Pat Cooper was born Pasquale Caputo on July 31st, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York. He is an American comedian best known for his stand-up comedy. He often makes fun of his Italian heritage hailing from Mola di Bari, Italy. He was also a frequent guest on many radio shows in the 1980s, in particular Howard Stern.
Early in his life, Cooper dropped out of Manual Training High School, in Brooklyn no less than twice. Afterwards, he was a sixth generation bricklayer. He continued laying bricks for twelve years. He also had a short career as a furrier in Manhattan's Garment District. At the time, Cooper spent weekends telling jokes at neighborhood block parties and local charity events. Within a few years, he was playing comedy clubs too.
During the 1960's Cooper recorded a series of albums for United Artists Records including: Our Hero, Spaghetti Sauce and Other Delights, You Don't Have to be Italian To Like Pat Cooper, An Italian Wedding and More Saucy Stories. His comedy albums Our Hero and Spaghetti Sauce and Other Delights were both best sellers for the United Artists label.
Coopers first break was an early television appearance on The Jackie Gleason Show. On November 9th, 1970 Cooper realized every comic's dream when he earned a spot on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson alongside Paul Anka, Jack Cassidy and musical guest the Three Degrees. Numerous TV shows followed including Ed Sullivan, the Toast of the Town and The Mike Douglas Show. Along the way, Cooper shared the stage with superstars like Jerry Lewis, Tony Bennett, Tom Jones, Paul Anka, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Englebert Humerdinck, and Sammy Davis Jr.
In 1973, he starred in an unsold sitcom pilot for NBC called Patsy. In the series, Cooper played the manager of a small Italian restaurant dealing with his oddball relatives. Meanwhile, Cooper continued to appear at comedy clubs and theaters, including the infamous Copacabana, the Westbury Music Theater, the Trump Castle, Caesar's Palace and the MGM Grand Hotel.
In 1976, Cooper released On Location With Pat Cooper. The one-man comedy show was filmed live at Club Bene in South Amboy, New Jersey. In the special, Cooper talked about coming of age in an Italian-American family and life as a comic touring throughout the United States. This would be the first and last of Cooper's one-man comedy specials. In 1981, he made his film-acting debut as an Agency Chief in the comedy Uncle Sam. Only one year earlier, he made his TV-acting debut in the short-lived series Vega$, a series about a private investigator based in the city of sin famous for the slogan what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
Since he began telling jokes, Cooper's humor has made him a recurring favorite on The Howard Stern Show, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, and The Late Show with David Letterman. On August 8th, 1989, Cooper made an appearance on Stern's show that resulted with an on-air altercation between him, his daughter, and his son, whom he hadn't spoken in over five years, and his mother.
In 1996, he starred as himself in an episode of Seinfeld called, the Friars Club. In that episode Cooper initially supports Jerry's membership in the Friars Club until Jerry mistakenly walks out of the club with a jacket belonging to the club. He has had other scattered TV roles including Charlie's Angels, It's a Living and L.A. Law. Cooper returned to TV in 1998 to roast comedian Drew Carey at the Friars Club. In 2000, he starred in a stand-up special called Let Me In, I Hear Laughter. That special highlighted the greats of comedy like Steve Allen, Milton Berle and Red Buttons though it also featured a few new comers like Janeane Garofalo.
In 1999, he starred with a host of who's-who in entertainment in the TV series the Rat Pack. The Rat Pack chronicled the moment Sinatra met each member of the Pack as well as their relationships with the Mob and the Kennedy's. In the film, Cooper had a cameo role as himself.
In 2001, Cooper had a cameo appearance in the Billy Crystal film Analyze This. He also reprised his role in the 2002 sequel, Analyze That. His last film as an actor was his role in the 2003 film, This Thing of Ours, about a group of young gangsters that pull off the biggest bank heist in Mafia history. In 2004, he starred with Jerry Lewis in a tribute to American TV Icon, Dean Martin. Despite the affectionate tribute to the late talk show host, the special was very poorly received.
Cooper often contributed material to Collin Quinn's Tough Crowd before it went off the air in 2004. In 2005, Cooper starred alongside many other popular comedians as they explored the different ways different comedians tell the dirtiest joke of all time in the Penn and Gillette documentary the Aristocrats. On October 4th, 2006, Cooper made his first appearance on The Howard Stern Show since Stern's move to Sirius Satellite Radio. He appeared again on October 11th, 2007. Cooper is a widower. Comedy Central has named him the 69th greatest stand-up comedian of all time.
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