About

Known credits:
29
Birthday:
1921-03-19
Place of birth:
Caerphilly, South Wales
Website:
N/A

Tommy Cooper

Overview

Born in Caerphilly, South Wales, at 19 Llwyn Onn Street, Trecenydd, Cooper was delivered by the woman who owned the house in which the family was lodging. His parents were Welsh-born army recruiting sergeant father Thomas H. (Tom) Cooper, and his English-born wife Gertrude (née Gertrude C. Wright) from Crediton, Devon. In light of the heavily polluted air and the offer of a job for his father, the family moved to Exeter, Devon, when Cooper was three and gained the West Country accent that was part of his act. The family lived in the back of Haven Banks, where Cooper attended Mount Radford School for Boys, and helped his parents run their ice cream van, which attended fairs on the weekend. At the age of eight an aunt bought Cooper a magic set and he spent hours perfecting the tricks. Magic ran in his family—his brother David (born 1930) opened a magic shop in the 1960s in Slough High Street (then Buckinghamshire now Berkshire) called D. & Z. Cooper's Magic Shop. On 15 April 1984, Cooper collapsed and soon after died from a heart attack in front of millions of television viewers, midway through his act on the London Weekend Television variety show Live From Her Majesty's, transmitted live from Her Majesty's Theatre. His stage persona required that his act intentionally went wrong for comic purposes, leading to some initial uncertainty about whether this collapse was real.

Known for

Acting
2024 Tommy Cooper: The Lost Tapes Actor Himself N/A
N/A
2021 Parkinson at 50 Actor Self (archive footage) 59
Average
2018 Tommy Cooper: In His Own Words Actor N/A
N/A
2006 Tommy Cooper - The Missing Pieces Actor himself N/A
N/A
2006 Tommy Cooper - The Very Best Of Actor himself 59
Average
2004 The Best of Tommy Cooper Actor Self 59
Average
2001 Tommy Cooper - A Feztival Of Fun With Tommy Cooper Actor Himself N/A
N/A
2000 Tommy Cooper - Tribute To A Comic Genius Actor N/A
N/A
1997 Tommy Cooper: Master Of Comedy Actor N/A
N/A
1993 Tommy Cooper - The Magic Touch Actor N/A
N/A
1989 Just Like That! Actor Self (archival footage) N/A
N/A
1986 A Tribute to Tommy Cooper Actor Self N/A
N/A
1984 An Audience with Joan Rivers Actor 58
Average
1982 It's Your Move Actor Big Removal Man 59
Average
1980 Cooper's Half Hour Actor N/A
N/A
1978 Cooper - Just Like That Actor N/A
N/A
1975 Cooper Actor Self 69
Fair
1975 Cooper (UK) Actor N/A
N/A
1973 The Tommy Cooper Hour Actor Self N/A
N/A
1970 It's Tommy Cooper Actor N/A
N/A
1967 The Plank Actor Larger Workman 59
Average
1966 Life With Cooper Actor N/A
N/A
1966 Cooperama Actor N/A
N/A
1963 The Cool Mikado Actor Pooh-Bah, Private Detective N/A
N/A
1960 And the Same to You Actor Horace Hawkins 59
Average
1958 Cooper's Capers Actor N/A
N/A
1957 Cooper (or Life With Tommy) Actor N/A
N/A
Tommy Cooper - Just Like That Actor N/A
N/A
Tommy Cooper at the BBC Actor Self (archive footage) N/A
N/A