 Cocea was born on 27 November 1912 in Bucharest to father N. D. Cocea, a well-known writer and journalist, and mother Florica Mille, who was the daughter of another prominent journalist and writer, the socialist politico Constantin Mille, in whose house Cocea resided as a child.At 14 years of age, Cocea went to Paris, where she attended a Roman Catholic boarding school for a time.She later moved in with her aunt, Alice Cocéa, a film actress and star of the Parisian theatre, who introduced and encouraged Cocea to take up the acting profession.