Anderson Cooper's Family Tragedy: Details on the Heartbreaking Story

The Gist:

• Despite all the success Anderson Cooper has had in his career, he's faced several family misfortunes.
• When Anderson was just 10 years old, his father Wyatt passed away.
• His brother Carter would later take his own life in 1988.

Talk show host Anderson Cooper seems to have his life together more than most of us do — in addition to his popular CNN series, Anderson Cooper 360˚, he is a regular correspondent for 60 Minutes, and the proud father of two sons.

Despite his successes, however, the TV personality has had to overcome several family-related adversities. So, what exactly happened to Anderson Cooper and his family? Here are the details on the hardships the 56-year-old anchor has faced over the years.

You've most likely heard Anderson discuss his late father, Wyatt E. Cooper, who was a successful author and screenwriter, according to Amo Mama. Sadly, Wyatt passed away in 1978 when Anderson was only 10 years old, due to complications he faced during open-heart surgery. Wyatt was only 50 years old when he died. 

In a 2016 CNN segment, Anderson opened up about his dad's loss, saying it shaped who he is today. 

“Loss changes you. Particularly when you lose a parent at a young age. The world suddenly seems a much different place. More dangerous... The person I was before my father’s death, the person I was meant to be was far more open, more interesting than the person I’ve become,” he explained.

Anderson is one of four boys in his family, but sadly, his brother Carter died by suicide in 1988, at the devastatingly young age of 23, according to AOL. Carter jumped out of his mother's penthouse apartment window, which was on the 14th floor. His mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, sadly witnessed it happen.

26 years after the death of his brother, Anderson told Howard Stern in 2014 that his brother's suicide changed his life.

“He was so much smarter than me, he had gone to Princeton, he was working at American Heritage as a book editor, and [his suicide] was so inconceivable to me... The family members are left for their entire lives wondering why. Sometimes there isn’t any why," Anderson said.

Then, in December 2023, Anderson opened up about his brother's death during an intimate interview with President Joe Biden. While most interviews with a president tend to focus on politics and law, this meeting centered around grief. For those unaware, Biden lost his wife Neilia and their 13-month-old daughter Naomi in a car accident. Several years later, his son Beau passed away from cancer.

Anderson's mom, fashion icon Gloria Vanderbilt, lost her life to stomach cancer last year in June 2019, according to CNN. Though she was apparently young at heart, Gloria lived until she was 95 years old, and reportedly passed away peacefully at her home with her remaining family by her side.

"Gloria Vanderbilt was an extraordinary woman, who loved life, and lived it on her own terms... She was a painter, a writer and designer but also a remarkable mother, wife, and friend," Anderson said in a statement to CNN. "She was 95 years old, but ask anyone close to her, and they'd tell you: She was the youngest person they knew — the coolest and most modern."

Despite the hardships Anderson has faced over the years, he seems to be living his life to the fullest. We're proud of the new dad and can't wait to see young Wyatt Morgan Cooper and Sebastian Luke grow alongside his father.