Gloria Vanderbilt

Gloria Vanderbilt

Gloria Laura Vanderbilt was the only child of railroad heir Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt and his second wife, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt. She was the subject of a high-profile child custody trial in which her mother and her paternal aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, each sought custody of her. The story of the trial was told in the 1980 Barbara Goldsmith book Little Gloria… Happy At Last and a 1982 NBC miniseries based on it, which was nominated for six Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. As an adult in the 1970s, Vanderbilt launched a line of fashions, perfumes, and household goods bearing her name. She died in Los Angeles in 1965 at the age of 83.

About Gloria Vanderbilt in brief

Summary Gloria VanderbiltGloria Laura Vanderbilt was the only child of railroad heir Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt and his second wife, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt. She was the subject of a high-profile child custody trial in which her mother and her paternal aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, each sought custody of her and control over her trust fund. The story of the trial was told in the 1980 Barbara Goldsmith book Little Gloria… Happy At Last and a 1982 NBC miniseries based on it, which was nominated for six Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. As an adult in the 1970s, Vanderbilt launched a line of fashions, perfumes, and household goods bearing her name. Vanderbilt also appeared in a number of live and filmed television dramas, including The Playhouse One in Hollywood and The Time of Your Life. She died in Los Angeles in 1965 at the age of 83. She is the mother of CNN television anchor Anderson Cooper and the grandmother of CNN anchor Jake Tapper. She had a half-sister, Cathleen Vanderbilt, from her father’s first marriage to Cathleen Neilson, who was also a socialite. Vanderbilt’s mother was forced to live on a drastically reduced portion of her daughter’s trust, worth more than USD 4 million at the end of 1937, equivalent to USD 71 million in 2019 value.

Vanderbilt was raised amidst luxury at her aunt’s mansion in Old Westbury, Long Island, surrounded by cousins her age who lived in houses circling the vast estate, and in New York City. She studied acting at the Playhouse with teacher Sanford Meisner and debuted in 1954 in The Swan, staged at Pocono Mountain Playhouse in Mountain Home, Pennsylvania. She also appeared on Broadway in 1955 in a revival of Elsie Elsie, a play by William Saroyan. Vanderbilt came of age during her career, becoming known during her age as the Artistic Director of the Art League of New York. Her mother died in 1965 and she later became a well-known philanthropist and philanthropist. She and her sister Cathleen became heiresses to a half share each in a USD 5 million trust fund when Vanderbilt was 18 months old. Vanderbilt had a twin sister who was the mistress of the Prince of Wales during this time, and her mother’s identical twin sister, Thelma, was her friend’s twin sister.