What You Need to Know About Anderson Cooper

Emmy award winning journalist and author Anderson Cooper has been the host of "Anderson Cooper 360°" on CNN since 2003. In September of 2006, Mr. Cooper joined "60 Minutes" as a special correspondent. He has also written a memoir of his time spent in war torn and storm ravaged areas. "Dispatches From the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival" topped the New York Times bestseller list in June 2006 and was recently released in paperback.

Anderson Cooper is, without a doubt, one of journalism's hottest stars, so what else is there to know about Anderson Cooper?

He was born in 1967 to heiress and designer Gloria Vanderbilt and her husband, writer Wyatt Cooper. He had an older brother, Carter Cooper, who died in 1988.

Wyatt Cooper died in 1978 and his death is thought to have had a profound effect on the then ten-year old Anderson.

Here are ten things you might not know about Anderson Cooper.

· Diane Arbus, for "Harper's Bazaar", photographed Cooper as a baby.

· Anderson appeared on "The Tonight Show" at age three with his mother.

· Anderson was a child model. He modeled for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and Macy's from ages 10-13. He was represented by the Ford Agency.

· His hair had gone completely gray by age 35. He has said of going gray at a young age, "Going gray is like ejaculation. You know it can happen prematurely, but when it actually does, it's a total shock."

· Cooper has won two Emmy awards. The first was for his reporting for ABC on Princess Diana's funeral and the second was in 2005 for his report on the famine in Niger.

· Anderson Cooper is also a freelance writer whose works have appeared in magazines such as "Details".

· He once waited tables at New York City's famed restaurant, "Mortimer's".

· After graduating from the prestigious Dalton school in NYC, he traveled to Africa where he contracted malaria.

· He graduated from Yale University and later studied Vietnamese at the University of Hanoi.

· Cooper spent two summers during college as an intern for the CIA.

Cooper may be best known for his heartbreaking coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. His coverage is considered a breakthrough in television journalism. His on air chastisement of Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu has quickly become legend. After she began praising the government's response to the disaster, Anderson was quick to lambaste her, saying, "I got to tell you, there are a lot of people here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated. And when they hear politicians . . . thanking one another, it just, you know, it kind of cuts them the wrong way right now. Because literally there was a body on the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats, because this woman had been laying in the street for 48 hours. And there's not enough facilities to take her up. Do you get the anger that is out here?"

Anderson Cooper is not your average blow-dried, pretty boy anchorman. He is articulate, witty and concerned. He really seems to care about the stories and people he is reporting on. This anti-anchor persona is what seems to appeal to his audience- that and his love of storytelling- bringing the stories of the world into our living rooms with the honesty and compassion that only he can.