Despite being born into a ridiculously rich and famous family, Christopher Stokowski didn’t want to embrace the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Instead, he chose to avoid the limelight. Still, he lived an interesting life and is the half-brother of veteran journalist, Anderson Cooper.
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Contents
Early life and family
While Christopher wanted nothing to do with being famous, his early life is known for living with his family. He was born on January 31, 1952 in Gloria Vanderbilt and Leopold Stokowski, who was then married.
Leopold was regarded as one of the best orchestra conductors of the 20th century. Gloria was an heiress to the impressive and very famous Vanderbilt fortune. She was famous from birth and lived a comfortable life. However, she built a life for herself and became a successful writer, businesswoman, socialite, designer and painter.
Christopher had many other siblings – the most famous of them being the seasoned journalist, Anderson Cooper. Anderson made a name for himself working for CNN and is much admired in his chosen career.
Christopher was not one for the bright spotlight, but kept his life private, leaving details about his general life quite sparse. He preferred to go under the radar and didn’t hang out with his famous family as much. He wanted to make a life for himself, away from the public eye.
Educational background and career
Not much is known about Christopher’s education and early life. He is known to be a shy kid who couldn’t quite handle the fame of his mother and family.
He attended Bard College, a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Here he kept to himself, trying to avoid the fame of the Stokowski-Vanderbilt family.
Christopher inherited his father’s love of music and decided to pursue a career in that direction. He was determined to establish himself in the music industry and became a talented music composer.
Relationship with April Sandmeyer
Christopher fell in love with a young lady named April Sandmeyer in 1974. The two started dating and soon became serious about their relationship and their future together. They got engaged in 1977. This decision to make things official came shortly after his stepfather, Wyatt Cooper, and his biological father passed away. Perhaps he was driven to take his relationship seriously by being reminded of how fragile and precious life is after experiencing death.
About that time, he went to his mother’s therapist, who would likely help him cope with the deaths of the two prominent men in his life. Things went awry, however, when he realized that the therapist and his mother were working together to end his relationship with April.
When she found out, April was devastated and their romance came to an end. Christopher was furious and decided to cut ties with his family, especially his mother. He had hoped this would win April’s heart back.
Unfortunately that didn’t work. Christopher then decided to leave NewYork and informed his family that he would never return.
Anderson Cooper with his mother and brother. Anderson Cooper
Posted by Brandon Bent On Wednesday 19 December 2018
For the next 38 years, Christopher disappeared and no one heard of him. It is not known what he has been up to during this time.
Family Life and Reunification
The Stokowski-Vanderbilt family is quite a large and mixed family. On his father’s side, Christopher has a brother named Leopold. He also has three stepsisters, Andrea Sadja Stokowski, Sonia Maria Noel and Gloria Luba Stokowski.
Christopher also has two stepbrothers from his mother’s marriage to Wyatt – Carter Vanderbilt Cooper and Anderson Hays Cooper.
Sadly, one of his half-siblings committed suicide while Christopher was away from his family all those decades. Carter did not claim to be unhappy or suicidal, but committed suicide by jumping off the 14th floor of Gloria’s Manhattan penthouse. He was 23 years old at the time of his suicide and had a bright future ahead of him. He was considered intelligent and had visited Princeton. Carter also had a very good job at American Heritage as a book editor.
In 2016, Christopher finally returned and reunited with his family.
He reached out to his estranged family after seeing “Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt and Anderson Cooper,” an HBO documentary starring Gloria and Anderson.
Christopher was not actually mentioned in the documentary. According to April, his former fiancé, Gloria probably didn’t want to say too much about him because she knew he didn’t like being out in the open.
Town&Country magazine reported in 2019 that April said Gloria wanted to protect Christopher’s privacy and not give him attention he wouldn’t want.
Anderson confirmed that he and Christopher were able to reconnect after the documentary. Christopher is still in touch with his family.
Net value
Because Christopher’s life is as private as it is, it’s not easy to determine exactly how much he is worth. However, it is believed that since he comes from a wealthy family, he lacks for nothing. After all, he inherited a large sum of money from his father Leopold.
As of December 2019, Christopher’s personal net worth stands at about $1 million.
After Gloria passed away, he may have been entitled to a portion of her $200 million fortune. There are those who believe she left him nothing, and most of the money went to Anderson.
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