Gloria Vanderbilt
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Gloria Laura Vanderbilt (born February 20, 1924) is an American artist, actress, and socialite most noted as a spokeswoman for designer blue jeans.
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[edit] Early life and heiress status
Vanderbilt is the only child of railroad heir Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (1880-1925) and his second wife, Gloria Laura Mercedes Morgan (1904-1965).
She became heiress to a four million dollar trust fund upon her father's death of alcohol poisoning when she was just 15 months old. The rights to control this trust fund while Vanderbilt was a minor belonged to her mother, also named Gloria. Herself a child bride, the elder Gloria was completely unprepared for the adult responsibilities as a widow of means. She travelled to and from Paris for years, dragging young Gloria with her. They were accompanied by a nanny named Dodo who would play a tumultuous part in young Gloria's life, and her mother's twin sister Thelma, who was the mistress of The Prince of Wales during this time . As a result of the frequent spending, her finances were scrutinized by young Gloria's aunt Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. Mrs. Whitney, a sculptor and philanthropist, wanted custody of the young heiress and soon a famous and scandalous trial became the lead story in 1934. Testimony was heard depicting the mother as an unfit parent, much of which was conjecture and hearsay, but as the widow Vanderbilt was mostly concerned about her use of the trust and not the particular care of her daughter, the court battle was easily lost and Little Gloria became the ward of her Aunt Gertrude.
Litigation continued, however. Little Gloria's mother was forced to live on a drastically reduced portion of her daughter's trust. Visitation was also closely watched to ensure that the elder Gloria did not exert any undue influence upon her daughter with her supposedly "raucous" lifestyle.
[edit] Marriages, relationships and children
Gloria was raised amidst luxury at her aunt Gertrude's mansion, surrounded by cousins her age who lived in houses circling the vast estate.
Gloria went to the best schools and was raised to be a lady by a large staff and no one else. As years passed, contact with her mother grew sparse. When Gloria came of age and took control of her trust fund, she cut her mother off entirely, eventually gradually helping out in bits and pieces. Her mother scarcely recovered from the trial and died in obscurity in 1965.
Without a single day of preparation for her inheritance Gloria decided to prove her independence by buying a mink coat and running off to Hollywood where she married agent Pasquale DiCicco ("Pat" DiCicco) in 1941; they divorced in 1945.
Her second marriage, to conductor Leopold Stokowski on April 21, 1945, produced two sons, Leopold Stanislaus Stokowski, born in 1950, and Christopher Stokowski, born in 1952; they divorced in October, 1955.
On August 28, 1956, she married director Sidney Lumet; they divorced in August, 1963.
She married her fourth husband, author Wyatt Emory Cooper in 1964. They had two sons, Carter Vanderbilt Cooper, in 1965, and future CNN reporter Anderson Hays Cooper, born in 1967. Wyatt Cooper died in 1978 during open heart surgery in New York City. Carter Cooper committed suicide on July 22, 1988 by jumping from the family's 14th floor apartment as his mother watched horrified. Miss Vanderbilt believed that it was caused by a psychotic episode induced by an allergy to the anti-asthma medical prescription drug Proventil (though in addition, it has been theorized that he was sleepwalking and not in his usual state[citation needed]).
[edit] Professional career and later life
Vanderbilt studied art at the Art Students League of New York. She became known for her artwork, giving one-woman shows of oil paintings, watercolors, and pastels. This artwork was adapted and licensed, starting about 1968, by Hallmark (a manufacturer of paper products) and by Bloomcraft (a textile manufacturer), and Vanderbilt began designing specifically for linens, china, glassware and flatware.
During the 1970s, she licensed the use of her name on a line of fashion eyeglasses, perfume and clothing. (Initially, her involvement in clothing consisted of putting her name (in place of the previous brand name, "Lucky Pierre") on a line of blouses produced by the Murjani Corporation). In 1979, Murjani proposed launching a line of designer jeans carrying Vanderbilt's brand name; they were more tight fitting than other jeans of the day, with the heiress's name embossed in script on the back pocket.
Vanderbilt also appeared in a series of television ads promoting her products. Her designer label has flourished, with the Gloria Vanderbilt "swan" logo eventually appearing on dresses and perfume as well.
She lived in Greenwich, Conn.
Author of:
- Once upon a Time: A True Story
- A Mother's Story, which recounts the story of her son Carter's death
- It Seemed Important at the Time: A Romance Memoir
Subject of:
- Trio: Oona Chaplin, Carol Matthau, Gloria Vanderbilt: Portrait of an Intimate Friendship by Aram Saroyan
- Little Gloria... Happy at Last by Barbara Goldsmith
- That Vanderbilt Woman by Philip Van Rensselaer
Fashion Designers:
Website:
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Gloria Vanderbilt at the Internet Movie Database
- Gloria Vanderbilt's Many Loves CBS News July 31, 2005.
