Andy Cohen multitasks like nobody’s business. This weekend, he’ll celebrate his star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame, talk about “The Daddy Diaries” and take son Ben to the 4-year-old’s first Cardinals game. Friends and family will be here, too, of course, but not his 1-year-old, Lucy.
“It’s a quick trip,” Cohen says. “She’ll come this summer.”
He chatted via Zoom while simultaneously signing several dozen book plates. “I think it’s going to be a great weekend. I’m really looking forward to it.”
His mother, Evelyn, is, too. Last year, she watched Cohen get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame but was less than satisfied, he reports. She asked whether he’d ever get one in St. Louis. “I was like, Mom, this is Hollywood. She was like, ‘We want you in St. Louis.’”
From left: Andy Cohen, Evelyn Cohen and Lou Cohen on the set of "Watch What Happens Live"
So the longtime producer of various TV shows featuring bickering “Real Housewives” and the host of “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” will get his star May 5 in front of the Moonrise Hotel on Delmar Boulevard.
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A ragtime band plays at 4:30 p.m., with a ceremony at 5 p.m. In a news release about the new star, one of almost 160, Walk of Fame founder Joe Edwards says Cohen has “gone on from St. Louis to entertain the entire country and make his hometown proud.”
Cohen, a 1986 graduate of Clayton High School, has plenty of memories of the Delmar Loop: “I spent my high school days going to Cicero’s and Blueberry Hill and Vintage Vinyl. That strip means a great deal to me. It’s a real honor to get there.”
His favorite sidewalk colleague? Tina Turner, he says.
"The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up"
By Andy Cohen
Published by Andy Cohen Books/Henry Holt, 268 pages, $29.99
On sale May 9
On May 6, Cohen will talk about his new book, “The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up.” In it, Cohen’s multitasking life as a 54-year-old gay, single dad is balanced with work as a radio and TV host, taking young Ben to school or out for pancakes, spending weekends on Long Island, meeting up with celebrities like Kelly Ripa or Sarah Jessica Parker, gossiping with friends, hunting for toddler underwear online and going to the gym, concerts and parties.
He chronicles 2022 from New Year’s Day, when he’s surprised he doesn’t have a terrible hangover after a CNN hosting gig with Anderson Cooper during which Cohen’s rant about former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio made him worry, “Did I actually go too far?”
“I then went into a ninety-minute shame spiral, wondering if the show was actually horrible, and then I realized I’ve done this exact spiral the day after hosting New Year’s Eve for the last four years,” Cohen writes in “Daddy Diaries.”
Andy Cohen may have some regrets about his New Year's Eve special on CNN, but he wasn't bothered by Stephen Colbert's recap of the evening.
Cohen talked about his upcoming book and St. Louis visit the day after broadcasters Tucker Carlson of Fox and Don Lemon of CNN lost their jobs, making national news. Although Cohen’s sometimes bawdy late-night show on Bravo is a different kind of entertainment, he admits that when he has a live microphone in front of him, he’s “constantly on the edge of danger.”
Viewers expect him to “be a little bit dangerous and a lot of fun,” he says. In the book, though, Cohen expresses his own anxieties about how he’s viewed and what he says. “That’s kind of an inner-dialogue I have throughout the book,” he says.
He’s worked in broadcasting since soon after graduating from Boston University and agrees the business changes. “The lines you can cross every year get smaller and smaller in terms of what people will accept and what companies will accept regarding public discourse.”
Andy Cohen at BravoCon with daughter Lucy
After 10 years at CBS News, Cohen joined the young network Trio in 2000. There, he won a Peabody Award as executive producer of a documentary, “The N-Word.” Trio was purchased in 2004 by Bravo, where Cohen has been an executive producer for many shows, winning a Peabody for “Project Runway” and an Emmy for “Top Chef.”
He says he’s probably most proud, professionally, of his 14 years hosting “Watch What Happens Live.” He also famously helped develop and produce the “Real Housewives” franchise, which started in Orange County in 2006 and has led to more than two dozen spinoffs, including “Vanderpump Rules.”
