Since he has built his own illustrious career as a journalist and broadcast news reporter, it might be easy to forget that Anderson Cooper was famous from the moment he was born. While his father, Wyatt Cooper, was a successful author and actor, his mother Gloria Vanderbilt was a member of one of the most famous socialite families in the history of the United States.
As such, it makes sense that Anderson had a childhood that many would not describe as typical. While speaking to People, Anderson explained that his mother’s famous friends were often around the house, and he and his brother were never made to feel that they weren’t part of the conversation. As he put it, “If famous people were coming over to the house, like Charlie Chaplin or Truman Capote, we would be sitting at the table next to them.”
While the two children weren’t banished to another part of the home, Anderson adds that there were some expectations put into place. After all, if you’re going to spend a lot of time around adults, it’s probably a good idea to know how to behave like one — at least a little bit. He said, “We would be expected to kind of learn about who was coming and watch their movies and be able to converse with them.”
