. Ms. Vanderbilt recalled golden summers in the 1970s with Mr. Cooper, whom she called Daddy, and their sons in Southampton: Anderson and Carter bringing in wildflowers and eliciting stories from their mothers childhood, which she idealized. In 1934 a . Scandal defined Gloria's early life. Born into hardscrabble rural obscurity, Vanderbilt turned his small-scale ferry business into a massive transportation empire. She used it for years to support her own lavish party life in Paris, London, Biarritz, the Swiss Alps and the Riviera. Others were costumed as Joan of Arc complete with solid silver chainmail, Christopher Columbus, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Queen Elizabeth I in a bright red wig, the goddess Diana, Daniel Boone. Eventually the Four Hundred list was published in the form of a 'blue book,' which persists today as the Social Register. Newspapers dubbed Gloria, 'the poor little rich girl. A memorial to those who lost their lives in 2019. Within six months, he had run his own father out of the ferry business. Cathleen Vanderbilt Arostegui (January 23, 1904 January 25, 1944)[1] was an American heiress and member of the Vanderbilt family. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Im not knocking inherited money, she told The New York Times in 1985, but the money Ive made has a reality to me that inherited money doesnt have. Pictured: Vanderbilt at one of his racing stables in 1911. Cater Vanderbilt and Anderson Hays were their two sons. She said Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt caroused at all hours with a film actress, that her lovers sometimes spent the night and that magazines with pictures of nude men and women were tossed carelessly about the house.. Gloria Vanderbilt, the 'end of a dynasty': By the time Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (Gloria's father and Anderson Cooper's grandfather) was born on January 14, 1880, the family's inheritance was spread thin among the many descendants. Unlike his brother who wanted to make a contribution to society, Reginald dropped out of Yale University after two years and decided to devote his time and effort to the equestrian industry where he became a well-known figure. vanderbilt family treeMenu. Gloria Laura Morgan Vanderbilt was born in Manhattan Lying-In Hospital on Feb. 20, 1924, the only child of Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt and his second wife, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt. Her book, a series of deft verbal snapshots, is a haunting lament for that primal love, a cry of the heart that speaks to the child in all of us.. Her mother was a self-indulgent beauty and jet-set precursor. The magnate's vast shipping and railroad empire launched his family and multiple generations into stratospheric wealth, cementing their position as American royalty, 'with the titles and the palaces to prove it,' he writes. One elder brother, Cornelius Vanderbilt III (18731942),[7] married Grace Wilson against his parents' wishes and was disinherited. Familypedia is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. William Henry doubled the family's wealth, and built their first mansion on Fifth Avenue. In 1963, they also divorced and, that same year, she married Wyatt Emory Cooper (19271978). This article was published more than3 years ago. By then he had taken an interest young Cathleen's teenage friend from the debutante circuit. By summer 1934, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt and her daughter were back in New York. He attended Yale University, where he acquired a reputation for dissipationand no diploma. 'She was the last to be born before the Depression, when the Vanderbilt riches seemed as limitless and eternal as the stars in the sky,' he says in the book. Ms. Vanderbilt in a 1954 portrait by Gordon Parks, who remained her friend and became her companion in later years. The Grand Central Depot, which would later be finished by his son, is the iconic Grand Central Terminal of today. Gloria became the subject of headlines in 1934 when she was just 10 years old due to a custody battle between her mother and her aunt, per History. Determined to upstage her sister-in-law down the street, Alva designed her grandiose mansion after the gothic castles she saw during her childhood in France. Gertrude Vanderbilt was born on January 9, 1875, in New York City, the second daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843-1899) and Alice Claypoole Gwynne (1852-1934), and a great-granddaughter of "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt.Her older sister died before Gertrude was born, but she grew up with several brothers and a younger sister. ', Her husband Willie Vanderbilt was a known party boy who indulged in the finer pleasures that wealth afforded him. New York society could ignore him, but in the end, they couldn't ignore his money. The four-story, brick-and-stucco building, between Morton and Commerce Streets, contained two units, one with two bedrooms and another with three, as well as the atelier for Markarian, the fashion brand that designed Jill Bidens Inauguration Day outfit. To millions of women (and men) who wore her jeans, blouses, scarves, shoes, jewelry and perfumes, who saw her alabaster face, jet-black hair and slim figure in magazines, and who watched her move across a television screen and proclaim that her svelte jeans really hug your derrire, Ms. Vanderbilt was an alluring, faintly naughty fashion diva in the 1970s. It is as certain a death to ambition as cocaine is to morality.'