CRIME STORIES: GLORIA VANDERBILT (TV)

Summary

One in this series of programs exploring true crimes and criminals.

In this episode, host Richard Belzer profiles the scandalous "Little Gloria" Vanderbilt custody case of 1934. Gloria Laura Vanderbilt was born in February 1924 to hard-drinking railroad heir Reginald "Reggie" Claypoole Vanderbilt and his young party-girl bride Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt. As was customary for the wealthy families of the era, little Gloria was largely raised by her stern but beloved nurse, Emma "Dodo" Kieslich, and Reggie's September 1925 death from cirrhosis left his wife suddenly destitute. Little Gloria stood to inherit $2.5 million from a trust at age 21, but her mother was not automatically her legal guardian, as she was a minor at age 20 – or so she thought, as her own mother falsely claimed her birth year to be 1905, when it was in fact 1904. She enlisted family lawyer Thomas Gilchrist to secure her a monthly income of $4,000 from her daughter's trust, and the family soon headed to France, where Gloria fell into an affair with the equally broke Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Gloria's disapproving mother, Laura Kilpatrick Morgan, believed her daughter far too irresponsible to care for the child and teamed up with Reggie's widowed sister Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney – of whose secret "bohemian" and artistic lifestyle she was unaware – to secure custody of the young heiress. When Little Gloria traveled back to America for a tonsillitis treatment, she ended up staying on Long Island with her aunt Gertrude and attending the prestigious Greenvale School; without the child, Gloria's monthly allowance was reduced to $750. The custody trial officially began in 1934, with Gertrude and Laura declaring Gloria an unfit mother and a "loose woman," and terrifying Little Gloria into believing that she was likely to be kidnapped, just like baby Charles Lindbergh Jr., whose disappearance and subsequent murder was also making headlines that year.

Conservative Judge John Francis Carew refused to close the courtroom to reporters and demanded more evidence of Gloria's dangerous behavior, and Kieslich took the stand to confirm that she was neglectful and prioritized her love affairs and all-night parties. The family's maid and butler then shocked everyone, especially the defense, by revealing that Gloria also had relations with women, including Lady Milford Haven. Harvard law professor Arthur Miller notes that lawyers should never ask witnesses questions to which they do not already know the answer. Desperate to redeem his client's image, Gloria's lawyer Nathan Burkan fed sympathetic stories to the ravenous press, while Laura's attorney leaked pitiable letters from Little Gloria lamenting her dislike of her mother – though in a 1985 interview, the grown-up Little Gloria confirms that the letters were faked. Burkan also tried to undermine Gertrude's "morals" by citing her interest in art, particularly nude sculptures, but Little Gloria, heavily coached by her grandmother's lawyer, declared on the stand that she hated and feared her mother.

In November, after six weeks of testimony, Judge Carew gave custody to Gertrude and allowed Gloria occasional visits. Being a devout Roman Catholic, he also ordered that the girl be raised in the faith, meaning that her beloved "Dodo" had to be dismissed. The public reacted with outrage that a child should be separated from her mother, however flawed she might be, though Miller concludes that Carew made the sensible decision, apart from the inappropriate religious demand. Flora Miller Biddle, Gertrude's granddaughter, explains that she was entirely unprepared for the aggressive publicity that came with the case, and Gloria eventually received partial "back income" from her daughter's trust. Burkan died prematurely and Carew suffered a nervous breakdown. Little Gloria later resumed contact with Dodo and cared for her into her old age. She eventually inherited $4.1 million at age 21 and embraced her own artistic side as she married and divorced multiple times, eventually having two sons, Anderson and Carter, with fourth and final husband Wyatt Emory Cooper. She made amends with her mother before Gloria's 1965 death, though tragedy struck yet again when Wyatt suffered a fatal heart attack in 1978 and Carter died by suicide before his mother's eyes in 1988. However, she also found great personal success in her fashion and home goods products, particularly her famous blue jeans. Anderson also gained fame as a journalist. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: Court TV
• DATE:
• RUNNING TIME: 0:45:44
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:65955
• GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
• SUBJECT HEADING: Public affairs/Documentaries; Families; Trials; Custody of children
• SERIES RUN: Court TV/TruTV - TV series, 1998-2010
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Jim Zarchin … Executive Producer
• Lynne Kirby … Executive Producer
• Robyn Hutt … Senior Producer
• Scott Galloway … Supervising Producer
• Paul Gluck … Producer, Writer
• Nancy Rubin … Associate Producer
• Christine Courtney … Associate Producer
• Ken Rarick … Music by
• Joshua Sitron … Theme Music by
• Richard Belzer … Host
• James Naughton … Narrator
• Flora Miller Biddle … Interviewee
• Arthur Miller … Interviewee
• Nathan Burkan
• Pat DiCicco
• John Francis Carew
• Anderson Cooper
• Carter Vanderbilt Cooper
• Wyatt Emory Cooper
• Thomas Gilchrist
• Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
• Lady Milford Haven (see also: Nadejda Mountbatten)
• Emma Kieslich
• Charles Lindbergh
• Laura Kilpatrick Morgan
• Gloria Vanderbilt
• Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt
• Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt
• Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney