Cole Hauser is the son of Cass Warner, who founded the film production company Warner Sisters, and actor
Wings Hauser. His paternal grandfather was screenwriter
Dwight Hauser. One of Cole's maternal great-grandfathers was film mogul
Harry Warner, a founding partner of
Warner Bros., and his maternal grandfather was
Milton Sperling, a Hollywood screenwriter and independent film producer. Hauser's maternal grandmother, Betty Mae Warner, a painter, sculptor, political activist and gallery owner, was married to
Stanley Sheinbaum, a political activist, economist, philanthropist, and a former
Los Angeles Police Department commissioner. Hauser is of
German and
Irish descent on his father's side and
Jewish on his mother's. Hauser's parents divorced in 1977, when he was two years old. According to him, at roughly fifteen, he first met his father after the relocation-induced years of separation. His father took him in for a year and taught him about auditioning. Prior to that, his mother had moved Hauser and his half-brother and sisters from Santa Barbara to Oregon to Florida and then back to Santa Barbara within a 12-year span. At the time, he participated heavily in sports, but half-heartedly pursued school. He was admitted to the short-listed circle of talent at a talent summer camp in the Catskill Mountains-Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Center, then won the leading role in the stage play
Dark of the Moon, which earned him standing ovations. At 16 years old, he left high school to act. ==Career==