Pat Cooper
(born Pasquale Caputo
on July 31, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American comedian. Cooper is primarily known for his stand-up routines, where he often makes reference to his Italian heritage from Mola di Bari, Italy. He was also a frequent guest on many radio shows in the 1980s, and more recently, Imus in the Morning
, The Howard Stern Show
and Opie and Anthony
.
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PAT COOPER TICKETS
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Early years
Pat Cooper was a twice-over high school dropout (Manual Training High School,
Brooklyn). For twelve years he was a sixth generation brick layer, and also had an extremely short career as a
furrier in
Manhattan's Garment District. But his weekends were spent being the funny guy at neighborhood block parties or local clubs' charity events. Soon though, he was paying his dues playing comedy clubs.
Performing career
Pat's big break came in 1963 via TV's
Jackie Gleason Show. From there on it was the big time, playing the top Supper Clubs, Hotels, and Casinos. It meant appearing on the same show as
Frank Sinatra,
Tony Bennett,
Steve Lawrence and
Eydie Gorme,
Connie Francis, and many others.
On
May 2,
1969, Cooper and singer
Jimmy Roselli premiered in their two man show at Broadway's
Palace Theatre, New York.
He was an occasional contributor to
Colin Quinn’s late-night TV show on Comedy Central,
Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn
.
Cooper commented on the subject of comedy and comedians in the 2004 TV series
Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time
and in the 2005 film
The Aristocrats
.
Pat Cooper made a guest appearance on the
Opie and Anthony Show
on
XM Satellite Radio on
April 27,
2006,
October 17,
2007, and
April 24,
2008.
In the Summer of 2007, Cooper was a featured interview on the HBO special—
Brooklyn Dodgers...Ghosts of Flatbush.
Recording career
During the 1960s Cooper recorded 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".
Acting career
Cooper appears in the episode “
The Friars Club” of the TV series
Seinfeld
; he initially supports Jerry’s membership in the Friars Club but becomes upset when Jerry mistakenly walks out with a jacket belonging to the club.
Cooper also appeared in the films
Analyze This
and
Analyze That
.
Private life and family
Cooper is a
widower; he was married to Patti (Delprince) Cooper of
Ashtabula, Ohio. They
adopted a baby girl in the early seventies and named her
Patti Jo.
On
August 8,
1989, Cooper made an appearance on Stern’s show, which resulted with an over-the-phone and on-air altercation between him, his daughter, his son (to whom he hadn’t spoken in over five years) and his mother. Joe Walsh of
The Eagles was also in studio during the altercation.
A
book has been
written & published on line (August 12, 2009) called,
"Dear Pat Cooper," by his son,
Michael Caputo.