NEED TO KNOW
Timothy Olyphant confirms he’s related to Anderson Cooper and the famous Vanderbilt family, one of the most prestigious in American history
“You’re goddamn right I am, and somebody owes me money,” Olyphant joked to The Hollywood Reporter
The Encyclopedia Britannica lists shipping and railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt as Olyphant’s fourth great-grandfather
Timothy Olyphant is part of a big American dynasty.
The Justified actor, 57, confirmed in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he is, indeed, related to Anderson Cooper and the Vanderbilt family.
“You’re goddamn right I am, and somebody owes me money,” he told the magazine with a laugh.
Kate Green/Getty
Timothy Olyphant attends the ‘Alien: Earth’ European premiere at the Barbican Centre on July 29, 2025 in London
https://people-app.onelink.me/HNIa/kz7l4cuf
“It’s on my to-do list to head to upstate New York and see if I can get the keys to the house,” he added.
Olyphant revealed that he’s “never met” the CNN anchor, 58, despite both of them being in the public eye.
“I assume that’s just because I keep missing the family reunions due to work and the kids,” the Deadwood actor joked, referencing the three children he shares with wife Alexis Knief, his college sweetheart whom he married in 1991.
“But now that I’m an empty-nester, I hope we’ll be having drinks soon,” he says.
PEOPLE has reached out to Cooper for comment.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Olyphant’s connection to the Vanderbilt family goes way back.
The online encyclopedia lists Cornelius Vanderbilt as Olyphant’s fourth great-grandfather.
Mathew B. Brady/Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty
A photo of Cornelius Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt is famous for being a shipping and railroad tycoon who amassed extraordinary wealth during his lifetime and made his family one of the richest in America throughout the 19th century.
He was the patriarch of the family, leading it with the nickname “the Commodore,” and his legacy lives on as Vanderbilt University in Nashville is named in his honor.
Cooper penned a book on the Vanderbilt family in 2021.
After previously not having much interest in the famous family he was born into, that began to change when he became a father and welcomed his first child, son Wyatt Morgan, in 2020.
“In some ways, I wanted this to be a letter to my son,” Cooper told PEOPLE in 2021 about the book he co-wrote with historian and novelist Katherine Howe, Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty.
Since then, Cooper has gone on to welcome a second son, Sebastian Luke, in 2022.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Cooper’s mother, fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt, died in 2019 at the age of 95.
Read the original article on People
