Beloved Italian-American comedian Pat Cooper passed away this week at the age of 93, leaving behind hours of hilarious, sterling rants. Cooper was known for his edgy personality on stage, but in real life he harbored a long-standing feud with shock jock Howard Stern, on whom Cooper was a frequent guest on the radio show.
Cooper was a mainstay of the New York comedy scene in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, releasing comic albums, working relentlessly in clubs, and making turns on the Borscht Belt track.
Growing up with a fascination with Cooper, Stern began inviting comics for frequent interviews on his smashing radio show in the ’80s, and was delighted when Cooper spoke of the long, impromptu rants that led to the news of the day.
Cooper was grumpy—when Stern told the comic that “you always have an open invitation to come,” Cooper took it as a gross insult because he clearly felt he needed to be invited.
As Cooper’s career progressed, his vicious comedic style eventually succeeded in alienating his parents, his wife and estranged children, and eventually Stern. When Stern brought Cooper’s estranged son, Michael, and Cooper’s ex-wife, Dolores Nola, on the air, Cooper refused to speak to family members he hadn’t met and began to engage in Stern.
Inside Special PartsBad blood escalated when Stern’s 1993 bestseller mentioned radio host Cooper as one of the funniest people ever, but removed him from his list of favorite comics only as Sam Kinison, Eddie Murphy, and Jackie Mason. That was inexcusably humiliating for Cooper. Stern invited Cooper to his show in 1994, sparking another spectacular live-streaming boom for Cooper.
In 1995, Cooper made a big comeback to the show and the two seemed to live temporarily, but the softening would never last long.
in 2001 a New York Magazine the reporter overheard Cooper speaking badly of Stern to Joy Behar, Patty Hearst and Jerry Orbach and others at a Friar’s Club luncheon in New York City.
At the time, Stern had forbidden Opie and Anthony, radio presenters working for Infinity Broadcasting, the same company as Stern, from uttering Stern’s name on their programmes. “I said, ‘Who are you to tell people what to say?’ ” Cooper said at the time. “How dare you?”
In 2006, Cooper returned to his show once again, where Stern said he hadn’t seen the comedian in nearly seven years. In this episode, Cooper told Stern to “start eating” “because he was too thin” and advised Stern to spend some of the “half a billion dollars” on food.
Stern later confronted Cooper about commenting on his children on other talk shows; Stern said that he said his kids stopped loving him, especially because of some of the things Cooper said on the live broadcast. Cooper said he misunderstood Stern’s comments.
As a guest at Opie and Anthony in 2014, Cooper shed a 50-minute teardown against Stern.
“I’m not screwing him up, I’m telling you he’s a piece of shit,” Cooper said. “He told everybody that everybody was a mess, he went after people’s families. “You’re going after his family,” she cried. He’s a goddamn baby. I will follow you 24/7. I was his best guest, the only one who got his shit, and he’s a spy. Everyone had people who found their private life.”
“If you mentioned his children, he went crazy,” Cooper continued. “He doesn’t even want anyone to know he has kids anymore. People who love it in America, it’s your prerogative. But I learned a lesson. I quit and said Pat, it’s over.”
Stern has yet to publicly announce Cooper’s passing, but another frequent guest, Artie Lange, shared this loving homage on Twitter Wednesday.