Widow Of Financier, Long Ill. Was A Leader In Brilliant Era Of New York Society", "Gen. C. Vanderbilt Dies On His Yacht. She took long trips to Germany and other places. As an adult, Gloria Vanderbilt said that Whitney had coached her on what to say. Gloria Morgan's French maid testified that she saw 'Mrs. In 1993, she sued them and won a $1.5 million judgment, but collected almost nothing. She wielded her social influence as a kingmaker and arbiter of taste with liveried servants, French art, French chefs and imported china. On his deathbed, Cornelius gave William one last haunting instruction: 'Keep the money together.' 'Money was his sole concern: making it, spending it, and making more. Uptown, David A. Brandon, the former chief executive of Toys R Us, found a buyer for his Upper East Side home, while Jonathan Mendelsohn, a British lobbyist, and his wife, Nicola Mendelsohn, a top executive at Meta, bought a brand-new unit in Midtown. William Henry doubled the family's wealth, and built their first mansion on Fifth Avenue. 'I was not really aware at all,' he says, of his family history, Cornelius 'Commodore' Vanderbilt was an upstart from Staten Island who quit school at the age of 11 began working in his father's ferry business. Reginald Vanderbilt. 'The story of the extraordinary rise and epic fall of the Vanderbilt dynasty.'. Thelma is also credited with, (or blamed for), introducing the prince to Wallis Simpson after asking her to 'take care of him' while she was away. After their divorce in 1932, she married broadcasting executive Lawrence Wise Lowman (19001980) in 1932. She and her mother, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, had lived there until his death in 1925, after which they moved to Paris. The mansion had over 100 rooms and covered an entire city block. A partnership she formed with her lawyer and a psychiatrist soured. The Breakers is the grandest and most opulent of Newport's Gilded Age mansions, and it remains the most popular tourist attraction in the state of Rhode Island, Using the inheritance from his father, William Henry's youngest child, George, built a colossal 175,000 square foot retreat in Asheville, North Carolina. Anyone can read what you share. [4][5], Reginald was a grandson of William Henry Vanderbilt (18211885), and great-grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt (17941877). She had a busy social calendar that took her all over Europe, and she often left her toddler to be cared for by others. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! Gloria Vanderbilt jeans soon became a $100 million-a-year business, with skirts, sweaters, jackets, linens and fragrances joining her growing product lines. The loftlike residence has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a library and a great room with a wood-burning fireplace. Thelma is later credited for introducing Edward to Wallis Simpson. Cathleen Vanderbilt Arostegui (January 23, 1904 January 25, 1944)[1] was an American heiress and member of the Vanderbilt family. She married Pasquale DiCicco (19091978) in 1941. Manhattan Island was not the first choice for the administrative center of New Netherland. In the depths of the Depression, the case confirmed Americans worst impressions of the superrich. The new owner was identified only as the Pinkhart Trust. The WASPs stung by their own scandals! Dies In Home At 89. Caroline Astor recognized early on the importance of money in a country without landed aristocracy. He was flat broke by the time he died and owed money all over town to lenders who had been all too willing to give him credit because of his famous name. 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. She was 95. She ran with a fast-living, decadent circle of friends known as 'the Palace set,' while her sister Thelma had an affair withEdward, the Prince of Wales. At the time of his death he was only 45 years old. Born. 'The wharves were the crucible in which Cornelius Vanderbilt's acquisitive hunger was forged,' wrote Cooper. Baby Gloria with her mother, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, shortly after the death of her father . Vanderbilt family. 