Growing up in a prominent family, Cooper was introduced to the media at an early age. As an infant, he appeared in Harper’s Bazaar alongside his mother. At age three, he was a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Between the ages of 10 and 13, he modeled for fashion brands such as Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Macy's.

Cooper experienced significant personal loss early in life. His father died of heart failure during open-heart surgery on January 5, 1978, when Cooper was just 10. A decade later, his older brother, Carter Vanderbilt Cooper, tragically died by suicide at age 23. These events deeply influenced Cooper’s perspective and contributed to his decision to pursue journalism. Reflecting on this, Cooper stated, “The only thing I really knew is that I was hurting and needed to go someplace where the pain outside matched the pain I was feeling inside.”

Cooper has often cited his father's influence on his life. "I reread his book, Families, probably once a year," he told New York Magazine. "To me, it’s sort of a letter from him to me—a guide on how he would have wanted me to live.” His mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, once remarked, “Those are the two events that affected him at a gut level... When he became a reporter, it enabled him to work with compassion and maturity beyond his years."

Education and Early Career

Cooper attended the Dalton School, a top private school in New York City. He graduated early at age 17 and traveled to Africa for several months, an experience that reflected his growing adventurousness. "He wanted to go, and I let him," his mother shared. "I knew it was in his nature to take risks."

Upon his return, Cooper enrolled at Yale University, where he majored in political science. During two summers, he interned at the Central Intelligence Agency. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1989.

After college, Cooper faced challenges breaking into on-air journalism. While working as a fact-checker for Channel One, a news network broadcast in schools, he forged a press pass to enter Myanmar and report on student protests against the military regime. He later studied Vietnamese at the University of Hanoi and produced stories about life in Vietnam for Channel One. His field reporting eventually expanded to include conflict zones in Somalia, Bosnia, and Rwanda. These stories were broadcast to more than 12,000 classrooms nationwide through Channel One News.

In 1995, Cooper joined ABC News as a correspondent. He served in multiple roles, including co-anchoring World News Now and hosting the reality show The Mole. He also occasionally filled in for Regis Philbin on Live with Regis and Kelly.

CNN and Anderson Cooper 360

In 2001, Cooper left ABC to join CNN, returning to hard news shortly after the 9/11 attacks. He initially co-anchored American Morning with Paula Zahn and became CNN’s weekend prime-time anchor within a year. Since 2002, he has co-hosted CNN’s New Year's Eve broadcast from Times Square.