Pat Cooper Net Worth, Relationships, Age/Birthdate & Birthday

The Voice of Outrage: A Portrait of Pat Cooper

Pat Cooper — born Pasquale Vito Caputo on July 31, 1929 — cut a singular figure in American comedy. Known for a fiery, no-holds-barred persona, he rose from modest Brooklyn beginnings to become a staple on stage, television, and film. His birthday, July 31, became more than a date — it came to mark the beginning of a career defined by bold honesty, cultural pride, and an unmistakable voice that resonated with generations. 

Though Cooper passed away on June 6, 2023 at his home in Las Vegas, his legacy lives on — a testament to a man who never softened his edge, and who turned personal identity and authenticity into comedic art.

From Brooklyn Roots to Beverly Hills Shadows

Cooper’s origin story speaks of old-world immigrant grit reshaped into comedic ferocity. Born in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn to Italian-American parents, his father was a bricklayer from Mola di Bari, Italy; his mother was born in Brooklyn. 

He spent his early years working as a bricklayer and even a taxi driver — far from the glitz of show business. According to later interviews, his upbringing did not encourage dreams of comedy: at the family table, humor was seen as disrespectful, especially for an Italian household that held opera and tradition in high regard.

But Pat had other plans. He sneaked into nightclubs, tested his timing in small clubs around New York — often opening in venues filled with wiseguys, where his rough-edged honesty fit like a glove.

When Comedy Met Controversy — And Captured a Culture

The turning point came in 1963. A spot on The Jackie Gleason Show opened the door to the national spotlight. From there, Cooper quickly graduated to larger venues: the Copacabana in Manhattan, Las Vegas showrooms, and the famed Sands Hotel, where he would share the bill (and sometimes opening slots) with legendary performers such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, Jerry Lewis, and many others. 

In his act, Pat Cooper didn’t shy away from his Italian upbringing — he leaned into it. He satirized stereotypes, family expectations, and the immigrant experience. It was brash. It was loud. And it resonated with Italian-Americans and countless others who recognized the tension between assimilation and heritage.

His 1965 album Our Hero was hailed by critics as a milestone: an unapologetic, comedic snapshot of Italian-American life. One Billboard review claimed it did “for the Italian-American community what [another comedian] did for the Jewish-American community.”  The follow-up album, Spaghetti Sauce and Other Delights (1966), mixed spoken-word comedy with parody songs — reinforcing Cooper’s voice as one unafraid to push boundaries.

In a landscape of polite comedy, Cooper’s rawness stood out: he wasn’t a polished jester — he was the loud uncle at the family dinner screaming truths in a way that made people laugh, cringe, and think, all at once.

Relevance Across Generations: From Clubs to Screens

As decades passed, Cooper adapted. He didn’t just stay in smoky nightclubs — he moved into television and radio, tapping into broader audiences. He appeared on talk shows in the 1970s, was a frequent guest host on The Mike Douglas Show, and continued to tour the nightclub and casino circuit.

In the 1990s and beyond, one of his most memorable mainstream moments came on Seinfeld — the episode “The Friars Club,” in which he played himself. His unscripted, biting dialogue during that appearance captured what made him unique: spontaneous, unapologetic, authentically rough around the edges.

He also brought his signature presence to film. In Analyze This (1999) and its sequel Analyze That (2002), Cooper played mobster Salvatore Masiello — a fitting role that merged his real-life persona with cinematic caricature.

Even as tastes changed, Cooper’s authenticity kept him relevant. He frequently appeared on radio shows — most notably The Howard Stern Show — where his blunt, explosive humor found a new generation of fans.

In 2010 he published his autobiography, How Dare You Say How Dare Me! — an unfiltered chronicle of decades on stage, on road, in show business. Finally, in 2013, he stepped away from performing. 

The Dollars and the Drama: Net Worth and Family Complexities

According to publicly available estimations, at the time of his passing Cooper had a net worth of around US$ 6 million. 

His personal life, however, mirrored the complexities and contradictions of his comedy: he was married three times. First to Dolores DePaci (sometimes reported as Dolores Nola) in 1952, a union that ended in divorce. Then to singer Patti Prince (married ~1964), with whom he adopted a daughter, Patti Jo. That marriage ended around 2005, reportedly due to Patti Prince’s death.

In 2018, Cooper married his third wife, Emily Conner — a producer whom he had met years earlier at the famed Friars Club. 

He had two biological children — a son Michael and a daughter Louise — along with the adopted daughter Patti Jo.

Yet his relationship with his biological children was often strained. Publicly, Cooper said that his family “didn’t want love — they wanted money,” implying that his comedic success came at the cost of personal relationships.

These family tensions, along with his unapologetic comedic style, often seeped into his material. For Cooper, the stage was both escape and confession — a place to air his truth, no matter how controversial, raw, or personal.

Why Pat Cooper Still Matters

For much of his career, Pat Cooper was more than a comedian — he was a cultural translator. In the mid-20th century, when ethnic identity was often sanitized for mainstream audiences, Cooper made being loud, brash, and Italian-American a source of pride. He used humor not to hide his roots, but to amplify them.

His impact shows on multiple levels. He helped open doors for ethnic comedians to embrace heritage rather than distance themselves from it. He influenced the style of stand-up by privileging personality and honesty over polished performance. And through film, radio, albums, and television, he ensured his voice — and what it stood for — would reach beyond the nightclubs of Brooklyn and Las Vegas.

At a time when identity, assimilation, and authenticity still shape cultural conversations, Cooper’s legacy remains relevant: he reminds us that laughter can be rooted in history, belonging, and unfiltered truth. And that sometimes, the loudest voices cut through the noise to be heard — clearly, boldly, defiantly.

In Memoriam: A Final Curtain

Pat Cooper’s death on June 6, 2023 marked the end of an era. Yet for those who knew him — or heard his voice blasting through a radio speaker, saw his name on a marquee, or read his words in his autobiography — Pat Cooper remains. Not as a relic of bygone comedy, but as a raw, unvarnished spirit who transformed personal grit into universal laughter.

He taught us that sometimes being “too much” isn’t a flaw — it's the point.