Photo courtesy HBO.

“She was always the youngest one in the room,” recalls CNN anchor Anderson Cooper of his mom, Gloria Vanderbilt. 

Fashion designer … artist … author … heiress … and mom Gloria Vanderbilt passed away this week (6/17/19) at the age of 95.  Just in case you missed the poignant, feature-length documentary, Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper, produced and directed by Liz Garbus, when it debuted on HBO and CNN in April 2016, you can catch an encore performance tonight, Thursday, June 20, 2019, at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

A public figure since childhood and muse of many legendary photographers, heiress, fashion designer and artist Gloria Vanderbilt (1924-2019) weathered high family drama and personal tragedies throughout her life but remained undaunted. Photo courtesy HBO.

I can’t encourage you enough to revisit this marvelous film after you reread my original review  (Ms. Vanderbilt was a vibrant, exquisite 91 in the film!) and my commentary about Gloria Vanderbilt’s extraordinary life in FrontRowCenter, on April 9, 2016

As I detailed in that review and continue to assert, Nothing Left Unsaid is one of the most moving, psychologically smart and information-rich film bios I’ve ever seen. It’s definitely on par with another similarly-themed favorite of mine:  Listen To Me Marlon (reviewed in FrontRowCenter on 11/14/15).

Anderson Cooper and his mom, Gloria Vanderbilt, as they appear in NOTHING LEFT UNSAID. Photo courtesy HBO.

The moral of Ms. Vanderbilt’s life story (and Marlon’s despite his having grown up on the other side of the tracks) — that fame and fortune don’t buy happiness — is obvious, of course. But, as with Brando, Gloria’s ongoing creative attempts to work through the detritus of her childhood and surmount tragic losses are lessons we all, rich or poor, can learn from.

Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper will be rebroadcast on HBO tonight, Thursday, June 20, 2019, 8:00 – 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. (Check listings for additional HBO playdates and availability on HBO On Demand and streaming via HBO Max.)–Judith Trojan