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. [5], Alice donated to various charitable causes. Mr. Byrnes primary residence is in Rockport, Maine, where he lives with his wife, the documentary filmmaker Hannah Beth King, and their daughter. Her mother was a self-indulgent beauty and jet-set precursor. The judge granted her wish, but gave her mother visiting rights. When she was 17, she dropped out of school and ran away to be with her mother, who now lived in Beverly Hills. It was very painful for her. She was said to be Americas richest woman. By 11:30pm a bouillabaisse of kings, queens, fairies, toreadors, and gypsiesbejeweled and bedecked in silks and furs and ropes of diamonds had descended upon Fifth Avenue. Cathleen wasn't the only person who disagreed with the May-December romance. Gertrude received the proceeds from the sale of 1 West 57th Street, totaling $7,000,000. He married Cathleen Gebhard Neilson (1882-1927) 1 April 1903 . was the buyer. [20] He is buried in the Vanderbilt Family Cemetery and Mausoleum in Staten Island, New York. WHITNEY DIES AT 58 OF PNEUMONIA; ILL ONLY A FEW DAYS; Sportsman and Financier Succumbs Unexpectedly at His Fifth Avenue Home. ; One of the Sponsors Is Mrs. Vanderbilt -- Vanderbilt Christening Today", "H. Cushing IV, Polo Player And Investor, 76", "DIVORCE FOR MRS. LOWMAN; Former Cathleen Vanderbilt Gets Decree in Cuban Court", "MRS. C.V. LOWMAN MARRIED IN HAVANA; Daughter of the Late Reginald Vanderbilt and First Wife Wed to Martin Arostegui", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cathleen_Vanderbilt&oldid=1135522765, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Pages using infobox person with multiple parents, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 25 January 2023, at 04:54. ; One of the Sponsors Is Mrs. Vanderbilt -- Vanderbilt Christening Today", "Vanderbilt Dead After Hemorrhage Last Night", "R.C. Dressed as a Venetian princess, Alva received her guests wearing a rope of pearls that belonged to Catherine the Great wrapped around her waist (right), The same year William Henry Vanderbilt died at the age of 64, his two eldest sons Willie Kissam and Cornelius II (left) each inherited $65 million ($1.7 billion today). He expanded into steamboats and made a fortune in shipping by monopolizing the waterways around New York during the 1830s. Her alcoholic father died when she was a baby. Soon after, she got married for the first time to a gambler many years her senior just as her mom had done the year before she was born. He married Maria Mercedes Morgan (1904-1965 . 'The subsequent generations just went on this spending spree to break into society by building these enormous palaces, all which were built and torn down within a span of 60 years,' Anderson Cooper, 54, told CNN. SEPARATED SEVERAL YEARS Husband Receives Papers at His Sandy Point Farm, Portsmouth, R.I.--Contest Not Expected", "Mrs. M. Arostegui, a Vanderbilt, Dies; Inherited With Mrs. di Cicco Bulk of $7,000,000 Estate of Father, Reginald Vanderbilt", "DIVORCE FOR MRS. LOWMAN; Former Cathleen Vanderbilt Gets Decree in Cuban Court", "MRS. C.V. LOWMAN MARRIED IN HAVANA; Daughter of the Late Reginald Vanderbilt and First Wife Wed to Martin Arostegui", "Reginald C. Vanderbilt and Gloria Morgan To Wed Tomorrow", "CUSHING CHILD BAPTIZED. In infancy, she inherited a $2.5 million trust fund, equivalent to $37 million today, which she could not touch until she was 21, though her mother gained access to nearly $50,000 a year. Meanwhile Cornie's vices and multiplestints in debtor's jail were laid bare for the public to see and feast upon. Born on February 20, 1924, to railroad heir Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt and his wife, . Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Gertrude developed a strong interest in art. [5], In 1903,[8] Reginald married Cathleen Neilson (18851927)[9] at Parker Cottage in Newport, Rhode Island. An avid equestrian, Vanderbilt was the founder and president of many equestrian organizations. She seldom wrote to me or inquired about the baby.. Scandal defined Gloria's early life. Though Cooper says: 'He also initiated its fall, by inaugurating the Vanderbilt siege on the gilded gates of New York society thatushered in the truly astonishing excess for which the Vanderbilts would become famous.'. The unit has three bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms and a library that could be converted into a fourth bedroom. Glorias mother, legally a minor, could not control the trust, but won a court-approved $4,000-a-month allowance to raise her child. [4] Through Jared Flagg, she was a first cousin of architect Ernest Flagg. Ms. Vanderbilt married Mr. Lumet in 1956. Vanderbilt was married four times and had four children, most famously her son Anderson Cooper, 54, who has devoted his life to chronicling his mother and in his words, 'I always felt it was my job to try to protect her. She wrote a series of memoirs, including two that conveyed forgiveness for the mother who had neglected her in childhood and who died in 1965. Always in financial straits, Cornie repeatedly leaned onhis famous last name to procure loans which he squandered on his fondness for drinking, gambling and prostitutes. In its place today stands a 41-story