In 2011, a story about Cohen in the New York Times said he “finds the celebrity in charismatic nobodies, and the nobody in the fabulous.” It also said “he has been one of the television forces changing the nature of celebrity itself.” Cohen, though, credits artist Andy Warhol for modern views of celebrity, along with inspiring his own “diaries” years after “The Andy Warhol Diaries.”
“What he said about celebrity and pop culture always intrigued me,” he says, adding that he does think Warhol might be painting “Housewives” if he were alive.
References to various Housewives in “The Daddy Diaries” are probably the most opaque elements for a nonviewer, but it almost doesn’t matter because Cohen is soon on to the next story. The most charming are the kid spots, as when he patiently watches Disney movies like “Frozen” with Ben, who crushes on all the princesses. While listening to “Andy Cohen’s Kiki Lounge” on SiriusXM at the pool, a Barbra Streisand song plays and Ben asks, “Is this Elsa?”
Ben also decides to tease his dad by calling him “Andy Cohen” at random times, Cohen recounts: “’Throw me in the pool, Andy Cohen!’ Everything in his world feels like something of joy — that’s just who he is.” Ben is also a bit of a ham, he says of the boy once declared by People magazine “the cutest baby alive.”
In the introduction to the book, Cohen explains how he had to give up his beloved dog Wacha after Ben was born and the dog, who bit several people, didn’t seem trustworthy around the baby. (Both of his kids are biologically his and were carried by surrogates.) He writes that he doesn’t recount every daily detail about his children, which would become “monotonous,” but he also wants readers to know that the nanny doesn’t do everything.
Andy Cohen's son, Ben
Cohen says he wants his book about “The Year I Grew Up” to be funny, relatable and also “voyeuristically a good time. I try to drop names.” He’s gotten so many questions about his life as a single dad, he hopes “this is a satisfying window for people.”
He admits he feels more weight in his life. “I think I’m a guy who had been worry free for a really long time. When you have two kids, and then when you have two kids alone, it can be overwhelming. But it’s not, as I hope comes across in the book, an unhappy weight.”
The book ends with New Year’s Eve 2023, a more sober CNN gig, and a relatively early night for dads Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. Then he makes himself a “triple” Fresca and tequila and decides “home was exactly the only place I needed to be.”
What St. Louis Walk of Fame ceremony • When 5 p.m. May 5 • Where 6177 Delmar Boulevard • How much Free • More info stlouiswalkoffame.org
What Andy Cohen • When 7 p.m. May 6 • Where JCC, 2 Millstone Campus Drive • How much $40, includes copy of pre-signed book • More info left-bank.com
Who's who on the St. Louis Walk of Fame
Musicians and a TV personality
• Ronald Isley and Ernie Isley, of the Isley Brothers, known for hits including "Shout," "That Lady" and more. The group is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (2019 inductees)
• Andy Cohen, TV producer, host of "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen" and author. (2023 inductee)
Sculptor, dressmaker, baseball player
• Harry Weber's bronze statues of notable people decorate St. Louis and include the one commemorating Dred and Harriet Scott outside the Old Courthouse. (2023 inductee)
• Elizabeth Keckley was an enslaved woman who purchased her freedom in 1855 in St. Louis, and moved to Washington, D.C., where she had a dressmaking business. Her clients included Mary Todd Lincoln. Her memoir was published in 1868. (2019 inductee)
• Elston Howard, a graduate of Vashon, signed with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1948, then with the New York Yankees in 1955 as that team's first Black player. (2021 inductee)
Nobel Prize winner, suffragette, filmmaker
• Edward A. Doisy won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1943 for his work on Vitamin K. An injection of that vitamin is now standard for all newborns to help avoid bleeding issues. Doisy taught at Washington University and St. Louis University. (2021 inductee)
• Edna Gellhorn was a woman's suffrage movement leader who organized the 1916 "Golden Lane" demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis. She also helped found the National League of Women Voters. (2021 inductee)
• Henry Hampton was a film producer and filmmaker who made "Eyes on the Prize I and II," a documentary series about the Civil Rights movement, among other works. (2019 inductee)
Poet, boxer, dancer
• Maya Angelou, a poet, author and actress, was born and briefly lived in St. Louis.
