Who is Lainie Cooke, really? I didn’t come into the world as Lainie Cooke. I am, in some part of me, still Elaine Judith Katz. And, I have had other names also. So what’s the story? The first thought that maybe Elaine Katz wasn’t gonna work as a professional name was at 17 when I performed with a big band on the ballroom circuit. I became, for a brief moment, Judith Lane or was it Judy Lane? I don’t know. The gig and the name are but brief moments and not with standing a couple of unforgettable moments of riding around in a car with a bunch of “older guys.” who were all very nice, and singing in a large ballroom in way upstate Minnesota, it’s kinda of a blip. In 1961, I moved to New York as Elaine Katz and I start auditioning at Elaine Katz and then in 1963 some manager/agent/bookers sent me to Hartford, Conn. for my first out of town town vocalist gig at the Hueblein Hotel. The band was very good. They were all students at the Hartford School of Music. The gig was cool. I was there for a week. But every time i saw my name on the sign outside I kinda knew this wasn’t gonna work. And the managers knew it too but all they did was help me brainstorm a little without any change. In 1963, I also did my first SAG voiceover and I knew I wasn’t gonna join the union as Elaine Katz. I just knew. And thanks to the kindness and creativity of the musical producers who wrote the jingle I was singing for Cremora (Sascha Burland and Don Elliot (who amongst other things were also the Nutty Squirrels ) I took their suggestion and became Lainie Cooke. In 1964 I got married and had another name but I was Lainie Cooke professionally. My family was cool with it. My Father didn’t expect me to carry his name anyway. Lainie Cooke. September 11th was a long ways away and Homeland Security didn’t exist so in due time I was able to get a checking account, a drivers license and a passport in that name simply by showing some paystubs and a letter from my agent. When I got a divorce around 1980 the Judge gave me the choice of being Katz again or my husband’s name. I had no desire to carry my Father’s name or my ex-husbands name. Nope, not ever again. I was LAINIE COOKE. BUT, I didn’t legally become Lainie Cooke until 2015. So yes, now I own it. Totally. All the way.
