Anderson Hays Cooper is an award-winning journalist and television personality, best known for his work with CNN. With a passion for war reporting and a deep curiosity about the human experience, Cooper has covered major news events around the world. From his early days as a self-taught journalist in Myanmar to his current role as the host of ‘Anderson Cooper 360°,’ he has consistently demonstrated his commitment to high journalistic standards. Throughout his career, Cooper has traveled to war-ravaged regions, filmed stories from Vietnam, Somalia, and Rwanda, and reported on significant events such as the tsunami in Sri Lanka and the Boston Marathon bombing. With his extensive experience and dedication to delivering the news, Anderson Cooper continues to be a prominent figure in broadcast journalism.
Quick Facts
- Also Known As: Anderson Hays Cooper
- Age: 56 Years, 56 Year Old Males
- Family:
- Father: Wyatt Emory Cooper
- Mother: Gloria Vanderbilt
- Siblings: Carter Vanderbilt Cooper, Christopher Stokowski, Leopold Stanislaus Stokowski
- Children: Wyatt Morgan Cooper
- Partner: Benjamin Maisani
- Born Country: United States
- Quotes By Anderson Cooper
- TV Anchors
- Height: 5’10” (178 cm), 5’10” Males
- U.S. State: New Yorkers
- More Facts
- Education: Yale University
- Awards:
- 1993 – Bronze Telly Award for Coverage of famine in Somalia
- 1997 – Emmy Award for Coverage of Princess Diana’s funeral
- 2001 – GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Journalism
- 2005 – National Headliner Award for Coverage of a Major News Event
- 2006 – Emmy Award for Outstanding Feature Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast
- 2007 – Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Breaking News Story – Long Form
- 2011 – Emmy Award for Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast
- 2011 – Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story – Long Form
- 2013 – GLAAD Media Award
Childhood & Early Life
Anderson Hays Cooper was born on June 3, 1967, in New York City, USA, to Wyatt Emory Cooper, a writer, and Gloria Vanderbilt, an artist, designer, and writer. He was exposed to media from a very young age. His baby photograph appeared on ‘Harper’s Bazaar.’ He was a guest on ‘The Tonight Show’ in 1970 when he was just three years old. He modeled for ‘Ford Models’ when he was 10 years old. He attended ‘Dalton School’ in New York City. After graduating, the adventurous youngster traveled around Africa for several months. He then went to ‘Yale University’ from where he graduated in 1989, majoring in political science. He interned for two summers at the ‘Central Intelligence Agency.’ However, he did not find it interesting enough and decided to become a journalist.
Career
After college, his first job was as a fact checker for a small news agency named ‘Channel One.’ Bored with his job, he obtained a fake press pass and entered Myanmar on his own. In Myanmar, he made his own news segments which he sold to ‘Channel One.’ He was made a correspondent for ABC News in 1995. Eventually, he became the co-anchor of its ‘World News Now’ program in 1999. In 2000, he started hosting ABC’s reality show ‘The Mole.’ The show is a competition in which the contestants work together to add money to a pot which only one of them will win in the end. He left the game show after its second season. He returned to broadcasting news in 2001 by joining CNN. Initially, he anchored alongside Paula Zahn in ‘American Morning’ before becoming CNN’s weekend prime-time anchor in 2002. He started anchoring ‘Anderson Cooper 3600,’ a news show on CNN, which is broadcast around the world on CNN International. The program covers a number of news stories and also includes analysis from experts. He covered several important news stories in 2005, including the tsunami in Sri Lanka, the Cedar revolution, the death of Pope John Paul II, and the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. These coverages made him very famous and also won him several prestigious awards. He was added as a co-anchor to the show ‘NewsNight’ in 2005 as a temporary arrangement. Following his addition, the rating of the program increased significantly and Cooper was made a permanent co-anchor. To leverage on Cooper’s popularity, CNN expanded his program ‘Anderson Cooper 3600’ to two hours and the show was shifted to the 10 pm slot in November 2005. CNN was so happy with his performance that he was offered a multi-year deal. His annual salary was doubled from $2 million to $4 million in 2007. In 2007, he also hosted the documentary ‘Planet in Peril’ with Sanjay Gupta and Jeff Corwin on CNN. He then hosted the ‘CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,’ a show in which ordinary people who perform extraordinary deeds are honored. He then ventured into daytime talk show and hosted ‘Anderson Live,’ a syndicated show which debuted in September 2011 as ‘Anderson.’ The show was distributed in the U.S. and Canada by ‘Warner Bros. Television.’ The show’s final episode was aired in May 2013. He became the first openly gay person to moderate the second presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016. Subsequently, he co-hosted the annual CNN New Year’s Eve coverage alongside Andy Cohen in 2017 and 2018. Apart from being a CNN anchor, Cooper also serves as the correspondent for CBS’s news program ‘60 Minutes.’
Major Works
He is best known as the host of the award-winning news show ‘Anderson Cooper 3600’ which is a nightly newscast that focuses on the day’s news and events. The show was initially aired for an hour, but Cooper’s rising popularity prompted CNN to expand the program for two hours. The show also includes expert analysis on the day’s events and issues.
Awards & Achievements
He was awarded the ‘National Order of Honour and Merit’ by the government of Haiti in 2010 for his reporting on 2010 Haiti earthquake. He won the ‘Emmy Award’ for ‘Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast’ for ‘Anderson Cooper 360: “Haiti in Ruins” in 2011. He has also won three other ‘Emmy Awards’; two in 2006 and one in 1997.
Personal Life & Legacy
He is openly gay and was in a long-term relationship with gay bar owner Benjamin Maisani. Cooper confirmed their separation in March 2018.