Chris Cuomo biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Journalist. Born August 9, 1970 in New York. Chris Cuomo grew up in Queens as the youngest of five children of Matilda and Mario Cuomo. His father was a Democratic politician; in 1982, when Chris was 12 years old, Mario Cuomo was elected governor of New York. The family moved from Queens into the Governor's Mansion in Albany, where they stayed until Mario Cuomo left office in 1994.

With his workaholic father often absent, Chris Cuomo was raised mostly by his brother Andrew, 13 years his elder. When Chris left for Yale in 1988, Andrew was the one to drop him off at school. After graduating from Yale, Chris Cuomo received his law degree from Fordham University in 1995, and went on to a lucrative career as a Wall Street lawyer. The dashing, young, Italian-American son of the former governor became one of the most sought-after bachelors in New York. In 1997, People magazine included him on its "Most Beautiful People" list. W magazine then named him "New York's most eligible bachelor" after John F. Kennedy, Jr. (who later advised Cuomo, "Don't worry, they'll always consider you to be the poor man's me, anyway.")

Move to Journalism

Despite the perks of his high-flying life, Cuomo found the law unsatisfying, and decided to pursue work in journalism. Using his well-known name to his advantage, he was able to land a temporary gig on the CNBC show Equal Time in 1997. He then worked as Geraldo Rivera's co-host before securing a job as a reporter on the program Fox Files.

Inside the Cuomo family, Chris Cuomo's new choice of profession was greeted with some skepticism. To his father, journalism was a lesser form of public service. "My pop didn't want me to go into journalism," Chris Cuomo recalled. "He used to say, 'Why do you just cover these things? Why don't you go out and do them?'" His brother Andrew was also skeptical, counseling his brother, "You got to decide what's more important: your personal celebrity or what you're able to do for other people."

20/20

Within a few years, however, the family had put aside their reservations. "No, he's my son, Christopher, and we're very proud of him, because he's gonna be the youngest correspondent ever at 20/20," Mario Cuomo gushed to the crowd at a public event in 2000, just after the younger Cuomo was hired by ABC's flagship newsmagazine. Producers at the show hoped Chris could attract a younger audience for the venerable show. To that end, his first story for 20/20 focused on the manager of boy bands *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys.

In 2006, Cuomo showed a more mature side as news anchor of ABC's Good Morning America, where he took on investigative projects and premiered a feature called "Cuomo's AmeriCANs," which put the spotlight on Americans making a difference in their local communities. In 2009, Cuomo was promoted to a more prominent role on 20/20, co-hosting alongside Elizabeth Vargas.

Personal Life

Cuomo married Cristina Greeven, a magazine editor, in 2001. The couple has three children: daughters Bella and Carolina, and son Mario. Despite his family's initial misgivings, it is clear that Chris Cuomo has found a way to carry on the family tradition of service from a media platform. "He has an authentic passion for helping people," said Diane Sawyer, his co-worker at Good Morning America. "There are a lot of people who want to be on television. But Chris lives for the kind of work that makes a difference."

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