Pat Cooper
Encyclopedia
Pat Cooper is an American actor
and 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, most notably The Howard Stern Show in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, in January 2011, and more recently, Imus in the Morning
and Opie and Anthony
.
's Garment District. But his weekdays were spent at neighborhood block parties or local clubs' charity events. Soon though, he was paying his dues playing strip clubs.
, Palumbo's, and various Atlantic City and Las Vegas casino/hotels. It meant appearing on the same show as Frank Sinatra
, Martin and Lewis
, Tony Bennett
, Sergio Franchi
, Sammy Davis Jr., Connie Francis
, Bobby Darin
, Tony Martin
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
.
On radio, Pat Cooper has made memorable guest appearances on such programs as The Howard Stern Show, Bob Grant
and the Opie and Anthony
Show (the latter on XM Satellite Radio
on April 27, 2006, October 17, 2007, April 24, 2008, March 16, 2010, November 16, 2010 and February 25, 2011), and on The Jay Thomas
Show on January 25, 2011.
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
.
In the Summer of 2007, Cooper was a featured interview on the HBO special—Brooklyn Dodgers...Ghosts of Flatbush.
including: "Our Hero", "Spaghetti Sauce and Other Delights", "You Don't Have to be Italian To Like Pat Cooper" (1967), "An Italian Wedding" and "More Saucy Stories From..." (1968). Pat Cooper's comedy albums have sold millions of copies, and have earned Pat numerous gold and platinum records.
” 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
.
, "How Dare You Say How Dare Me!" with co-authors Steve Garrin and Rich Herschlag. Actor and comedian Jerry Lewis
wrote the foreword. The book is published by Square One Publishers.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
. Cooper is primarily known for his stand-up routines, where he often makes reference to his Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
heritage from Mola di Bari
Mola di Bari
Mola di Bari, more commonly referred to simply as Mola, is a small coastal town of about 26,000 inhabitants located approximately 22 kilometres south of Bari in the Southern Italian region of Apulia ....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. He was also a frequent guest on many radio shows, most notably The Howard Stern Show in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, in January 2011, and more recently, Imus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning is an American radio show hosted by Don Imus on Cumulus Media Networks , and simulcast for television on Fox Business Network....
and Opie and Anthony
Opie and Anthony
Opie and Anthony are the hosts of The Opie & Anthony Show, a talk radio program airing in the United States and Canada on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Since the merger of the two satellite companies, this is now called Sirius/XM...
.
Early years
Pat Cooper was born Pasquale Caputo in Brooklyn, New York. He was a twice-over high school dropout (Manual Training High School, Brooklyn). He was a sixth-generation bricklayer and also had an extremely short career as a furrier in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Garment District. But his weekdays were spent at neighborhood block parties or local clubs' charity events. Soon though, he was paying his dues playing strip clubs.
Performing career
Pat's big break came in 1953 via TV's Jackie Gleason Show. From there on it was the big time, playing the top nightclubs such as the 500 Club, Latin CasinoLatin Casino
The Latin Casino was a Philadelphia-area nightclub just across the Delaware River in Cherry Hill. The Latin was famous for showcasing entertainers like Cherry Hill Estates neighbors Bobby Darin, Al Martino, and Frankie Avalon , Richard Pryor , Frank Sinatra, The...
, Palumbo's, and various Atlantic City and Las Vegas casino/hotels. It meant appearing on the same show as Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis were an American comedy team, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis as the comedic "foil". The pair first met in 1945; their debut as a duo occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24/25, 1946....
, Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Sergio Franchi
Sergio Franchi
Sergio Franchi was an Italian tenor.Franchi was born in Cremona, Italy. His father wanted him to become an electrical engineer, so he studied both music and engineering simultaneously. The family moved to South Africa in 1952, where Sergio worked part-time as a draftsman, while continuing to study...
