Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt (born Maria Mercedes Morgan; 23 August 1904 13 February 1965) was an American socialite best known as the mother of fashion designer and artist
Gloria Vanderbilt and maternal grandmother of television journalist
Anderson Cooper. She was a central figure in ''Vanderbilt vs. Whitney'', one of the most sensational American custody trials in the 20th century. Her identical twin sister,
Thelma, Viscountess Furness, was the mistress of the future
Edward VIII.
Early life
![Morgan twins 1955](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Morgan_twins_1955.JPG)
Born at the
Grand Hotel National
The Grand Hotel National is a 5-star hotel in Lucerne, Switzerland, which opened in 1870. Located on the shores of Lake Lucerne, it looks out over Lucerne bay and the Alps of Central Switzerland. It offers 41 rooms and suites as well as 22 reside ...
in
Lucerne,
Switzerland, as Maria Mercedes Morgan, she was a daughter of Henry Hays Morgan, Sr. (1860–1933), an
American diplomat, who served as U.S.
consul general
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
in Buenos Aires, Argentina;
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, Germany;
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
, Netherlands;
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. , Cuba; and
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, Belgium.
[ Her mother was his second wife, the former Laura Delphine Kilpatrick (1877–1956); the couple was married in 1894 and divorced in 1927.
Her maternal grandfather, ]Hugh Judson Kilpatrick
Hugh Judson Kilpatrick (January 14, 1836 – December 4, 1881) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, achieving the rank of brevet major general. He was later the United States Minister to Chile and an unsuccessful cand ...
(1836–1881), was a Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
general during the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
, who also served as the U.S. minister to Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
.[ Her maternal grandmother, Luisa Kilpatrick, née Valdivieso Araoz, was a member of a wealthy Chilean family that had emigrated from ]Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
in the 17th century.
Morgan, who adopted the name Gloria as a teenager, had five siblings:
* Laura Consuelo Morgan (17 December 1901 – 26 August 1979), aka Tamar. She married Count Jean de Maupas du Juglart, Ambassador Benjamin Thaw Jr., and Alfons B. Landa (née Alfonso Beaumont Howard Landa).
* Thelma Morgan (1904–1970), her identical twin. She became a mistress
Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to:
Romance and relationships
* Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...
of Edward, Prince of Wales and married James Vail Converse and Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness
Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness (29 October 1883 – 6 October 1940) was a British shipping magnate and during his lifetime one of the richest men in the world.
Background
Furness was the son of Christopher Furness, 1st Baron Furness and ...
.
* Harry Hays Morgan Jr. (1898–1983), who became a film actor. He was married to Ivor Elizabeth O'Connor, Edith Churchill Gordon, and Sybil Robertina "Robin" Boyce Willys.
* Constance Morgan (1887–1892), a half sister, a child of her father's first marriage to Mary E. Edgerton.
* Gladys Morgan (14 September 1889 – 15 August 1958), another half sister from her father's first marriage; she was known as Margaret and married Lieut. John W. Henderson in 1919 in New York.
Gloria Morgan was educated by governesses and in convents in Europe as well as New York City, where she attended the Catholic Convent of the Sacred Heart (in the Manhattanville
Manhattanville (also known as West Harlem or West Central Harlem) is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan bordered on the north by 135th Street; on the south by 122nd and 125th Streets; on the west by Hudson River; and on t ...
section of the city), the Skerton Finishing School, and Miss Nightingale's School. In October 1921, with their father's permission, Morgan and her sister Thelma, both reportedly 16 years of age, ended their schooling and moved by themselves into an apartment at 40 Fifth Avenue, a private townhouse. The sisters had some minor roles in silent movies, using the names Gloria and Thelma Rochelle. Their debuts were as extras in the 1922 Marion Davies
Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras; January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) was an American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Educated in a religious convent, Davies fled the school to pursue a career as a chorus girl ...
vehicle ''The Young Diana
''The Young Diana'' is a lost 1922 American silent drama film directed by Albert Capellani and Robert G. Vignola and written by Luther Reed. The film stars Marion Davies, Macklyn Arbuckle, Forrest Stanley, Gypsy O'Brien, and Pedro de Cordoba. ...
''.
Known as "The Magnificent Morgans", Gloria and Thelma Morgan were popular society fixtures, even as teenagers. British photographer Cecil Beaton
Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the t ...
described them as "alike as two magnolias, and with their marble complexions, raven tresses, and flowing dresses, with their slight lisps and foreign accents, they diffuse a Ouida
Ouida (; 1 January 1839 – 25 January 1908) was the pseudonym of the English novelist Maria Louise Ramé (although she preferred to be known as Marie Louise de la Ramée). During her career, Ouida wrote more than 40 novels, as well as s ...
atmosphere of hothouse elegance and lacy femininity. ... Their noses are like begonias, with full-blown nostrils, their lips richly carved, and they should have been painted by Sargent, with arrogant heads and affected hands, in white satin with a bowl of white peonies near by."
