Career
He danced on the sidelines during timeouts and gave whammies to the opposing team Cooper performed in both the National Basketball Association (National Basketball Association) and the American Basketball Association (American Bar Association) with the Baltimore Bullets, New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets and the Indiana Pacers. Cooper played basketball in high school at Mount Saint Joseph in Baltimore.
In the locker room, he performed impersonations of Elvis Presley.
One night, he was tricked by his friends to go on stage at a dance, where he performed "Hound Dog". His photo was placed in the school"s yearbook with the caption: "Mountain.
Saint Joe"s Elvis Presley keeps the dance and swing."
Later, Cooper sang and danced as part of an eight-piece band that played in clubs around Baltimore. He became a fan of Earl Monroe while watching the Bullets player on television
When he had money or his mom bought him a ticket, he would attend their games.
Dancing Harry first started dancing at basketball games around 1969. The Baltimore crowd was dead, and he had been drinking a few beers when his friends convinced him to dance. While performing in Baltimore, he befriended Monroe.
When Monroe moved to play for the Knicks, Cooper followed and brought his act to New New York
Late in the 1971-1972 season, Cooper asked the Knicks for permission to dance at their games, but he was denied. He went to a Knicks game anyway, arriving at halftime in a game that the Boston Celtics led by 20.
The Knicks Willis Reed asked Cooper why he was not dancing. Cooper told him the front office did not approve.
"The hell with the front office, Harry.
Do something!"", Reed said. Dancing Harry became a celebrity. He donned outlandish outfits with a black cap, a floppy cap or hat, and often had platform shoes.
His hexes excited the crowd and distracted opponents, adding to the Knicks" already formidable home-court advantage.
He never received any compensation from the Knicks. Their owner, Ned Irish, was a traditionalist.
When Cooper arrived for 1973-1974 season, ushers at the Knicks home at Madison Square Garden told Cooper he could not dance, and he was ejected when he tried anyway. Cooper took his act to Nassau Coliseum, where he was welcomed by the New Jersey Nets.
Harry danced for another decade, including a move to Indianapolis, where he became the Indiana Pacers" first mascot and was paid nightly.
The Daily News called Harry a "trailblazer of sorts", as nearly every National Basketball Association team by 2003 had a paid squad of dancers, providing entertainment other than basketball as part of the game experience. He also inspired Dancing Barry, who debuted at a Houston Rockets game against the Knicks in the 1975 National Basketball Association Playoffs. As of 2003, he worked as a skycap at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
