History Creator / AndersonCooper

* {{Corpsing}}: Can't keep a straight face while reporting on [[InherentlyFunnyWords Dyngus Day]] as well as during several ''Ridiculist'' segments. Who can blame the guy? Even Wolf Blitzer has to tell him to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4OR83J2IXQ knock it off.]]

He returned to serious journalism in the wake of September 11, this time at Creator/{{CNN}}. After a stint with Paula Zahn on ''American Morning'' and another as the channel's weekend anchor, he was given the prime-time slot of 8 pm weekdays, for a broadcast entitled ''Anderson Cooper 360°'' that runs either one or two hours depending on that day's news stories. Never content to stay in a studio when he could be on location instead, he became famous for his coverage of international humanitarian disasters. 2005 in particular was a breakout year for him; in those twelve months, he covered the tsunami in Sri Lanka, Lebanon's Cedar Revolution, the Iraq War, the famine in Niger, and -- in a series of broadcasts that won him a Peabody -- the landfall and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. By the end of the year, he was a household name, and in subsequent years he went on to cover -- among ''many'' others -- the Haitian earthquake, the Arab Spring, the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima, and the terror attacks which hit Paris in late 2015.

* ''Anderson Cooper 360°'' (2003--present): Creator/{{CNN}}

* AssholeVictim: In his guest appearance on ''Series/FindingYourRoots'', Cooper learned that his 4x great-grandfather was a Southern slaveowner who ultimately was beaten to death by a slave with a farm hoe. [[ActuallyPrettyFunny Anderson found this absolutely hilarious]].
-->'''Professor Gates''': Do you think he deserved it?
-->'''Cooper''': Yeah!

* BrokenBird: ''Dispatches'' reveals that losing his father at age ten and his brother to suicide at age 21 did some serious damage to his psyche; he relates that he ran off to war zones in order to help himself "feel again". Fortunately, after Hurricane Katrina, he was able to start patching himself back together.
-->''Africa was a place to forget, and to be forgotten.''

* BrokenBird: ''Dispatches'' reveals that losing his father at age ten and his brother [[spoiler:to suicide]] at age 21 did some serious damage to his psyche; he relates that he ran off to war zones in order to help himself "feel again". Fortunately, after Hurricane Katrina, he was able to start patching himself back together.

* AssholeVictim: In his guest appearance on ''Finding Your Roots'', Cooper learned that his 4x great-grandfather was a Southern slaveowner who ultimately was beaten to death by a slave with a farm hoe. [[ActuallyPrettyFunny Anderson found this absolutely hilarious]].

!! Tropes pertaining to Mr. Cooper:

* AnnoyingLaugh: His laugh has been said to sound like a dying weasel. Good thing he's [[{{Adorkable}} so freakin' cute]]!
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: He has a talent for these. Pretty much any video titled some variant of "[bigoted person] OWNED by Anderson Cooper" involves him firing these at the interviewee non-stop.
* BadassBookworm: Went to Yale and won a Peabody Award for journalism. Spends a lot of time running around in a bulletproof vest. Also, it took all of half an hour for the Internet to declare him the winner of the first 2016 Democratic presidential debate -- which he was ''moderating''.

* TheBigBoard: For elections.
* BlueBlood: As far as American money is concerned: He is a son of the Vanderbilts (his mother being Gloria Vanderbilt).
* BreatherEpisode: This is why, in 2010, Anderson hosted a daytime talk show for two seasons -- while still anchoring ''[=AC360=]'', no less! He described it as a chance to catch his breath and have some fun, in contrast to the humanitarian disasters he usually covers.
** He also described his stint as the host of ''The Mole'' like this. He felt disillusioned with the tabloid fodder and fluff pieces that were being assigned to him to cover so he briefly quit to host the show.

* CampGay: Rarely apparent, but when you get him started on Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/LadyGaga, and trashy reality TV...
* ClarkKentOutfit: Unless he is wearing a T-shirt or he is totally shirtless, it is hard to tell how muscular he really is.
* {{Corpsing}}: Reporting on [[InherentlyFunnyWords Dyngus Day]] as well as during several ''Ridiculist'' segments. Who can blame the guy? Even Wolf Blitzer has to tell him to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4OR83J2IXQ knock it off.]]
* CrazyPrepared[=/=]ProperlyParanoid: He admitted in an interview that he's so concerned about surviving daily life or events like bio-attacks that he actually keeps a [[http://www.dinnerpartydownload.org/anderson-cooper/ Tyvek suit in his]] office at CNN.
* CutenessProximity: See Anderson Cooper. See Anderson Cooper meet an adorable animal. See Anderson Cooper devolve into a cooing mess.
-->'''Anderson''': [''cooing to Snooki the sloth''] '''You''' know where Surinam is, don't you, girl? [''smooch'']

