Sam Costa

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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 Luxembourg disc jockey.

He was descended from the banker Moses da Costa.

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. He married Esther Comer, and they were married over 40 years till he died in 1981.

After his crooning days his BBC Radio Light Programme fame began in the 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 (and into BBC Radio 2 from 1967) 'Housewives' Choice' and 'Midday Spin'. He'd 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 Radio 2 he had various shows, morning, lunchtime, afternoon, drivetime, into the late 1970s.

[edit] References

• Obituary, Jewish Chronicle, 2nd October 1981

R2OK! Radio 2 Preservation Society and Radio 2 Timeline Project (2007)[1]
This England's Second Book of British Dance Bands (2001).
British Dance Bands On Record 2nd Ed. (1989) by Brian Rust and Sandy Forbes.