Pat Cooper, Howard Stern regular who played himself on Seinfeld , dies at 93: 'Telling jokes up until the end'
Pat Cooper, the veteran stand-up comedian whose decades-long career included appearances in Seinfeld and the Howard Stern Show, has died. He was 93.
His former personal assistant Steve Garrin confirmed to EW that Cooper died Tuesday in his Las Vegas home. Cooper's wife Emily Conner says the comedian was "telling jokes up until the end," per Garrin. A cause of death has not been reported but Garrin added that Cooper had "a lot of health problems" and, in the last few weeks, knew the end was near.
Cooper, whose onstage persona earned him the nickname, "Comedian of Outrage," has been performing since the 1950s. He was a frequent guest host on the Mike Douglas Show in the '70s, made regular appearances on the Howard Stern Show through the 2000s and later appeared in films and TV shows, including Seinfeld's "The Friars Club" episode where he played himself.
Donaldson Collection/Getty Images Pat Cooper
Born Pasquale Caputo on July 31, 1929, in Brooklyn, he got his start playing local New York clubs. There, he took on the stage name Pat Cooper. His breakthrough was an appearance on The Jackie Gleason Show in 1963 and Cooper continued his success by opening for Frank Sinatra at the Sands in Las Vegas. He later became a regular opening act at clubs and casinos for Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Tony Bennett, Jerry Lewis and Sammy Davis Jr.
In 1965, Cooper released his well-regarded comedy album Our Hero, followed by the even more successful Spaghetti Sauce and Other Delights in '66. Cooper became a frequent guest on radio shows and began making TV appearances. He was also known for being a roast-master at the New York City Friars Club.
Cooper would later appear alongside Robert De Niro as a mobster in the 1999 comedy Analyze This and its 2002 sequel, Analyze That. Alongside many other comedians, he was featured in The Aristocrats, the acclaimed documentary about the world's dirtiest joke.
Denise Truscello/WireImage Pat Cooper
Cooper was married three times. He was married and divorced from his first wife, Dolores Nola, with whom he had two biological children. He adopted a daughter during his second marriage to singer Patti Prince who died in 2005 at age 69. Cooper later married theater producer Emily Conner, who he met at the Friars Club in 2010.
Cooper chronicled his career in his 2010 autobiography, How Dare You Say How Dare Me! and officially retired three years later. Over the course of his career, the famously fast-talking and outraged comedian became a mainstay in clubs from Midtown to Vegas. "I am a semi name," Cooper told the New York Observer in 1999. "I am not a Rodney Dangerfield. I am not a Bob Hope. I am a consistent performer. I'm packing rooms. But I'm happier than Rodney will ever be."
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