Gloria Vanderbilt was best known as a
member of New York’s Vanderbilt family
and as the fashion mogul who popularized
designer jeans. Her son, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, announced her passing and paid tribute to his legendary mother in a touching obituary. The artist lived in the public eye, becoming the center of a custody dispute between her paternal aunt and mother, once referred to as the "trial of the century." The heiress had been suffering from advanced stomach cancer and died at home with friends and family at her side. She is survived by three of her four sons.