{{short description|American actress, photographer, and writer}} {{Infobox person | name = Heidi Vanderbilt | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = July 20, 1948 | birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | death_date = January 31, 2021 | death_place = Tucson, Arizona, U.S. | education = Columbia University | occupation = actress<br/>writer<br/>photographer<br>equestrian<br>rancher | years_active = | other_names = Heidi Murray<br>Heidi Harris | known_for = | spouse = Jones Gordon Harris | children = 1 | parents = Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. (father)<br/>Jeanne Lourdes Murray (mother) | relatives = Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt III (brother) }} '''Heidi Lourdes Murray Vanderbilt''' (July 20, 1948 – January 31, 2021) was an American actress, photographer, equestrian, and writer. She made her Broadway debut in 1965, under the stage name '''Heidi Murray''', in Ruth Gordon's play ''A Very Rich Woman''. In 1983, she received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

== Early life and family == Vanderbilt was born on July 20, 1948 to the racehorse owner Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. and the socialite Jeanne Lourdes Murray Vanderbilt.<ref name= vineyard/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://collections.library.vanderbilt.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/95778|title=Harris, Mrs. Jones (Heidi Murray Vanderbilt) &#124; Collection Guides|website=collections.library.vanderbilt.edu}}</ref> She was a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family and the granddaughter of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt. Through her mother, she was the great-granddaughter of the inventor Thomas E. Murray and a niece of fashion editor Catherine Murray di Montezemolo.

Vanderbilt was educated at Spence School, Lycée Français de New York, and the Professional Children's School.<ref name= nytimes/> She continued her studies at the School of General Studies at Columbia University.<ref name= nytimes>{{Cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/28/archives/miss-vanderbilt-becomes-bride-of-jones-harris.html | title=Miss Vanderbilt Becomes Bride Of Jones Harris | date=1971-10-28 | newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

== Career == Vanderbilt made her Broadway debut, using the stage name Heidi Murray, as Dalphne Bailey in Ruth Gordon's 1965 play ''A Very Rich Woman'' at the Belasco Theatre.<ref name="1965Debut">{{cite news|title=A Vanderbilt Ready For Debut on Stage|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/09/06/archives/a-vanderbilt-ready-for-debut-on-stage.html|access-date=26 April 2018|work=The New York Times|date=6 September 1965}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://playbill.com/playbillpagegallery/inside-playbill?asset=00000150-ac84-d16d-a550-ecbe54710001#carousel-cell225538|title=Inside the Playbill Gallery &#124; Playbill}}</ref> She retired from the stage to pursue a career in photography.<ref name= nytimes/>

She published work as a photographer, poet, and author of both nonfiction and fiction.<ref name= vineyard/> She wrote the novel ''The Scar Rule''.<ref name= vineyard/> She received the Edgar Award in 1983 from the Mystery Writers of America.<ref name= vineyard/>

== Personal life == In October 1971, she married Jones Gordon Harris, the son of Ruth Gordon and Jed Harris.<ref name= nytimes/> The ceremony, officiated by New York Supreme Court Justice Theodore R. Kupferman, took place at her family's home in Oyster Bay.<ref name= nytimes/> Wedding guests included Thornton Wilder and Garson Kanin.<ref name= nytimes/> She and Harris had one son, Jack Gwynne Emmet Harris.<ref name= nytimes2>{{Cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/03/26/archives/son-to-mrs-jones-harris.html | newspaper=The New York Times | title=Son to Mrs. Jones Harris | date=1972-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/27/style/rebekah-sturges-and-jack-harris.html | title=Rebekah Sturges And Jack Harris | date=1999-06-27 | newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

Vanderbilt lived in New York City, Cleveland, and in Connecticut before moving to Martha's Vineyard in 1978.<ref name= vineyard/> She lived in Edgartown and then Vineyard Haven until 1994, when she moved to Tucson, Arizona.<ref name= vineyard/>

Vanderbilt was an accomplished equestrian and horsewoman and raised horses, donkeys, pigs, cats, dogs, and goats at her ranch in Benson, Arizona.<ref name= vineyard/> She finished the one-hundred-mile-long one-day Tevis Cup ride three times.<ref name= vineyard/>

She died on January 31, 2021.<ref name= vineyard>{{Cite web|url=https://vineyardgazette.com/obituaries/2021/07/07/heidi-vanderbilt-72|title=Heidi Vanderbilt, 72|website=The Vineyard Gazette - Martha's Vineyard News}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanderbilt, Heidi}} Category:1948 births Category:2021 deaths Category:20th-century American actresses Category:20th-century American women photographers Category:20th-century American photographers Category:21st-century American women photographers Category:21st-century American photographers Category:Actresses from New York City Category:American female equestrians Category:American mystery novelists Category:American stage actresses Category:American women mystery writers Category:American women novelists Category:Broadway theatre people Category:Photographers from New York City Category:Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Category:Lycée Français de New York alumni Category:Spence School alumni Category:Ranchers from Arizona Category:Writers from New York City Heidi