What We Know About Anderson Cooper's Long-Lost Half-Brother, Christopher Stokowski
Broadcast journalist Anderson Cooper is the younger son of Gloria Vanderbilt and her fourth husband, Wyatt Emory Cooper. Through his mother's side of the family, Cooper has four siblings: his older brother Carter Vanderbilt Cooper, and two older half-brothers, Leopold Stanislaus "Stan" Stokowski and Christopher Stokowski. In addition to having a famous mother, Stan and Christopher have a famous father, Vanderbilt's third husband, orchestral conductor Leopold Stokowski.
Although Christopher was 15 years older than Cooper, the two reportedly had a close relationship. The two half-siblings also shared common ground in that their fathers died within a year of each other. Christopher's father died in 1977. Tragically, when Cooper was 10 years old in 1978, his father died during heart surgery.
Christopher also had a tight bond with his mom. "She was his best friend. They were a really loving family," April Sandmeyer, Christopher's ex-fiancée, informed Page Six. As a kid, Christopher was reportedly introverted. As an adult, he was uncomfortable with having two well-known parents. While he and Stan followed in their father's footsteps and pursued careers in music, Christopher used a pseudonym so he wouldn't rely on the Stokowski name for success. He also delighted in creating art, although he declined to attach his well-known name to these works. Three years before his father died, Christopher embarked on a relationship with Sandmeyer. By 1978, the couple were engaged, but turmoil within Christopher's family led to their breakup. Christopher was heartbroken, and he became estranged from his family until 2016.
An unspeakable incident caused Christopher's split with Sandmeyer
The rift between Christopher Stokowski and his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, reportedly developed due to Vanderbilt's connection with a psychiatrist, Dr. Christ L. Zois. Vanderbilt was grieving after Wyatt Cooper's unexpected death, and her connection with Zois went beyond a patient-doctor relationship. Vanderbilt gave him expensive gifts and bankrolled his vacations. Unfortunately, she discovered much later that Zois wreaked havoc with her finances, stealing money and resulting in tax evasion issues on her properties. The therapist was also a toxic influence on Christopher's relationship with his then-fiancée, April Sandmeyer. "Christopher was the love of my life," Sandmeyer explained to the Daily Mail in 2014. "But I was so devastated when I discovered what Zois had done that I felt I had no choice but to break things off with Christopher." Two years later, Sandmeyer indicated that there was one pivotal incident involving Zois that precipitated the split, but she declined to elaborate on the details.
After Christopher and Sandmeyer broke up, he distanced himself from his family. He endeavored to repair his romantic connection, but Sandmeyer rebuffed his efforts to contact her via phone or by letter. Eventually, Christopher left the country and moved to Nether Wallop, a farm in England that belonged to his father, Leopold Stokowski. When he eventually returned to the United States, Christopher lived a quiet life in Vermont and various New England states.
A family documentary catalyzed Christopher's reconciliation with his family
For a decade, Gloria Vanderbilt assumed that her son, Christopher Stokowski, was happily in a relationship with April Sandmeyer. Tragically, after Anderson Cooper's brother Carter Cooper died by suicide in 1988, Sandmeyer attended his funeral, and Christopher did not. It was then that Vanderbilt discovered the two had split years earlier.
After the trauma of Carter's death, Vanderbilt developed a stronger bond with Anderson and Leopold Stanislaus "Stan" Stokowski. While Christopher remained estranged from the family for many more years, she showed she was thinking of him and hoping to reconnect. "When Carter died, I thought he would come back, but he didn't. And we respect his wishes," Vanderbilt informed The Telegraph in 2004. When the interviewer inquired if she knew Christopher's whereabouts, Vanderbilt refused to reveal any information.
Fortunately, in 2016, Christopher decided to reach out to his family via his former fiancée and rebuild their relationship. Christopher, Vanderbilt, and Anderson all started meeting after the release of "Nothing Left Unsaid," an HBO documentary that featured Anderson and Vanderbilt exploring their family's story. When the film debuted, it garnered criticism for not providing more information about Christopher. However, Sandmeyer surmised it was meant to be a kind gesture. "I think she respects [Chris'] privacy and [not mentioning him] is out of love for him," Sandmeyer explained to Page Six.