* DeadpanSnarker: For all his levelheaded and mostly-neutral news coverage, when he decides to break out the snark, you'll get dehydration just by listening. Prime examples include every [=RidicuList=] segment he's ever done, including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0-e1BupUHw this one]] about [[Series/TheHills Heidi and Spencer]].
--> '''Anderson''': [''on if Norway is a predominantly white country''] You can also tell by using the high tech devices called the eyes in your head.
* GoingForTheBigScoop: Death and destruction anywhere in the world pretty much acts as a summoning beacon for this man. He is, by his own account, ''terrible'' at taking a vacation and always itching to go where the story is hottest. It's paid off.
* HehHehYouSaidX: The usual culprit for the above-mentioned cracking up.
-->'''Anderson''': ...I have the sense of humor of a twelve-year-old.
* HeroicBystander / BadassNormal: Lots of journalists are content to merely record the events of wherever they go. Cooper, [[http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/18/anderson-in-the-midst-of-looting-chaos/ not so much.]]
* IntrepidReporter: Whatever developments he's reporting on, from Hurricane Katrina to a Lebanese revolution to a tsunami in Sri Lanka, it's a fair bet that if Cooper can report from in the thick of it, he will be. There's a reason he won a Peabody for his Hurricane Katrina coverage, folks.
* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: Anderson Cooper, Peabody Award winner and one of the most respected broadcast journalists in the ''world'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdTea1_1Lio squees like a high school fangirl]] about getting pulled up onstage to dance with Music/{{Madonna}} during her "Rebel Heart" tour.

* ManlyGay: Comes with being a serious news anchor.
* ManlyTears:
** He nearly broke down on-camera during Hurricane Katrina at the sight of a young man in a pickup truck carrying a salvaged American flag -- he was visibly fighting back tears and only just able to pull himself back together enough to go on. He notes in his memoir that amid catastrophic governmental incompetence, starvation, wholesale destruction, and the sight of dead bodies in the streets, it was just too much.
** He could barely hold [[http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2016/06/14/anderson-cooper-reads-orlando-victims-names-ac.cnn/video/playlists/who-are-the-orlando-shooting-victims/ his composure]] on-camera as he covered the aftermath of the Orlando gay nightclub shooting. He's clearly struggling to keep himself together as he read out the names of the 49 victims of the tragedy.
** Again in early 2018, responding to Donald Trump's characterization of Haiti as a "shithole country." As he recalled the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, in which he ''personally helped rescue people'' - and offered a stinging rebuttal to Trump - he struggled mightily to maintain his composure and not break down in tears.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfbRneB9wcA Towards the end of his mother's obituary]], you can hear his voice begin to slightly crack up while talking about how she had an extraordinary life.
* NonIdleRich: Again, his mother was ''Gloria Vanderbilt.'' (As in ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Gloria..._Happy_at_Last Little Gloria, Happy at Last]]''). Not only that, he's even stated that she disinherited him from the family fortune because she and his father wanted to teach him the value of earning his own money.
* NoSell: Even in the face of the most bigoted, vitriolic rants known to man -- up to and including personal attacks -- Anderson maintains a look of polite, curious interest while gently but firmly asking the ranter to please answer the question. This is one of his most-praised talents as a journalist. Of course, the same [[{{Corpsing}} cannot be said]] for [[HehHehYouSaidX accidental or deliberate innuendo]]. Or toilet jokes. Or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PysduMqALwQ insults to his basil office candle]].
* OlderThanTheyLook: It's a bit of a running gag now that he simply appears to have ''not aged'' since the late '90s, to the point where Creator/JohnOliver [[Series/LastWeekTonightWithJohnOliver actually called]][[note]]July 20, 2014 episode[[/note]] the Middle East "the Anderson Cooper's face" of international affairs because it ''never changes''. For reference: Anderson Cooper, [[http://www.politico.com/gallery/2012/07/anderson-coopers-15-defining-moments/000240-003029-fullscreen.html 1999]] vs. Anderson Cooper, [[http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/2f42cc7089affc743cb58cc2e898154764329256/c=27-0-383-268&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2015/08/25/SNJGroup/CherryHill/635761153851021796-Screen-Shot-2015-08-25-at-3.54.42-PM.png 2015]]. In the former picture, he's 31. In the latter, he's 48. Yes, ''really''.
* OnlySaneMan: ''Series/TheDailyShow'' seems to see him like this. Creator/JonStewart has never pulled his punches about his disgust with CNN, but never once have any of those punches been directed Cooper's way, and Stewart has expressed honest respect for his fair, neutral journalistic integrity and called himself a "big fan".
-->'''Jon''': ...for me, that's the toughest thing, when I see you in a dangerous place, it makes me -- I just want to give you a big old hug, 'cause, you know, we're big fans of yours.
* JustForFun/OneOfUs: Has mentioned playing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2ZBVw4nTGs D&D]] as a child.
* OpenSecret: Cooper's sexuality was pretty well known before he came out, but he decided to make it official in 2012.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Anderson has built his reputation on calm, level-headed, even-handed journalism. So when he [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsuRCXiYGO4 went after]] Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu in the wake of Hurricane Katrina -- when he had spent days in amongst the rubble and bodies and unspeakable human suffering -- it ''really'' got people's attention, and spoke volumes about just how angry the situation had made him.
** Similarly, he became [[https://www.facebook.com/aplusapp/videos/1871152692955658/?hc_ref=ARSBcmVyO6xEL_QClPCJ_tRiQSswVXBS_qAjOkcTl1a0yJBxM2C8w53LucNTPUIo778 visibly choked up]] when recounting the strength and dignity of the Haitian people after the 2009 earthquake, a few days after Donald Trump derogatorily referred to it as a [[UnfortunateImplications "shithole]] [[KickTheDog country."]] Cooper's CNN team had been the very first news coverage team on the ground there and [[ItsPersonal the trauma he'd seen had affected Cooper very personally.]]
* ParentalSexualitySquick: Poor guy's reaction was this when his mother told him in the most explicit way possible about her storied love life. ''Especially'' since the name of their shared memoir is ''[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Nothing Left Unsaid]]''.
-->'''Anderson''': ''[talking to Creator/StephenColbert]'' She volunteered that it was the first time she didn't have to fake an orgasm. I was like, '[[http://imgur.com/CP2mKIQ AAAAUGHHH????]]' It's a visual I've never been able to get out of my mind since then.
* PassThePopcorn: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnhFiGWcYlo While airing]] clips of the Rod Blagojevich... ''mess''.
* PickyEater: On various shows, including his own, he's teased for his limited palate (among other things, he dislikes hot foods and drinks) and his habit of eating the same thing for days or weeks on end if he takes a liking to it. Whenever he appeared with Creator/AnthonyBourdain, Bourdain would take perverse glee in forcing Cooper to eat something exotic simply to get a disgusted reaction on camera.
* PlatonicLifePartners: He's close friends with Andy Cohen and were actually set up on a blind date back in the '90s, but that never panned out. Thanks to sharing mutual social circles, they're often seen hanging out together and even have sporadic live shows around the country where they just talk and joke around on stage. He’s also Cohen’s son Benjamin’s godfather.
* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: Enough [[HehHehYouSaidX exposure]] to Kathy Griffin has taken him from baffled horror to resigned amusement when she starts stripping down to her underwear in public. By this point, he knows she's not going to listen to him, but he makes a valiant effort anyway.
* RedshirtReporter: He seems to be under the impression that the best place for him to be reporting from is wherever on the globe he's most likely to be killed or maimed in any given week. This is ''quite'' intentional. Hence all those hours in a bulletproof vest.

* SilverFox: He's one of the page images. By the time he made it big, he had already gone silver; his hair was almost fully grey by his ''mid-twenties''.
* ShamuFu: He was one of the truly alarming number of celebrities hit in the face with a fish in the "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9qA8c-E_oA Salmon Cannon]]" segment of ''Series/LastWeekTonightWithJohnOliver'''s first season finale. Sadly, the camera didn't stick around long enough to show the probably-inevitable [[{{Corpsing}} giggle fit]].
* SociallyAwkwardHero: [[http://www.allthingsandersoncooper.com/2014/11/anderson-cooper-in-italian-vogue.html Self-admitted]]. Andy Cohen once said that when they went on vacation together to Brazil with a group of their friends, he went back to their hotel to nap instead of joining Andy in soaking in the atmosphere.
-->I’m painfully shy. I’m the person at the party who hides in the kitchen, holding a beer and leaning against the refrigerator while talking to one or two people max – that is, if I even decide to go to a party.
-->'''Andy Cohen''': [Anderson] gets bored in two minutes. He's like "Nope, I'm just going to go take a nap."
* {{Squee}}: The only accurate word for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9wT9JVYihA Anderson's reaction]] to meeting a real live sloth, with which he is self-admittedly obsessed.
-->'''Anderson''': [''holding Snooki the sloth''] This is basically the happiest I've ever been.

