Gloria Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt was born to Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (1880-1925), a railroad heir, and his second wife, Gloria Laura Mercedes Morgan (1904-1965), who was 19 years old when she gave birth. Little Gloria lived in Europe until she was 9 years old. Her great-great-great-grandfather was business magnate and family dynasty founder Cornelius Vanderbilt. She was a niece of Harry Hays Morgan and of Thelma Morgan (the mistress of the Duke of Windsor when she introduced him to her friend, Wallis Simpson). She also had a much-older half-sister, Mary Cathleen Vanderbilt (1904-1944), by her father Reginald's first marriage to Cathleen Gebhardt Neilson (1882-1927). At just 15 months old, Gloria became the heiress of a $4,000,000 dollar trust following her father's death in 1925. She later studied at the Art Students League of New York.

Mother of four sons. By husband Leopold Stokowski, she gave birth to Leopold Stanislaus Stokowski (born August 22, 1950) and Christopher Stokowski (born January 31, 1952). By Wyatt Cooper, she gave birth to Carter Vanderbilt Cooper, born January 27, 1965 (committed suicide July 22, 1988) and Anderson Cooper.

Befriended renowned photographer Gordon Parks when he was commissioned to photograph her for LIFE magazine in 1954.

A painter, stage and film actress, author, designer of fashion and housewares, she is best-known for her line of designer jeans in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Was the center of a fierce custody battle between her mother and her mother's sister-in-law, Gertrude Vanderbilt-Whitney, who was convinced Gloria's mother wan an unfit parent. Mrs. Whitney eventually gained guardianship of the then-11 year old. The incident was the basis of the mini-series Little Gloria... Happy at Last (1982), in which Gloria was played by actress Jennifer Dundas.

Died at her home in Manhattan on June 17, 2019, after having been diagnosed with stomach cancer 9 days earlier.