.[3]

Sam Costa died in London in 1981.

Filmography

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Sam Costa", Jewish Lives Project. Retrieved 16 March 2021
  2. ^ a b c Denis Gifford, The Golden Age of Radio, B.T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1985, ISBN 0-7134-4235-2, pp. 59–60
  3. ^ "Andy interviewed Michael Jordan - but forgot to turn on recorder". Jewish Telegraph. Retrieved 15 July 2024.

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.
Media offices
Preceded by
First Presenter
 BBC Radio 2
Drivetime Show presenter
1971–1976 		Succeeded by