Marriage and widowhood
On 6 March 1923, in New York City, at the townhouse of friends, Gloria Morgan — then 18 years of age and having received the legal consent of her father to wed — became the second wife of Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt
Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (January 14, 1880 – September 4, 1925) was a member of the Vanderbilt family. He was the father of Gloria Vanderbilt and maternal grandfather of Anderson Cooper. An avid equestrian, Vanderbilt was the founder and pr ...
, age 42, an heir to the Vanderbilt railroad fortune.[
On 20 February 1924, their only child, Gloria Laura, was born in New York City.
]
Reginald Vanderbilt died on 4 September 1925 of what was described in news reports as "a throat infection which had caused internal hemorrhages". Following his death, his young widow became the administrator of a $2.5 million trust left to their daughter, Gloria, and spent the better part of the next six years living in Paris, Biarritz, and London, with her mother and child and often in the company of her sisters and brother, all of whom lived in France and England with their respective spouses.
However, the conditions of Vanderbilt's will and the custody of their child were complicated by the general belief that his widow had not reached the legal age of majority, which meant that she required a guardian. Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt believed that she was 20, rather than 21, because her mother had long declared the twins' birth year as 1905 rather than 1904. The discrepancy was discovered upon an examination of the Morgan twins' childhood passports and their birth certificates during the Vanderbilt custody trial in 1934. No reason, however, was given as to the change of birth years. As Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt wrote in her 1936 memoirs, ''Without Prejudice'' (E P Dutton), "Had I not thought myself a minor at this time ... there would have been no necessity for a guardian for myself ... rfor a legal guardian for my child's person .... On this untruth—irrevocable and irremediable—hinged the currents of my child's life and my own."
Custody trial
Influenced by reports from private detectives as well as family servants and Laura Morgan (who appears by all published accounts to have been somewhat emotionally and mentally unbalanced and who testified on Mrs. Whitney's side at the trial), members of the Vanderbilt family came to believe that Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt was a bad influence and neglectful of her daughter. A custody battle erupted that made national headlines in 1934. As a result of a great deal of hearsay
Hearsay evidence, in a legal forum, is testimony from an under-oath witness who is reciting an out-of-court statement, the content of which is being offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. In most courts, hearsay evidence is inadmiss ...
evidence admitted at trial, the scandalous allegations of Vanderbilt's lifestyle—including a purported lesbian relationship with Nadezhda de Torby, the Marchioness of Milford Haven, and a brief engagement to Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
, house = Hohenlohe-Langenburg
, father = Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
, mother = Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Langenburg, German Empire
, death_date =
, death_place = Langenbur ...
—led to a new standard in tabloid newspaper sensationalism.
Vanderbilt lost custody of her daughter to her sister-in-law Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (January 9, 1875 – April 18, 1942) was an American sculptor, art patron and collector, and founder in 1931 of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. She was a prominent social figure and hostess, ...
. Granted limited parental rights, Vanderbilt was allowed to see young Gloria on weekends in New York. The court also removed Vanderbilt as administrator of her daughter's trust fund, whose annual investment income had been her only source of support. Two years later, the custody issue was re-opened, giving her another chance to re-gain guardianship of her daughter. This time, the case was brought before the Supreme Court of the United States. The court declined to hear the matter and it once again came before the State of New York's Supreme Court. The result was an agreement that Gloria would spend more time with her mother than was previously granted. In 1946, the widow was once more in the news when her daughter announced she would no longer be paying her mother an annual $21,000 allowance. Saying that her mother was able to work and had done so in the past, Gloria Vanderbilt stated the annual allowance would now be given to a charity for blind and starving children.
Later years
From the 1940s until their deaths, Gloria and her sister Thelma, Lady Furness, lived together in New York City and in Los Angeles, California. They wrote a dual memoir called ''Double Exposure: A Twin Autobiography'', published in 1958''.''
Vanderbilt died in 1965 of cancer and was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Portrayals
* In 1978, a New York City socialite and writer, Philip Van Rensselaer, wrote a book about Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt titled ''That Vanderbilt Woman''.
* Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt was portrayed by British actress Lucy Gutteridge
Lucy Kérimée Gutteridge (born 28 November 1956) is an English retired actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt in the television miniseries '' Little Gloria... Happy at Last'' (1982), for which she received a Go ...
in the 1982 television miniseries '' Little Gloria ... Happy at Last''.
Sources
*Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, with Palma Wayne, ''Without Prejudice'' (E P Dutton, 1936)
*Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt and Thelma, Lady Furness, ''Double Exposure: A Twin Autobiography'' (D McKay, 1958)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanderbilt, Gloria Morgan
1904 births
1965 deaths
20th-century American actresses
Swiss emigrants to the United States
American expatriates in Switzerland
American people of Chilean descent
American Roman Catholics
American socialites
Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
Deaths from cancer in California
Convent of the Sacred Heart (NYC) alumni
Schools of the Sacred Heart alumni
Manhattanville College alumni
Identical twin actresses
People from Lucerne
American twins
Gloria Morgan
Nightingale-Bamford School alumni