• Henry Armstrong was the only boxer who had world titles in three weight classes at the same time.
• Josephine Baker, a singer and dancer, rarely returned to St. Louis to perform; when she did in 1952, she said she "ran away" from the city because of the "terror of discrimination."
Actor, singer, guitarist
• Scott Bakula has acted in "Quantum Leap and "Star Trek: Enterprise," among many other roles.
• Fontella Bass was a gospel and R&B singer whose biggest hit was "Rescue Me."
• Mel Bay was a guitar player who wrote books to teach people how to play the instrument.
Baseball player, politician, baseball player
• James "Cool Papa" Bell was a player with the St. Louis Stars, a team in the Negro Leagues.
• Thomas Hart Benton was a politician and U.S. senator for Missouri.
• Yogi Berra, besides being a very quotable person, was a catcher for the New York Yankees.
Musician, educator, singer
• Chuck Berry was a ground-breaking rock 'n' roll musician.
• Susan Blow introduced the first successful public kindergarten in a small school in Carondelet in 1873.
• Christine Brewer is an opera singer.
Baseball player, educator, sports announcer
• Lou Brock holds the National League record for stolen bases at 938.
• Robert S. Brookings was president of the board of Washington University and founded the Brookings Institution.
• Jack Buck was the voice of the Cardinals.
Singer, musician, author
• Grace Bumbry is an opera singer.
• T. Bone Burnett is a producer and musician; he produced the soundtrack for the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
• William S. Burroughs was an author who wrote "Naked Lunch" and was a member of the "Beat Generation."
Sports announcer, author, founder
• Harry Caray was a broadcaster for the Cardinals, but is probably better known for his work with the Cubs.
• Kate Chopin was an author whose books include "The Awakening."
• Auguste Chouteau was one of the founders of St. Louis.
Explorer, politician, environmentalist
• William Clark was co-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the Louisiana Purhcase. He was also the federal Indian agent in St. Louis and is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery.
• William L. "Bill" Clay is a former U.S. Representative whose son is William Lacy Clay. The senior Clay was first elected in 1968; the formal name of the Poplar Street Bridge is the Congressman William L. Clay Sr. Bridge.
• Barry Commoner was a scientist and environmentalist; he taught at Washington University.
Nobel Prize-winner, tennis player, Nobel Prize winners
• Arthur Holly Compton won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1927 for his discovery of the Compton effect; he was also chancellor of Washington University.
• Jimmy Connors is a tennis champion who holds 109 titles.
• Gerty and Carl Cori won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1947 for work showing how glycogen is used by the body.
Broadcaster, politician, educator
• Bob Costas is a sports broadcaster.
• John Danforth is a politician who was U.S. Senator and is a leader in the Republican Party.
• William Danforth, a medical doctor, was chancellor of Washington University for 24 years.
John and William Danforth, brothers, are grandsons of the founder of Ralston-Purina. Their family foundation funded $1.25 billion in projects over 84 years; the final gift was for the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.
Tennis player, musician, baseball player
• Dwight Davis was a tennis player who founded the competition now known as the Davis Cup. He was also secretary of war for Herbert Hoover.
• Miles Davis was a legendary jazz trumpeter.
• Dizzy Dean is a baseball Hall of Famer who won 30 games in the 1934 season with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Football player, comedian, saint
• Dan Dierdorf was a right tackle for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1970s.
• Phyllis Diller was a groundbreaking comedian whose career began in 1955.
• Rose Philippine Duchesne, a saint, was a member of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and founded the order's first convent, and a school, in St. Charles in 1818.