, Sammy Davis Jr., Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
, Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
, Tony Martin
Tony Martin
Anthony or Tony Martin may refer to:Education*Tony Martin , professor at Wellesley College known for racial controversies in the early 1990s.*Donald A...
and many others.
On May 2, 1969, Cooper and singer Jimmy Roselli
Jimmy Roselli
Michael John "Jimmy" Roselli was one of the most significant Italian-American pop singers of his time, during an era of formidable competition from such performers as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Frankie Laine, Vic Damone and Jerry Vale.-Life:Jimmy Roselli's biggest and only pop hit was...
premiered in their two man show at Broadway's Palace Theatre, New York
Palace Theatre, New York
The Palace Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1564 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.-History:Designed by architects Kirchoff & Rose, the theatre was built by Martin Beck a California vaudeville entrepreneur and Broadway impresario. The project experienced a number of business problems before...
.
On radio, Pat Cooper has made memorable guest appearances on such programs as The Howard Stern Show, Bob Grant
Bob Grant (radio)
Bob Grant , is an American radio host whose real name is Robert Ciro Gigante. A veteran of broadcasting in New York City, Grant is considered a pioneer of the "conservative" and "confrontational" talk radio format.-Early work:...
and the Opie and Anthony
Opie and Anthony
Opie and Anthony are the hosts of The Opie & Anthony Show, a talk radio program airing in the United States and Canada on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Since the merger of the two satellite companies, this is now called Sirius/XM...
Show (the latter on XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
on April 27, 2006, October 17, 2007, April 24, 2008, March 16, 2010, November 16, 2010 and February 25, 2011), and on The Jay Thomas
Jay Thomas
Jay Thomas is an American actor, comedian and radio talk show host.-Personal life:Thomas was born in Kermit, Texas. He was raised in his Italian American mother's Roman Catholic faith, although his father was Protestant....
Show on January 25, 2011.
He was an occasional contributor to Colin Quinn
Colin Quinn
Colin Edward Quinn is an American stand-up comedian and writer best known for his five years in the cast of Saturday Night Live, as the sidekick/announcer of MTV's late 1980s gameshow Remote Control and as host of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn on Comedy Central from 2002–2004.-Early years:Quinn was...
’s late-night TV show on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn
Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn
Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn is a comedic talk show that aired on Comedy Central. The show featured roundtable discussions, inviting various guests of many views, mixing mostly comics/entertainers expressing themselves with journalists and political figures. Quinn's regular guests consisted mainly...
.
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
The Aristocrats (film)
The Aristocrats is a 2005 documentary film about the famous dirty joke of the same name. It was conceived and produced by comedians Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza, edited by Emery Emery, and released to theaters by TH!NKFilm...
.
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 RecordsUnited Artists Records
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
including: "Our Hero", "Spaghetti Sauce and Other Delights", "You Don't Have to be Italian To Like Pat Cooper" (1967), "An Italian Wedding" and "More Saucy Stories From..." (1968). Pat Cooper's comedy albums have sold millions of copies, and have earned Pat numerous gold and platinum records.
Acting career
Cooper appears in the episode “The Friars ClubThe Friars Club
"The Friar's Club" is the 128th episode of NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 18th episode for the 7th season. It aired on March 7, 1996.-Plot:...
” of the TV series Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
; 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
Analyze This
Analyze This is a 1999 gangster comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the screenplay with playwright Kenneth Lonergan and Peter Tolan. The film stars Robert De Niro as a mafioso and Billy Crystal as a psychiatrist...
and Analyze That
Analyze That
Analyze That is a 2002 mafia comedy film, and a sequel to the 1999 film Analyze This. The film was directed and co-written by Harold Ramis and stars Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal who respectively reprise their roles as mobster Paul Vitti and psychiatrist Ben Sobel.-Plot:Near the completion of...
.
Publishing career
In November 2010, Cooper published his autobiographyAutobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, "How Dare You Say How Dare Me!" with co-authors Steve Garrin and Rich Herschlag. Actor and comedian Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
wrote the foreword. The book is published by Square One Publishers.