. Her. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Gloria Vanderbilt was 19 when she first married. [4][5], Reginald was a grandson of William Henry Vanderbilt (18211885), and great-grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt (17941877). The ensuing child-custody battle in State Supreme Court in New York riveted and scandalized the nation for 13 weeks in 1934 with lurid testimony of a mothers greed, debauchery and cold indifference to the girl accounts magnified by hearsay evidence and sensationalized reports in the tabloid press. After their divorce in 1932, she married broadcasting executive Lawrence Wise Lowman (19001980) in 1932. Before their divorce in 1932,[a] they lived at 26 East 96th Street and were the parents of Henry Cooke Cushing IV (19242000),[14] a polo player and investor who was married to Georgia Walters "Georgette Windsor" (born 1924), Ruth Swift Dunbar (19322010), Rosalba Neri (born 1939), and Laura Alvarez. The judge gave Whitney primary custody, with the girls mother getting limited visitation rights. Mr. Byrne made a tidy profit on the sale of his apartment at 211 Elizabeth Street, a seven-story brick building on the corner of Prince Street. Alva was brilliant and 'utterly ruthless' in her quest to challenge Caroline Astor's iron rule over New York's aristocracy. She retained a smaller allowance for Glorias maintenance, but lost rights to the girls trust fund. Alice, who was also raised in Cincinnati, was a daughter of lawyer Abraham Evan Gwynne and his wife, Rachel Moore Flagg. The Harold Gray comic strip character was born in New York in The Daily News six months after Gloria, and led a similarly precarious life of dislocations and adventures. The nanny testified that she found graphic pornography books: 'Flogging, and nuns, and naked menwith women's tonguesleft out where the child could easily see them. [4] Through Jared Flagg, she was a first cousin of architect Ernest Flagg. Her family's fortune evaporated in the postbellum stock market, leaving the homely 17 year old with nothing but her unrelenting ambition. Known Also as Dog Fancier. It is known today as 'one of the greatest representations of the Gilded Age,' but at the time, the resplendent Newport mansion was 'just a small summer cottage' in comparison to the New York City palace on 58th Street. She was the spoiled daughter of a rich Kentucky cotton family who moved into a Fifth Avenue mansion (with slaves in tow), just before the Civil War. Ms. Vanderbilt in her living room in 1973, flanked by portraits of her mother and herself. ', 'My mom had a very fractured relationship with the family she was born into,' said Cooper to CNN. Her name was Gloria Morgan and they were married three years later. Mrs. Whitney countersued to keep her niece. In all, the legendary Vanderbilt ball cost $250,000, equivalent to $6.4 million in today's money. Please refer to it for further understanding of the Vanderbilt family tree. Great-Grandson and Namesake of Commodore Succumbs in Miami to Brain Hemorrhage. When a former maid took the stand, she intimated that Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt may have had a lesbian relationship at which point the judge cleared the courtroom. She was the only daughter of Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (18801925) and his first wife, Cathleen (ne Neilson; 18851927). Gloria's father, Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt, . On his deathbed, Cornelius gave William one last haunting instruction: 'Keep the money together.' As the Billie Holiday song goes, Mama may have and Papa may have, but God bless the child thats got his own., Ms. Vanderbilt at her home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in 2016. She also played a role in constructing The Breakers in Newport. The social war between the houses of Vanderbilt and Astor played out in opulent mansions and lavish parties hosted at Delmonicos downtown (an important venue for the newly minted blue bloods of the Gilded Age). The Biltmore remains America's largest home to this day. When Gloria testified, the judge cleared the courtroom. Ms. Vanderbilt had two children with Mr. Cooper. The Titanics heroic men and the people who still honor them 107 years later, How a sex scandal led to the nations first abortion law 200 years ago. A developer bought the house in 1926 and bulldozed it within a year. With Willie's wealth, Alva would laysiege to the cloistered world of New York society. Alice's youngest son Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt married Miss Cathleen Gebhard Neilson at Arleigh (which her mother rented for the occasion) in April of 1903. . He likens it to Versailles, 'The Breakers was the center of attention, the center of fame.' The party was entertained by two orchestras and four quadrille dances. SEPARATED SEVERAL YEARS Husband Receives Papers at His Sandy Point Farm, Portsmouth, R.I.