office building that was owned by Jared Kushner until 2018, In 1895, Cornelius II and Alicespent $7 million ($220 million today's money) building The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island. Although she often left the girl in the care of paternal aunt Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, she filed paperwork to gain sole control of her daughters inheritance. The spacious apartment, on the corner of Elizabeth Street, comes with high ceilings, in-unit laundry and an abundance of closets. Books for Young Adults Her son, the CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, recently sold her longtime home, a two-bedroom apartment on Beekman Place, for $2.5 million, more than double the asking price. Next door to the Triple Palace stood William 'Willie' Kissam and Alva's 'Petit Chateau' at 660 Fifth Avenue. 1952), Carter Vanderbilt Cooper (19651988),[22] and Anderson Hays Cooper (b. Early life. He gambled away most of his inheritance. In 1935, Gloria, accompanied by a bodyguard, a nurse and a chauffeur, arrived at her mothers home in Midtown Manhattan for a visit. She gave the front gates of her former mansion at 1 West 57th Street to be placed in Central Park. Follow us on Twitter: @nytrealestate. (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. . Papers of Hans Bontemantel Familypedia is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. 1967), the television news anchor.[23]. Ms. Vanderbilt in a 1954 portrait by Gordon Parks, who remained her friend and became her companion in later years. Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt was born in 1880. Mrs. Vanderbilt was in bed reading a paper, and there was Lady Milford Haven beside the bed with her arm around Mrs. Vanderbilt's neck and kissing her just like a lover.' Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (January 14, 1880 - September 4, 1925) was a member of the Vanderbilt family. 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.. In truth, he was having an affair with his children's governess and wanted to enjoy her company freely. The ensuing battle in State Supreme Court in New York riveted the nation for 13 weeks in 1934. She suedfor custody of little Gloria citing 'neglect and immoral influence' of her mother as cause. 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 great hall displays sculptural personifications of Art, Science, and Industry with a paintedtrompe l'oeil ceiling. It is currently configured with three high-end units: a duplex once listed for $13.5 million; a three-level maisonette, for $11.5 million; and a penthouse with private terraces, for $25 million. The mansion was later inherited by his grandson, who auctioned off the 'outdated' priceless nineteenth century furniture in 1942 to Warner Brothers and other movie studios that used the pieces as set decorations for period films. By then he had already developed a serious interest in spiritualism and began attending regular seances. Gloria, too, had a lonely, insecure childhood, parked in Paris for months on end or trailing her mother around Europe with a nurse, Emma Sullivan Keislich, who, with a maternal grandmother, Laura Kilpatrick Morgan, provided some emotional support. Theres no room with the Nationals. Eventually the Four Hundred list was published in the form of a 'blue book,' which persists today as the Social Register. As the figures show he also did not have a long life. 'It sounds very elegant now, on the outside, but she's an 8-year-old child being moved from hotel rooms, and her mother's going out to parties every night and having all sorts of people through the house. The family's New York City home was an opulent mansion . Many Concerns Now Merged", "MISS VANDERBILT WILL WED A COUNT; Gladys, Youngest Daughter of Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, the Financee of Laszlo Szechenyi. 1939), and Laura Alvarez. The judge gave Whitney primary custody, with the girls mother getting limited visitation rights. Often Host to Royalty", "VANDERBILT WEDDING APRIL 15; Reginald Vanderbilt to be Married to Miss Cathleen Neilson in Newport", "Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt Elude the Curious by Leaving Their Train at Roxbury Crossing", "Famous Newport Villa May Be Sold for Taxes; R.C. 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. And thousands in back taxes. Ms. Nixon, best known for her role in the Sex and the City TV series, currently appears in the new HBO series The Gilded Age. Ms. Marinoni is an activist for L.G.B.T.Q. Cathleen resented their nuptials and didn't meet her baby half-sister until Little Gloria was a 15-year-old teenager. The party was entertained by two orchestras and four quadrille dances.