Gloria Vanderbilt

59
Gloria Vanderbilt bigraphy, stories - American socialite

Gloria Vanderbilt : biography

February 20, 1924 –

Gloria Laura Vanderbilt (born February 20, 1924) is an American artist, author, actress, heiress, and socialite most noted as an early developer of designer blue jeans. She is a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family of New York and the mother of CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

Early life

Vanderbilt was born in New York City, the only child of railroad heir Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (1880–1925) and his second wife, Gloria Morgan (1904–1965). She was christened in the Episcopal church as Gloria Laura Vanderbilt (and after her father’s death, confirmed in the Catholic Church, to which her mother belonged)."Reggie was anxious to have his child baptized a Protestant. [His elder daughter] Cathleen had been christened in the Catholic faith; he wanted this baby christened in his own, and I consented. This ceremony was performed by Bishop Herbert Shipman in our large, formal, seldom-used drawing room. … She was named Gloria after myself and Laura after my mother. … James Deering was the baby’s godfather and Gertrude Whitney was made her godmother …." Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, with Palma Wayne, Without Prejudice (E P Dutton, 1936), page 118. From her father’s first marriage to Cathleen Neilson, she had a half-sister, Cathleen Vanderbilt (1904–1944).

She became heiress to a half share in a $5 million trust fund upon her father’s death from cirrhosis when she was 18 months old. The rights to control this trust fund while Vanderbilt was a minor belonged to her mother, who traveled to and from Paris for years, taking her daughter with her. They were accompanied by a beloved nanny, whom young Gloria had named "Dodo", who would play a tumultuous part in the child’s life, and her mother’s identical twin sister, Thelma, who was the mistress of The Prince of Wales during this time. As a result of frequent spending, her mother’s use of finances was scrutinized by the child Vanderbilt’s paternal aunt Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. Whitney, a sculptor and philanthropist, wanted custody of the young girl and soon a famous custody trial became the lead story of 1934. The trial was so scandalous that at times, the judge would make everyone leave the room so as to listen to what young Vanderbilt had to say without anyone influencing her. Some people heard weeping and wailing inside the court room. Testimony was heard depicting the mother as an unfit parent; Vanderbilt’s mother lost the battle and Vanderbilt became the ward of her aunt Gertrude. Litigation continued, however. Vanderbilt’s mother was forced to live on a drastically reduced portion of her daughter’s trust, which was worth more than $4 million at the end of 1937. Visitation was also closely watched to ensure that Vanderbilt’s mother did not exert any undue influence upon her daughter with her supposedly "raucous" lifestyle. Vanderbilt was raised amidst luxury at her aunt Gertrude’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.

The story of the trial was told in a 1982 miniseries for NBC Little Gloria… Happy at Last, which was nominated for six Emmys and a Golden Globe.

Vanderbilt attended the Greenvale School in Long Island, Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut and then the Wheeler School in Providence, Rhode Island, as well as the Art Students League in New York City, developing the artistic talent for which she would become increasingly known in her career. When Vanderbilt came of age and took control of her trust fund, she cut her mother off entirely, though she supported her in later years. Her mother lived for many years with her sister, Thelma, Lady Furness, in Beverly Hills and died there in 1965.

Personal life

At 17 years old, Vanderbilt went to Hollywood where she married agent Pat DiCicco in 1941; they divorced in 1945.Pat DiCicco proved to be a big, temperamental and abusive man who called her ‘Fatsy Roo’ and beat her. ‘He would take my head and bang it against the wall,’ Vanderbilt said. ‘I had black eyes.’