--Contest Not Expected", "Mrs. Vanderbilt Sr. He remarried in 1923 with Gloria Morgan with whom he had a second daughter, Gloria Laura Vanderbilt in 1924. Great-Grandson and Namesake of Commodore Succumbs in Miami to Brain Hemorrhage. Born in New York City on Feb. 20, 1924, Gloria Laura Morgan Vanderbilt arrived to much fanfare as the daughter of railroad empire heir Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt and his second wife, Gloria Morgan. An avid equestrian, Vanderbilt was the founder and president of many equestrian organizations. His circle of friends known as 'the Palace set' were a cast of fast-living, decadent aristocrats. ', In 1934, 10-year-old Gloria became the centerof a sensational custody lawsuit that was heard and reported around the world, it was dubbed, 'The Trial of the Century.'. And in late-March closings, the fashion designer Ralph Lauren and his wife, Ricky Lauren, bought an Upper East Side co-op apartment for $4 million from the estate of Nancy Norman Lassalle, a prominent promoter of ballet who died last year. She often said her marriage to Mr. Cooper, which lasted 15 years until his death in 1978, was her happiest. The dress was renown for its cutting-edge technology, using hidden batteries in the folds of her dress to lit the torch during a time when almost all houses were still illuminated by gas lamps and candles, Alva and Willie Vanderbilt's daughter Consuelo, would captivate the public in 1895 with her much anticipated marriage to the 9th Duke of Marlborough (a first cousin of Winston Churchill). VANDERBILT SUED FOR DIVORCE; His Wife, Formerly Cathleen Neilson, Charges Desertion and Asks Custody of Child. 'The Biltmore' remains America's largest home to this day. Like a lot of sensational trials, the custody battle over Gloria Vanderbilt was dubbed the trial of the century. With courts now tending to keep custody matters private, the media maelstrom around it would never happen today. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. A biography by Janny Venema, Charting New Netherland Her fears were assuaged when Gloria agreed to be examined by Alice's physician who attested to her 'intact virginity.'. Upon its completion in 1883, Alva hosted a masquerade ball with 1,200 guests as a housewarming party. Her father had a country home known as Sandy Point. ', Cornelius left his entire fortune to his eldest son, Willian Henry Vanderbilt (above) - effectively disinheriting his ten other children. Custody was eventually awarded to Gertrude Whitney, but Gloria was left traumatized and even more isolated from the event. (Video: Reuters), Local news, weather, sports, events, restaurants and more, Poor little rich girl: Gloria Vanderbilt was caught between a neglectful mother and an oppressive aunt. She devoted herself exclusively to her own pleasures. They lived in New York and at the Breakers, the Vanderbilt estate in Newport, R.I. Little Gloria, as the family called her, and her much older half sister, Mary Cathleen, her fathers daughter by a previous marriage, who lived in another household, jointly inherited a $5 million trust fund when their father died in 1925. Gertrude received the proceeds from the sale of 1 West 57th Street, totaling $7,000,000. Charges of moral unfitness against the mother were dropped. The couple had a daughter named Cathleen. He disregarded his nine daughters because they wouldn't be able to carry on the Vanderbilt name and had always wanted more than three sons. Early life. Gloria Laura Morgan Vanderbilt was born in Manhattan Lying-In Hospital on Feb. 20, 1924, the only child of Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt and his second wife, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt. The great hall displays sculptural personifications of Art, Science, and Industry with a paintedtrompe l'oeil ceiling. In her later years the photographer Gordon Parks, who died in 2006, was her companion. [6], He attended Yale University, but did not graduate. The WASPs stung by their own scandals! Key factors for the buyers were the gated courtyard with parking for two cars and the tennis court-size garden, said the listing broker, Jonathan Hettinger of Sothebys International Realty. In the depths of the Depression, the case confirmed Americans worst impressions of the superrich. HUNGARIAN HERE FOR BRIDE Young Court Chamberlain Is a Guest at the Breakers, Newport -- Betrothal Made in Europe Last Summer", "Reginald Vanderbilt Dies Suddenly Today", "Gen. C. Vanderbilt Dies On His Yacht. At the end of the bio profile of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt is an extensive description howthe Vanderbilt in this bio profile fits in with the other prominent Vanderbilts who preceded or followed him. The palatial residence made of limestone featured pointed turrets out of a fairy-tale castle. It was very painful for her. 1924), Ruth Swift Dunbar (19322010), Rosalba Neri (b. Ms. Vanderbilt, who died in 2019 at age 95, was an heiress to the family fortune and had also built her own fashion empire. He married Cathleen Gebhard Neilson (1882-1927) 1 April 1903 . The comments below have been moderated in advance. Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt was a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family. Vanderbilt's controversial decision to disinherit his nine daughters and other living son, Cornelius 'Cornie' Jeremiah, set the stage for one of the most salacious trials in the century. Angel Mendez (1946-1967) - US Marine awarded the Navy Cross for his death in Vietnam War; raised at Mount Loretto; Joseph F. Merrell (1926-1945) . He was the son of Marquesa de Justiz de Santa Ana and Arturo Arostegui. Boasting about the Petit Chateau she said, 'My house was the death of brown stone fronts.' H.P. Her father, Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt, was a 42-year-old gambler, struggling with alcohol and squandering his family fortune. The night before announcing their engagement, Reggie hosted a costume ball for Cathleen at which Gloria Morgan appeared as Marie Antoinette. In the mid-1970s, when jeans were cut mostly for men, the clothing manufacturer Mohan Murjani signed Ms. Vanderbilt to market jeans for women with her signature on the back pocket. Fifth Avenue became the new vanguard for the same social elites that previously previously shunned the the Commodore downtown. The home was demolished in 1926 to make way for the Bergdorf Goodman flagship store, but it still holds the record for the largest private residence ever built in New York City, Next to the Triple Palace stood William 'Willie' Kissam and Alva's 'Petit Chateau' at 660 Fifth Avenue. Often Host to Royalty", "H.P. She and her husband donated Vanderbilt Hall to Yale College in memory of their eldest son, Bill, a student there when he died in 1892. WHITNEY DIES AT 58 OF PNEUMONIA Heir to Wealth and Prestige. 'He possessed a genius and a mania for making money, but his obsession with material wealth would border on pathological, and the pathology born of that wealth would go on to infect each successive generation in different ways.'. More. Carrie Chiang of the Corcoran Group represented both the buyer and seller. He Won Distinction as Soldier, Inventor, Engineer, Yachtsman. Months after Gertrude's death in 1942, the Reefs (then occupied by her sister Gladys and her family) caught fire, severely damaging the mansion. Ms. Vanderbilts 2004 memoir, It Seemed Important at the Time, reminisced at length on her affairs with Brando, Sinatra, Kelly, Hughes and other Hollywood legends. His lengthy career in acting includes starring roles in the film Hereditary, and the upcoming movie Lamborghini.. ', Like her ancestors, Gloria spent lavishly, 'almost heedlessly, on anything that might bring pleasure: on houses and furnishings, gifts for friends, charities, and fine clothes. She denied being broke, but she moved into a small Manhattan apartment owned by Anderson Cooper. After her father's death in 1855, her mother remarried to Albert Mathews, who wrote under the name Paul Siogvolk. Dies In Home At 89. Ms. Vanderbilt with her fourth husband, Wyatt Cooper, a writer, in 1965. The money a 'contagion,' he says, 'preying upon Cornie's body and on his mind. Born on February 20, 1924, to railroad heir Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt and his wife, . R. VANDERBILT LEFT CHILDREN $6,250,000", "H. Cushing IV, Polo Player And Investor, 76", "Ms. Vanderbilt's Son Plunges to His Death", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reginald_Claypoole_Vanderbilt&oldid=1144917420, Burials at the Vanderbilt Family Cemetery and Mausoleum, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox person with multiple parents, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 16 March 2023, at 08:19. Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt was born on January 14, 1880, in Manhattan, New York. ', 'I think of my mother as the last Vanderbilt,' writes Cooper. When Cornelius Vanderbilt died on January 4, 1877, he left his entire fortune estimated to be $100 million to his eldest son William 'Billy' Henry Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt was born in New York City, the third son of Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843-1899) and Alice Claypoole Gwynne (1845-1934). The only value left in his estate was the $5 million trust fund that Cornelius II, Reggie's father, had established for the benefit of Reggie's children. Family With Him At End. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. She set new trends in apparel marketing. Family With Him At End. The marketing of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans is one of the most dramatic American business success stories of the decade, The Times reported in 1979. In an age when a newspaper cost pennies, he owed $269 to his local newsstand. The seven-story, brick building at 30 Crosby Street in SoHo once housed a corset manufacturer. Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt, of the New York and Newport sporting Vanderbilts, died in September 1925 less monied than you'd have thought, able to pass along a $5 million trust fund to his 19 . By then he had taken an interest young Cathleen's teenage friend from the debutante circuit. in 1895. They survive her, as does Anderson Cooper. She was 17. [5], In 1903,[8] Reginald married Cathleen Neilson (18851927)[9] at Parker Cottage in Newport, Rhode Island. Anyone can read what you share. Using the inheritance from his father, the Commodore's youngest grandchild, George, built a colossal175,000 square foot retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Society in the Gilded Age was itself, still a new invention presided over, primarily by Caroline Astor as its reigning queen and self-appointed gate keeper. Harry was the son of Harry Cooke Cushing Jr. and Adelaide Blanche Cohnfeld, and the nephew of illustrator Otho Cushing. The ensuing battle in State Supreme Court in New York riveted the nation for 13 weeks in 1934. Lady Milford Haven was the daughter of a Russian grand duke and was married to a Mountbatten, cousin to the king of England. The unit is at 1107 Fifth Avenue, a 14-story building on the corner of 92nd Street. Great-Grandson and Namesake of Commodore Succumbs in Miami to Brain Hemorrhage. With 250 rooms, 35 bedrooms, and 43 bathrooms, the French Renaissance chateau and its 8,000 acre property is still family owned and operated by George's relatives, Unlike the Commodore who despised ostentation, his grandchildren and subsequent generations squandered their fortune in an effort to break into society by building opulent homes, 'all which were built and torn down within a span of 60 years,' said Anderson Cooper. The unit has three bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms and a library that could be converted into a fourth bedroom. Guggenheim Guided His Start. Scandal defined Gloria's early life. He had also headed Dominos Pizza and was athletic director of the University of Michigan. It was her happiest marriage, she often said, lasting 15 years until his death in 1978 during heart surgery. It was, she wrote, the final loss, the fatal loss that stripped me bare., Two other memoirs, 20 years apart, conveyed forgiveness for the mother who had neglected her in childhood and who died in 1965; the first, Once Upon a Time (1985), was dedicated to her. 'It was almost as though the Vanderbilt fortune itself was Cornie's afflictionthe access to it, thelack of access to it, the assumption of it, the theft of it, his father's affection for it,' writes Cooper. Morgan also said Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt had tried to teach the child how to mix cocktails that very month, according to The Washington Post at the time. Moment commuter blasts eco-zealots, Student kicked out of school for 'there are only two genders' t-shirt, Russian freight train derails and bursts into flames after explosion, Royal superfans camping on The Mall ahead of King's Coronation, Women's rights activists and pro-trans campaigners separated, Historic chairs to be reused by the King for the coronation service, Saboteurs wreck Russian train cut power cables 37mi from Ukraine, Braverman: People crossing Channel are 'at odds with British values', Cambridge students party in the park during annual celebrations, Unseen footage of Meghan Markle during her teenage years, Moment large saltwater crocodile snatches pet dog off beach in QLD, Hundreds of Household Division members rehearse for coronation, Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty, Do not sell or share my personal information. After his death in 1899, Alice lived in the house alone with the thirty-seven servants needed to keep it running. Reggie Vanderbilt was 24 years Morgan's senior, she was only 18 when they married. Alice was responsible for constructing several massive family houses, including the enlargement of 1 West 57th Street, making it the largest private residence ever built in an American city at the time. Gloria's mother, Gloria Morgan, became a widow in 1925. 1967), the television news anchor.[23]. Before her parents' eventual divorce in 1920, they separated and she continued to live with her mother. Her friends were Charlie Chaplin, Diane von Furstenberg, Bobby Short and Truman Capote, who was said to have modeled the character Holly Golightly after her in his 1958 novella, Breakfast at Tiffanys. (Audrey Hepburn played the part in the 1961 film adaptation.) He implored the two sides to conduct the rest of the proceedings in private, for the future peace and self-respect of the little girl, the New York Times reported, but they refused. She was joined by her twin, Thelma, and her mother, Laura Kilpatrick Morgan. The controversial will led to a sensational trial that aired all the Vanderbilt's dirty laundry. By then he had already developed a serious interest in spiritualism and began attending regular seances. [1] Cooper's interest in his family history was piqued when he began sorting through his late mother, Gloria Vanderbilt's boxes. Baby Gloria with her mother, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, shortly after the death of her father . ; One of the Sponsors Is Mrs. Vanderbilt -- Vanderbilt Christening Today", "Vanderbilt Dead After Hemorrhage Last Night", "R.C. Manhattan Island was not the first choice for the administrative center of New Netherland.
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