* StraightManAndWiseGuy:
** He ''tries'' to be the StraightMan to Creator/KathyGriffin's ridiculous antics during their New Year's Eve broadcasts, but... it doesn't usually work. She tends to get him laughing about two minutes in, and he doesn't really stop for the rest of the evening.
** He also has the same dynamic with Andy Cohen, with Andy supplying the jokes and snark while Anderson valiantly trying not to giggle and snarking back.
* TwoFirstNames: For extra points, "Anderson" and "Cooper" are both more common as ''last'' names than first names, though both common.
* VitriolicBestBuds / OddFriendship: Serious Cooper and cheery Kathy Griffin. Their New Years' Eve coverage (which mostly foregoes musical guests and coasts primarily on the two of them riffing on each other) is a thing of beauty.
* WhatBeautifulEyes: The only feature more raved about than his hair is [[http://bohemianbowmans.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/andersoncooper1.jpg his eyes]]. [[http://www.cc.com/video-clips/ger41z/the-colbert-report-anderson-cooper-s-kryptonite Including by]] [[Series/TheColbertReport Stephen Colbert]]. Holy wow!!
* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Not pleased to be endorsed by Chris Dorner.

* {{Adorkable}}: Just check any video of him cracking up on air.

* BadassGay: Came out as gay in 2012, and is one of the most prominent gay journalists on American television.

* TheWarOnTerror: Reporting on 9/11, which brought him back to serious journalism after his stint hosting ''The Mole''.

'''Anderson Hays Cooper''' (born June 3, 1967) is a Peabody Award-winning American journalist, author, and television personality. During college, Cooper spent two summers as an intern at the Central Intelligence Agency. Although he technically has no formal journalistic education[[note]]his degree is in political science[[/note]], he opted to pursue a career in journalism rather than stay with the agency after school, having been a self-proclaimed "news junkie" since he was "in utero."

He also serves as the host of CNN's yearly ''CNN Heroes'' tribute and has anchored the channel's New Year's Eve coverage since 2002. His close friend (and [[VitriolicBestBuds eternal tormentor]]) Creator/KathyGriffin joined him on the latter from 2006-2016. Beginning in 2017 his best friend Andy Cohen (of ''Real Housewives'' fame) came on as co-host.

* OneOfUs: Has mentioned playing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2ZBVw4nTGs D&D]] as a child.

After Cooper graduated from Yale University, he tried to gain entry-level employment with ABC but was unsuccessful. Finding it hard to get his foot in the door of on-air reporting, Cooper decided to enlist the help of a friend in making a fake press pass. At the time, Cooper was working as a fact checker for the small news agency Channel One, which produces a youth-oriented news program that is broadcast to many junior high and high schools in the United States. Cooper then entered Myanmar on his own with his forged press pass and met with students fighting the Burmese government. He was ultimately able to sell his home-made news segments to Channel One.

He also serves as the host of CNN's yearly ''CNN Heroes'' tribute and has anchored the channel's New Years Eve coverage since 2002. His close friend (and [[VitriolicBestBuds eternal tormentor]]) Creator/KathyGriffin joined him on the latter from 2006-2016. Beginning in 2017 his best friend Andy Cohen (of ''Real Housewives'' fame) came on as co-host.

* BrainBleach[=/=]TooMuchInformation: Poor guy's reaction was this when his mother told him in the most explicit way possible about her storied love life. ''Especially'' since the name of their shared memoir is ''[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Nothing Left Unsaid]]''
-->'''Anderson''': ''[talking to Creator/StephenColbert]'' She volunteered that it was the first time she didn't have to fake an orgasm. I was like, '[[http://imgur.com/CP2mKIQ AAAAUGHHH????]]' It's a visual I've never been able to get out of my mind since then.

* PickyEater: On various shows, including his own, he's teased for his limited palate (among other things, he dislikes hot foods and drinks) and his habit of eating the same thing for days or weeks on end if he takes a liking to it. Whenever he appeared with Anthony Bourdain, Bourdain would take perverse glee in forcing Cooper to eat something exotic simply to get a disgusted reaction on camera.

** While narrating his mother's obituary for CNN, he included a video he recorded of her in the hospital bed, both of them giggling in the exact same way.

* PickyEater: Doesn't like hot foods or drinks.

