Alma Cogan - Early Life

Early Life

She was born Alma Angela Cohen in Whitechapel, East London, England, of Russian-Romanian Jewish descent. Her father's family, the Kogins, arrived in England from Russia, while her mother’s family were refugees from Romania. Cogan's parents Mark and Fay Cohen had another daughter, the future actress Sandra Caron, four or five years later and Alma Cogan also had a brother. Mark Cohen's work as a haberdasher involved opening stores in different areas; this entailed frequent relocation for his family. One of Cogan's early residences was in Worthing, Sussex – where her family originally lived above her father's shop.

Although Jewish, she attended St Joseph's Convent School in Reading. Her father was a singer but it was Cogan's mother who had show business aspirations for both her daughters – she had named Cogan after silent screen star Alma Taylor – and after eleven-year-old Cogan won the Sussex Queen of Song contest her encouraged mother managed to get her an audition with bandleader Ted Heath, who was impressed but thought Cogan too young.

Nevertheless by her teens Cogan was singing at London tea dances and at age fourteen she was featured in a variety show at the Grand Theatre in Brighton having been recommended by Vera Lynn.

Proceeding to Worthing Art College, Cogan continued singing in London venues including Selby's Restaurant and the Café Anglais. Cogan was a member of the chorus the production of High Button Shoes at the Hippodrome – the production opened in December 1948 – and Cogan was also featured in Sauce Tartare which opened in May 1949 at the Cambridge Theatre in the West End: Sauce Tartare was a revue starring Muriel Smith which also featured Audrey Hepburn, Renée Houston and Bob Monkhouse.

In 1949, Cogan also became the resident singer at the Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch, where her original six week booking was extended to eighteen months. It was at the Cumberland Hotel that Cogan was spotted by Walter Ridley an A&R man for HMV Records who was looking for a female act to add to the label's mostly male roster.