- Sam Costa
Samuel Gabriel 'Sam' Costa (
17 June 1910 -23 September 1981 ) was a singer and a voice actor on the show "Much Binding In The Marsh". He was also a Radio Luxemborg andBBC disc jockey .Life
Costa was descended from the banker
Moses da Costa . He married Esther Comer, and they were married for over 40 years until he died in 1981. He was the great uncle of the radio presenterAndy Jacobs .Career
Sam Costa was a popular band singer in UK in the 1930s making many records with bands such as
Lew Stone , Harry Leader, Maurice Winnick and Jay Wilbur.After his crooning days his
BBC Light Programme radio fame began in the ITMA shows withTommy Handley , then he worked withKenneth Horne ,Richard Murdoch andMaurice Denham in "Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh ". On Sundays he did both "Breakfast Time" and "Glamorous Nights" and he also presented "Housewives' Choice " and "Midday Spin", transitioning intoBBC Radio 2 from 1967. Costa would sign off saying "Thank you for the pleasure of your company".He didn't like TV work much, but did appear on several "
Juke Box Jury " shows.On BBC Radio 2 he had various shows, morning, lunchtime, afternoon, drivetime, into the late 1970s.
References
* Obituary, "
Jewish Chronicle ", 2nd October 1981*"R2OK!" Radio 2 Preservation Society and Radio 2 Timeline Project (2007) [http://www.r2ok.co.uk/R2_timeline.htm]
*"This England's Second Book of British Dance Bands" (2001).
*"British Dance Bands On Record" 2nd Ed. (1989) by Brian Rust and Sandy Forbes.
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