Gloria Laura Vanderbilt was born on February 20, 1924, to Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt and Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt. When she was born, she entered into an extremely wealthy and well-known family. Her father died of cirrhosis of the liver when she was just one year old, and she was left to her incapable mother, her loving grandmother, Naney, and caring governess, Dodo. Vanderbilt and her multi-million-dollar trust fund were the center of a harrowing custody battle between her mother and her aunt, which her Aunt Gertrude won. Throughout her life, Vanderbilt married four men, Pat DiCicco, Leopold Stokowski, Sidney Lumet, and Wyatt Cooper. She had two sons with Stokowski, Chris and Stan, and two sons with Cooper, Carter and Anderson. Along with her namesake, Vanderbilt also drew attention to herself and accumulated a fortune as a designer, writer, and artist.
Anderson Hays Cooper was born on June 3, 1967, to Wyatt Emory Cooper and Gloria Laura Vanderbilt. He was exposed to his mother's lavish lifestyle as a kid, but ultimately wanted to make a name for himself. He moved on to graduate from Yale University after studying Political Science. He used a fake press pass to get behind the scenes footage in Vietnam and Myanmar. He later became a correspondent for ABC News in 1995 and an anchor of World News Now in 1999. Cooper has his own TV show called Anderson Cooper 360. In addition, Cooper is a successful freelance writer and correspondent for 60 Minutes.
Although Vanderbilt is an optimist and Cooper is a realist, they both have an undeniable drive to make a mark on the world. No matter how big an obstacle, they deal with it and carry on. After the death of Wyatt Cooper (Vanderbilt's husband, Cooper's father) and Carter Cooper (Vanderbilt's son, Cooper's brother) they both coped and dealt with it in their own ways. The deaths of two close family members only tightened the bond between the two of them.