Anderson Cooper has said he was a news junkie before he even made his debut in this world on June 3, 1967. Born the son of Wyatt Emory Cooper and heiress Gloria Vanderbilt, Cooper suffered the loss of his father when he was eleven. That was said to have had a huge affect on him. Ten years later, Cooper was again affected by a tragedy that would lead him to become a journalist. In 1988, Cooper’s older brother Carter took his own life. While with his mother in her New York City 14th floor apartment, he jumped from the window. It is believed his suicide was caused by a psychotic episode brought about by the allergy medication Proventil.
In 1989, Cooper graduated from Yale with a Bachelor’s in Political Science. He began working as a correspondent in the early 90s and got his break when he lived in Vietnam and reported from there for a year. After his time in Vietnam, he reported from many war zones including Somalia and Bosnia. It seemed that the sorrow Cooper had experience in his own life led him to be compelled to report on the sorrow of others.
He became a correspondent for ABC News in 1995 and for a while, co-anchored the “ABC World News Now.” Oddly enough, he left that job in 2000 to become the host of the reality show “The Mole.” He got back into broadcast news with CNN shortly after the end of the second season of “The Mole.” He rose quickly in the ranks, becoming the anchor of “American Morning” with Paula Zahn. By 2002, he was the prime time anchor for the weekends. In September 2003, he started as the anchor of “Anderson Cooper 360º.” Cooper was in South Asia for the tsunami disaster as well as in Baghdad for the elections. He also covered the death of John Paul II and the marriage of Prince Charles to Camilla Parker-Bowles. He was a very prominent figure in the reporting of Hurricane Katrina and received quite a bit of praise for his hard hitting coverage of the disaster. Recently “Anderson Cooper 360 º” was expanded to a two-hour show and Cooper will now contribute five yearly reports to the famed CBS show, “60 Minutes.”
Born with what some would call a “silver spoon” in his mouth, Anderson Cooper has put in his time and earned a well-deserved reputation as a respected journalist.