Dancer, actor, engineer
• Katherine Dunham was a modern dancer who had her own dance company, and opened an arts center in East St. Louis to teach dance, language, cultural history and anthropology.
• Robert Duvall is an actor who was in "The Godfather" and "The Godfather: Part II," among other films.
• James B. Eads designed the Eads Bridge and, in Carondelet during the Civil War, built armored gunboats for the Union.
Politician, designer, author
• Thomas Eagleton was a U.S. senator who was briefly a candidate for vice president on George McGovern's 1972 campaign. Eagleton withdrew because he previously received treatment for depression.
• Charles Eames was a designer now best known for his chairs.
• Gerald Early is an author and was chairman of the African and African-American Studies Department at Washington University.
Actor, poet, educator
• Buddy Ebsen was an actor who played Jed Camplett in "The Beverly Hillbillies."
• T.S. Eliot was a poet who wrote, among other work, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."
• William Greenleaf Eliot (grandfather of T.S. Eliot), a Unitarian minister, founded Washington University.
Author, artist, photographer
• Stanley Elkin was an author who won the National Book Critics Circle Award twice.
• Mary Engelbreit is an artist known for detailed, colorful work.
• Walker Evans was a photographer who worked during the Great Depression.
Comic strip artist, poet and pop group
• Lee Falk created the comic strips "The Phantom" and "Mandrake the Magician" in the 1930s. He was also a playwright and director/producer.
• Eugene Field was a writer and poet whose home is now a toy museum. he wrote "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod," among other poems.
• The Fifth Dimension is a pop group; the original members were Billy Davis Jr., Florence La Rue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamonte McLemore and Ronald Townson.
Baseball player, comedian, politician
• Curt Flood was a Cardinals player who challenged baseball's reserve clause, paving the way for free agency.
• Redd Foxx was a comedian who starred on "Sanford and Son."
• David Francis was mayor of St. Louis, then the state's governor and president of the 1904 World's Fair.
Activist, baseball player, journalist
• Frankie Muse Freeman was a lawyer and civil rights leader.
• Joe Garagiola was a catcher with the Cardinals and other teams; he and Yogi Berra grew up together in the Hill neighborhood.
• Dave Garroway was the first anchor of NBC's "Today."
Author, author, baseball player
• William Gass was an author who wrote, among other work, "Omensetter’s Luck."
• Martha Gellhorn was a war correspondent and author. She was also Ernest Hemingway's third wife.
• Bob Gibson pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals; his dominance changed the rules of baseball.
Actor, actress, surgeon
• John Goodman is an actor and comedian who has been in several movies and TV shows, including "Roseanne."
• Betty Grable was an actress and the No. 1 pin-up girl during World War II.
• Evarts Graham was the chair of the Department of Surgery at Washington University; he was the first surgeon to successfully remove an entire lung.
President, comedian, director
• Ulysses S. Grant was a general who led the Union Army during the Civil War and the 18th U.S. president.
• Dick Gregory was a comedian and civil rights activist.
• Charles Guggenheim was a producer and director whose work includes "Monument to the Dream," about the building of the Arch.
Actor, 'Monuments Man,' musician
• Robert Guillaume was an actor perhaps best known as Benson on "Soap" and "Benson."
• Walker Hancock was a sculptor and one of the "Monuments Men" who saved works of art from the Nazis.
• John Hartford was a bluegrass musician.
Musician, manager, artist
• Donny Hathaway was a jazz, blues, soul and gospel musician whose work includes "This Christmas."
• Whitey Herzog managed the Cardinals for 17 seasons and is in the baseball Hall of Fame.
• Albert Hirschfeld was an artist whose unique style is almost synonymous with Broadway.
Actor, baseball player, author
• William Holden is an actor who was in "Stalag 17," "Sunset Boulevard" and "Network," among other work.
• Rogers Hornsby was a shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals, and is a baseball Hall of Famer.
• A.E. Hotchner is a screenwriter and author who co-founded Newman's Own.