After Cooper graduated from Yale University, he tried to gain entry-level employment with ABC, but was unsuccessful. Finding it hard to get his foot in the door of on-air reporting, Cooper decided to enlist the help of a friend in making a fake press pass. At the time, Cooper was working as a fact checker for the small news agency Channel One, which produces a youth-oriented news program that is broadcast to many junior high and high schools in the United States. Cooper then entered Myanmar on his own with his forged press pass and met with students fighting the Burmese government. He was ultimately able to sell his home-made news segments to Channel One.

He returned to serious journalism in the wake of September 11, this time at Creator/{{CNN}}. After a stint with Paula Zahn on ''American Morning'' and another as the channel's weekend anchor, he was given the prime-time slot of 8pm weekdays, for a broadcast entitled ''Anderson Cooper 360°'' that runs either one or two hours depending on that day's news stories. Never content to stay in a studio when he could be on location instead, he became famous for his coverage of international humanitarian disasters. 2005 in particular was a breakout year for him; in those twelve months he covered the tsunami in Sri Lanka, Lebanon's Cedar Revolution, the Iraq War, the famine in Niger, and in a series of broadcasts that won him a Peabody, the landfall and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. By the end of the year he was a household name, and in subsequent years he went on to cover -- among ''many'' others -- the Haitian earthquake, the Arab Spring, the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima, and the terror attacks which hit Paris in late 2015.

He also serves as the host of CNN's yearly ''CNN Heroes'' tribute, and has anchored the channel's New Years Eve coverage since 2002. His close friend (and [[VitriolicBestBuds eternal tormentor]]) Creator/KathyGriffin joined him on the latter from 2006-2016. Beginning in 2017 his best friend Andy Cohen (of ''Real Housewives'' fame) came on as co-host.

Oh yeah, and his mom was a bit famous. Her name was Gloria Vanderbilt.

** He also described his stint as the host of ''The Mole'' as this. He felt disillusioned with the tabloid fodder and fluff pieces that was being assigned to him to cover so he briefly quit to host the show.

* CampGay: Rarely apparent, but when you get him started on Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/LadyGaga, and trashy reality TV....

* OnlySaneMan: ''Series/TheDailyShow'' seems to see him as this. Creator/JonStewart has never pulled his punches about his disgust with CNN, but never once have any of those punches been directed Cooper's way, and Stewart has expressed honest respect for his fair, neutral journalistic integrity and called himself a "big fan".

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Anderson has built his reputation on calm, level-headed, evenhanded journalism. So when he [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsuRCXiYGO4 went after]] Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu in the wake of Hurricane Katrina -- when he had spent days in amongst the rubble and bodies and unspeakable human suffering -- it ''really'' got people's attention, and spoke volumes about just how angry the situation had made him.

* PlatonicLifePartners: He's close friends with Andy Cohen and were actually set up on a blind date back in the 90's, but that never panned out. Thanks to sharing mutual social circles, they're often seen hanging out together and even have sporadic live shows around the country where they just talk and joke around on stage. He’s also Cohen’s son Benjamin’s godfather.
* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: Enough [[HehHehYouSaidX exposure]] to Kathy Griffin has taken him from baffled horror to resigned amusement when she starts stripping down to her underwear in public. By this point he knows she's not going to listen to him, but he makes a valiant effort anyway.

Oh yeah, and his mom's a bit famous. Her name is Gloria Vanderbilt.

* NonIdleRich: Again, his mother is ''Gloria Vanderbilt.'' (As in ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Gloria..._Happy_at_Last Little Gloria, Happy at Last]]''). Not only that, he's even stated that she disinherited him from the family fortune because she and his father wanted to teach him the value of earning his own money.

* PlatonicLifePartners: He's close friends with Andy Cohen and were actually set up on a blind date back in the 90's, but that never panned out. Thanks to sharing mutual social circles, they're often seen hanging out together and even have sporadic live shows around the country where they just talk and joke around on stage.

* OneOfUs: He's a ''huge'' TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons fan.

-->'''Professor Gates''': Did he deserve it?

He also serves as the host of CNN's yearly ''CNN Heroes'' tribute and has anchored the channel's New Years Eve coverage since 2002; his close friend (and [[VitriolicBestBuds eternal tormentor]]) Creator/KathyGriffin joined him on the latter beginning in 2006.

* AssholeVictim: In his guest appearance on ''Finding Your Roots'', Cooper learned that his 4x great-grandfather was a Southern slaveowner who ultimately was beaten to death by a slave with a fire hose. [[ActuallyPrettyFunny Anderson found this absolutely hilarious]].