Gloria Vanderbilt has been in the public eye since she was ten years old as the little heiress who was fought over in a terrible custody battle between her widowed mother and her aunt. Her aunt eventually triumphed by getting the court to believe that Gloria's mother was not fit. Later proved not to be entirely true according to Little Gloria herself. Heir to a $4-million fortune when she turned twenty-one, she eventually started an immensely successful line of clothing and cosmetics bearing her name. Gloria Vanderbilt's life remained ever filled with turmoil and loss despite her success. She
… More married and divorced three times, was later widowed, and then witnessed the most horrifying thing a parent can imagine when her son, Carter, committed suicide by leaping from their fourteenth-floor penthouse terrace as she watched helplessly. She is currently creating infomercials and planning a lecture tour. Her struggle to cope with the shattering loss of her son was documented in her 1996 book, A Mother's Story.