Playwright, golfer, architect
• William Inge was a playwright who wrote "Picnic" (a Pulitzer Prize-winner) and other works.
• Hale Irwin is a pro golfer who has 45 wins on the Champions Tour.
• William B. Ittner was an architect whose work includes several school buildings in St. Louis City and the Scottish Rite Cathedral and Missouri Athletic Club building.
Musician, researchers
• Johnnie Johnson was a Blues pianist who played with Chuck Berry.
• Virginia Eshelman Johnson and William H. Masters researched sexual relations and opened the Masters and Johnson Institute.
Musician, athlete, musician
• Scott Joplin was a pianist who composed ragtime songs, including the "Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer."
• Jackie Joyner-Kersee is a track and field athlete who won three Olympic gold medals, a silver and two bronze in the 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics.
• Albert King was a Blues guitarist and singer.
Actor, comedian, founder
• Kevin Kline is an actor who has performed in "The Big Chill," "A Fish Called Wanda" (Oscar winner for supporting-actor) and other work.
• Cedric "The Entertainer" Kyles is a comedian who has been on a variety of TV shows and movies.
• Pierre Laclede was one of the founders of St. Louis.
Producer, scientist, aviator
• Rocco Landesman is a Broadway producer and was chair of the National Endowment for the Arts.
• Rita Levi-Montalcini won a Nobel Prize in medicine for her work at Washington University studying nerve growth and tumor cells.
• Charles Lindbergh was the first person to fly non-stop across the Atlantic, in a plane called the "Spirit of St. Louis" because St. Louis businessmen helped him fund the flight. He later argued for non-intervention in World War II and was an "America First" leader.
Architect, abolitionist, basketball player
• Theodore Link was an architect who designed buildings for the 1904 World's Fair and the St. Louis Union Station.
• Elijah Lovejoy was killed in 1837 in Alton by a mob seeking to destroy his newspaper press. He was editor of the St. Louis Observer (later relocated to Alton), an anti-slavery paper.
• Ed Macauley was a St. Louis University basketball star who played for 10 years in the NBA and is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Actress, cartoonist, actress
• Marsha Mason is an actress who was nominated four times for an Oscar for best actress.
• Bill Mauldin was a cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes and created "Willie and Joe," infantrymen who commented on the hardships of war.
• Virginia Mayo was an actress who was in "The Best Years of Our Lives" and other work.
Baseball player, singer, singer
• Tim McCarver is a baseball announcer and was a catcher for the Cardinals.
• Michael McDonald is a singer who has been a member of Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers, as well as a solo artist.
• Robert McFerrin Sr. was an opera singer who was the first black man to sing at the Metropolitan Opera.
Producer, boxer, poet
• David Merrick was a Broadway producer.
• Archie Moore was a boxer who is the only fighter who boxed Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali.
• Marianne Moore was a poet who won the Pulitzer Prize.
Actress, baseball player, rapper
• Agnes Moorehead was an actress who played Endora on "Bewitched," among other roles.
• Stan Musial was "The Man," a Cardinals player and baseball Hall of Famer.
• Nelly is a rapper whose songs include "Hot in Herre."
Poet, pilot, architect
• Howard Nemerov was twice the U.S. poet laureate, and received the Pulitzer Prize in poetry.
• Edward H. "Butch" O'Hare was a fighter pilot who received the Medal of Honor in 1942. He died in 1943 when he was shot down over the Pacific.
• Gyo Obata was an architect who co-founded HOK. He designed the Thomas F. Eagleton Courthouse and the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Zoo director, cartoonist, basketball player
• Marlin Perkins was the director of the St. Louis Zoo, and hosted "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" from 1962 to 1985.
• Mike Peters is the cartoonist who created "Mother Goose and Grimm."
• Bob Pettit was an NBA player who led the St. Louis Hawks to an NBA title in 1958.
Actor, publisher, director
• Vincent Price is the face of horror films (and the voice in "Thriller").
• Joseph Pulitzer founded the Post-Dispatch in 1878 and went on to a storied career in journalism. Circulation battles with William Randolph Hearst led to "yellow journalism," and his legacy established the Pulitzer Prizes.
• Harold Ramis went to college in St. Louis and went on to write "Animal House." His credits include "Groundhog Day" and "Ghostbusters."
Golfer, botanist, priest
• Judy Rankin became a pro golfer at 17 in 1962, and was two-time LPGA player of the year.
• Peter Raven was the director of the Missouri Botanical Garden.
• Paul C. Reinert, a Jesuit priest, was the president of St. Louis University for 25 years and worked to desegregate the university.
Baseball player, dance troupe, cookbook author
• Branch Rickey was a baseball player and manager for the St. Louis Browns and Cardinals. As manager for the Brooklyn Dodgers, he signed Jackie Robinson as the first black player in MLB.
• The Missouri Rockets (image is from a 1920s newspaper advertisement) became the world-famous Radio City Rockettes.
• Irma Rombauer self-published "The Joy of Cooking" in 1931; it is still in print.
Painter, musician, baseball player
• Charles M. Russell was a painter known for his work picturing cowboys, Native Americans and western landscapes.
• David Sanborn is a jazz musician.
• Red Schoendienst is a baseball Hall of Famer and a former Cardinals player.
Activists, playwright, botanist
• Dred and Harriet Scott were slaves; Dred Scott's suit for his freedom led to a Supreme Court decision that helped set up the Civil War.
• Ntozake Shange is a playwright and poet who wrote "for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf."
• Henry Shaw was a merchant with an interest in botany whose legacy includes the Missouri Botanical Garden.
General, baseball player, conductor
• William Tecumseh Sherman was a general who captured Atlanta and led a destructive march to the coast that helped end the Civil War.
• George Sisler was a baseball player with the St. Louis Browns and is in the Hall of Fame.
• Leonard Slatkin was the music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Football player, baseball player, gospel singer
• Jackie Smith was a tight end with the St. Louis Cardinals (football team).
• Ozzie Smith, "The Wizard," was a Cardinals shortstop and is in the baseball Hall of Fame.
• Willie Mae Ford Smith was a gospel singer.
Activist, poet, musician
• Max Starkloff was an activist who worked for people who used wheelchairs or had other disabilities. He founded Paraquad.
• Sara Teasdale won the Pulitzer Prize for "Love Songs."
• Clark Terry was a jazz trumpet player.
Author, musician, singer
• Kay Thompson was an actress and author of the children's books about Eloise.
• Henry "Mule" Townsend was a Blues musician; he is considered the father of St. Louis blues.
• Helen Traubel was an opera singer.
Sculptor, musician, musician
• Ernest Trova was a sculptor whose donation helped start the Laumeier Sculpture Park.
• Ike Turner was a musician who led the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• Tina Turner began her career with Ike Turner, but left him due to domestic abuse. She has won 12 Grammy awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Poet, bowler, actress
• Mona Van Duyn was a poet who won the Pulitzer Prize for "Near Changes."
• Dick Weber was a pro-bowler who was a member of the team that rolled a 3,858 series, a record that stood until 1994.
• Mary Wickes was an actress who starred in "White Christmas," "The Trouble with Angels" and "Sister Act."
Playwright, painter, actress
• Tennessee Williams was a playwright who famously hated St. Louis, but is buried here anyway. His work includes "The Glass Menagerie."
• Carl Wimar was a frontier painter who painted murals in the Old Courthouse.
• Shelley Winters was an actress who starred in "Night of the Hunter" and "A Place in the Sun."
Politician, cartoonist, author
• Harriett Woods was a politician who lost the 1982 Senate race; the founder of Emily's List drew inspiration from that loss. She was the first woman elected to statewide office, and served as lieutenant governor.
• Chic Young was a cartoonist who drew "Blondie."
• 2018 inductee: Ridley Pearson is an author whose work includes the "The Kingdom Keepers" series.
