Sam Costa

Samuel Gabriel 'Sam' Costa (17 June 1910 – 23 September 1981) was a popular singer and dancerof the British dance band era and a voice actor on the show Much Binding in the Marsh. He was also a disc jockey for Radio Luxembourg and the BBC.

Sam Costa
Born17 June 1910
Died23 September 1981
NationalityPortuguese/British
Known for1930s British Band Singer & Radio Presenter
Spouse(s)Esther Comer (1938-1981)

Life

Costa was of Sephardic Jewish-Portuguese ancestry (Costa is a Jewish Portuguese surname). The son of journalist Gabriel Costa and Annie (née Sawer), he married Esther Comer in 1938, and they were married for over 40 years until he died in 1981. He was the great uncle of the radio presenter Andy Jacobs.

Career

Sam Costa began as a pianist with Bert Firman's band and later became a popular British dance band singer 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 radio career began with the It's That Man Again (ITMA) shows with Tommy Handley, then he worked with Kenneth Horne, Richard Murdoch and Maurice 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 to BBC Radio 2 from 1967. Costa would sign off saying "Thank you for the pleasure of your company".

While he generally disliked TV work, he did appear on several Juke Box Jury shows. He also was a regular on David Frost's Frost on Sunday in 1970. It is noted that he was a Radio Luxembourg DJ in the early 1960s - an hour show sponsored by Guard's Cigarettes. On BBC Radio 2 he had various shows; morning, lunchtime, afternoon, early evening, and late night until his death in 1981.

Filmography

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