TV 50 Photos of Anderson Cooper For His 50th Birthday Celebrate the news anchor's milestone with a trip down memory lane By Cristina Everett Published on June 3, 2017 10:00AM EDT Close 01 of 50 Happy Birthday, Anderson! Maarten de Boer/Getty Images Portrait Born in New York City on June 3, 1967, Anderson Cooper celebrates his 50th birthday today. The journalist got a very early start at being in front of the cameras, having appeared in Harper’s Bazaar as a baby and on the Tonight Show at age 3. It wasn’t until after college when he pursued a career as a journalist. First starting with Channel One, then moving on to ABC News, World News Now, and eventually CNN. In honor of Cooper’s 50th birthday, see 50 photos of the news anchor through the years, ahead. 02 of 50 Circa 1969 Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Anderson (left) with mom Gloria Vanderbilt and brother Carter Vanderbilt Cooper in their Southampton home 03 of 50 March 30, 1972 Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Anderson (second from right) with father Wyatt Emory Cooper, brother Carter, and mom Gloria Vanderbilt 04 of 50 1972 Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Gloria Vanderbilt reading to her two sons, Carter and Anderson, on a bed in their Southampton home 05 of 50 1972 Ron Galella/WireImage Carter Cooper, Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt 06 of 50 March 1976 Susan Wood/Getty Images Gloria Vanderbilt with sons Anderson and Carter at their apartment in the UN Towers in New York 07 of 50 March 1976 Susan Wood/Getty Images Gloria Vanderbilt with Anderson and Carter Cooper in their New York apartment 08 of 50 Circa 1980 PL Gould/IMAGES/Getty Images Gloria Vanderbilt and sons Anderson and Carter in New York City 09 of 50 1999 Everett Collection Anderson Cooper and Alison Stewart behind the desk at ABC 10 of 50 October 10, 2001 Scott Gries/Getty Images Anderson arrives at the opening night of Neil LaBute's play The Shape of Things in New York City 11 of 50 2001 Everett Collection Anderson serving as host of The Mole 12 of 50 August 18, 2002 Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage Anderson at the opening night of The Boys From Syracuse in New York City 13 of 50 January 16, 2003 Vince Bucci/Getty Images Anderson speaks at the Hollywood Radio and Television Society's Newsmakers Luncheon in Beverly Hills 14 of 50 February 6, 2004 Peter Kramer/Getty Images Anderson attending the Nautica fashion show during New York Fashion Week at Bryant Park 15 of 50 February 8, 2004 Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage Anderson Cooper at the Diane Von Furstenburg show during New York Fashion Week 16 of 50 February 29, 2004 Mark Mainz/Getty Images Anderson attending the Vanity Fair Oscar Party at Mortons Restaurant in Hollywood 17 of 50 June 9, 2004 Pete Mitchell/WireImage Anderson reporting from where mourners lined up outside the US Capitol to pay respects to President Ronald Reagan 18 of 50 September 9, 2004 Rabbani and Solimene Photography/WireImage Anderson and mom Gloria Vanderbilt at a Tiffany's party in New York 19 of 50 November 19, 2005 Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Robert Klein, Jerry Seinfeld, Anderson, and Chris Rock 20 of 50 April 11, 2006 Theo Wargo/WireImage Anderson at Madison Square Garden in New York City 21 of 50 September 25, 2006 Marc Bryan-Brown/WireImage Anderson at the 27th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards 22 of 50 February 25, 2007 Eric Charbonneau/WireImage Anderson attedning the Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter 23 of 50 December 6, 2007 Gary Gershoff/WireImage Anderson with Christiane Amanpour during CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute 24 of 50 April 28, 2008 JOE SCHILDHORN/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images Anderson attending the 60th Annual Parsons Benefit and Fashion Show in New York City 25 of 50 May 28, 2008 JIMI CELESTE/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images Anderson and Elmo hosting the 6th Annual Sesame Workshop Benefit Gala at Cipriani's 42nd St. in New York City 26 of 50 September 7, 2008 Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images Anderson attending the Diane Von Furstenberg Spring 2009 fashion show during New York Fashion Week 27 of 50 October 13, 2008 Joe Kohen/WireImage Anderson and comedian Lewis Black speak at Time Warner's Political Conference in New York City 28 of 50 November 22, 2008 Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Anderson at the Second Annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute in Hollywood 29 of 50 November 21, 2009 John Shearer/WireImage Anderson onstage at the CNN Heroes Awards in Hollywood 30 of 50 December 31, 2010 Joe Corrigan/Getty Images Anderson at the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square 31 of 50 February 27, 2011 Michael Buckner/WireImage Anderson arriving at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in West Hollywood 32 of 50 March 6, 2011 Skip Bolen/WireImage Anderson serves as Endymion grand marshal in the Krewe Of Endymion parade during Mardi Gras in New Orleans 33 of 50 September 14, 2011 John W. Ferguson/Getty Images Anderson unveiling his wax figure at Madame Tussauds in New York City 34 of 50 February 12, 2012 Eugene Gologursky/WireImage Anderson and Diane Von Furstenberg at the designer's Fall 2012 fashion show during New York Fashion Week 35 of 50 October 2, 2012 Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images Anderson paying a visit to the set of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon 36 of 50 December 2, 2012 Christopher Polk/WireImage Anderson speaking onstage at the CNN Heroes: An All Star Tribute in Los Angeles 37 of 50 March 16, 2013 Larry Busacca/Getty Images Anderson with Madonna at the the 24th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York City 38 of 50 January 10, 2014 Angela Weiss/Getty Images Anderson attending the CNN Worldwide All-Star Winter TCA Party in Pasadena, Calif. 39 of 50 December 22, 2014 Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images Anderson with Kelly Ripa on the set of Bravo's What What Happens Live 40 of 50 August 11, 2015 Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images Anderson during an interview with host Seth Meyers on Late Night 41 of 50 November 2, 2015 Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic Anderson and Benjamin Maisani attending the Elton John AIDS Foundation's An Enduring Vision Benefit at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City 42 of 50 November 17, 2015 Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Anderson speaking on stage during CNN Heroes at the American Museum of Natural History 43 of 50 January 7, 2016 Aude Guerrucci-Pool/Getty Images Anderson and President Obama discussing reducing gun violence while at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia 44 of 50 January 26, 2016 David A. Beloff/Getty Images Anderson speaking to the Norfolk Forum at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk, Virginia 45 of 50 March 6, 2016 Scott Olson/Getty Images Anderson as debate moderator during the CNN Democratic Presidential Primary Debate in Flint, Mich. 46 of 50 April 4, 2016 Anderson Cooper with mom Gloria Vanderbilt in 2016. Roy Rochlin/FilmMagic Anderson and mom Gloria Vanderbilt attending the Nothing Left Unsaid premiere in New York City 47 of 50 October 9, 2016 Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Anderson looking on as ABC moderator Martha Raddatz speaks during the second presidential debate at Washington University in St Louis, Miss. 48 of 50 December 31, 2016 Noam Galai/FilmMagic Anderson and Kathy Griffin hosting New Year's Eve Live on CNN in Times Square 49 of 50 January 13, 2017 Michael Loccisano/Getty Images Anderson visiting SiriusXM Studios in New York City 50 of 50 March 6, 2017 Timothy Kuratek/CBS Anderson laughing during an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert