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Anderson Cooper Pays Tribute To His Mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, Who Passed Away At 95

Anderson Cooper tribute Gloria Vanderbilt dead

Gloria Vanderbilt — actress, artist, author, fashion icon, and heir to the Vanderbilt railroad fortune — has died. She was 95 years old.
Her son, popular CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper, broke the news on Monday, releasing an official statement about his high-profile mother’s death, caused by stomach cancer.
Related: Anderson & Gloria Openly Discuss Suicide And Loss
In the statement, the 52-year-old Cooper noted Vanderbilt died at home on Monday morning, surrounded by family and friends and at peace with the world around her (below):

“Gloria Vanderbilt was an extraordinary woman, who loved life, and lived it on her own terms. She was a painter, a writer, and designer but also a remarkable mother, wife, and friend. She was 95 years old, but ask anyone close to her, and they’d tell you, she was the youngest person they knew, the coolest, and most modern. She died this morning, the way she wanted to—at home, surrounded by family and friends.”

But the official statement alone wasn’t the whole story here — and it certainly doesn’t tell the tale of Vanderbilt’s amazing and memorable life in the public eye.
In a powerful and moving video piece on Newsroom this morning, Cooper left not a dry eye among viewers as he remembered his mother’s legacy and the lasting impression she made upon him, as well as those around her and those that followed her in the public eye.
He began (below):

“Gloria Vanderbilt, my mom, lived her entire life in the public eye. Born in 1924, her father Reginald Vanderbilt was heir to the Vanderbilt railroad fortune but gambled away most of his inheritance and died when my mom was just a baby. Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, her mother, wasn’t ready to be a mom or a widow. My mom grew up in France not knowing anything about the Vanderbilt family or the money that she would inherit when she turned 21. She had no idea the trouble that money would create. As a teenager she tried to avoid the spotlight but reporters and cameramen would follow her everywhere. She was determined to make something of her life. Determined to make a name for herself and find the love and family that she so desperately craved.”

And Cooper further recounted her fashion work and other mid-life moves through the upper echelons of American society, saying (below):

“If you were around in the early 1980s, it was pretty hard to miss the jeans she helped create, but that was her public face, the one she learned to hide behind as a child. Her private self, her real self was more fascinating and more lovely than anything she showed the public. I always thought of her as a visitor from another world. A traveler stranded here who had come from a distant star that burned out long ago. I always felt it was my job to try to protect her. She was the strongest person I’ve ever met but she wasn’t ever tough, she never developed a thick skin to protect herself from hurt. She wanted to feel it all. She wanted to feel life’s pleasures, its pains as well. She trusted too freely, too completely and suffered tremendous losses, but she always pressed on, always worked hard, always believed the best was yet to come.”

The TV personality also shared private memories and moments he got with his mother as she reached the end of her remarkable life (below):

“Love is what she believed in more than anything. Earlier this month we had to take her to the hospital. That’s where she learned she had very advanced cancer in her stomach and that it had spread. When the doctor told her she had cancer, she was silent for a while and then she said, ‘Well, it’s like that old song, show me the way to get out of this world because that’s where everything is.’ Later, she made a joke and we started giggling. I never knew we had the exact same giggle. I recorded it and it makes me giggle every time I watch it.”

And as he wrapped things up, it became clear just how important an impact the normally stoic and professional Cooper’s mom had upon the news anchor, with his emotions getting the best of him (below):

“I know she hoped for a little more time, a few days or weeks at least. There were paintings she wanted to make, more books she wanted to read, more dreams to dream, but she was ready. She was ready to go…She was surrounded by beauty and by family and by friends. The last few weeks every time I kissed her goodbye, I’d say, ‘I love you, mom.’ She would look at me and say, ‘I love you, too. You know that.’ And she was right. I did know that. I knew it from the moment I was born and I’ll know it for the rest of my life. And in the end, what greater gift can a mother give to her son. Gloria Vanderbilt was 95 years when she died…What an extraordinary mom. What an incredible woman.”

Wow. So moving, and so powerful.
You can also watch that full tribute video (below):


Such a moving, touching tribute.
Our thoughts are with Anderson Cooper and the rest of Gloria Vanderbilt’s family, friends, and loved ones as everybody mourns her death and celebrates her long, incredible life.
[Image via WENN]

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Jun 17, 2019 14:12pm PDT