Biography
Monologuist, professional, and novelist Spalding Grey was created June 5, 1941 in Barrington, Rhode Isle; after co-founding the experimental theatrical firm the Wooster Group in 1977, he finished his first main monologue, Sex and Loss of life to this 14, executing the piece through the entire U.S. and European countries. His function off-Broadway and in movies helped him property a small function in Roland Joffé’s 1984 feature The Getting rid of Fields, an event that became the foundation of Gray’s discovery piece Going swimming to Cambodia; originally working four hours long, the monologue was edited to 80 a few minutes when in 1987 it reached theaters being a film directed by Jonathan Demme. Monster within a Container (1991), aimed by Nick Broomfield, worried Gray’s attempts to finish his epic book Impossible Vacation, released the following calendar year; another feature film, the Steven Soderbergh-helmed Gray’s Anatomy, implemented in 1996. The compact disk model of his monologue From the Slippery Slope made an appearance two years afterwards. Gray sustained serious injuries within a head-on car collision while on holiday in Ireland during 2001, as well as the collision and its own aftermath exacerbated the unhappiness he had experienced for a long time. In January 2004, Grey was declared lacking in NY, and 8 weeks afterwards, on March 7, 2004, his body was taken in the East River. It had been presumed that he previously dedicated suicide by jumping from the Staten Isle ferry.
Quick Facts
Full Name Spalding Gray
Died January 11, 2004, East River, New York City, New York, United States
Profession Actor, Playwright, Screenwriter, Performer
Education Emerson College
Nationality American
Spouse Kathleen Russo, Renee Shafransky
Children Forrest Dylan Gray, Theo Spalding Gray
Parents Rockwell Gray, Sr., Margaret Elizabeth Horton
Siblings Channing Gray, Rockwell Gray, Jr.
Awards Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada, Obie Award for Special Citations
Nominations Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead, Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay
Movies Swimming to Cambodia, And Everything Is Going Fine, The Killing Fields, Gray's Anatomy, Monster in a Box, Beaches, Kate & Leopold, Spalding Gray: Terrors of Pleasure, True Stories, Beyond Rangoon, King of the Hill, Diabolique, The Paper, Clara's Heart, How High, Drunks, Twenty Bucks, Straight Talk, Bad Company, Heavy Petting, Stars and Bars, Bliss, Hard Choices, Julie Johnson, Coming Soon, The Image, Variety, Seven Minutes in Heaven, Devil Rider, The Pickle, Zelda, Revolution #9, What You Mean We?, Cowards
- Facts
- Filmography
- Awards
- Salaries
- Quotes
- Trademarks
- Pictures
# | Fact |
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1 |
Reported missing after after disappearing from his Manhattan home. [January 2004] |
2 |
After being reported missing on January 10th, the police pulled his body from the East River at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 07, 2004. The body was found off the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, near Kent Avenue. [March 2004] |
3 |
(November 1999 - January 2000) New monologue at Lincoln Center, "Morning, Noon and Night" |
4 |
Biography in "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives," Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 215-218. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007. |
5 |
Biography/bibliography in "Contemporary Authors," New Revision Series, vol. 138, pages 184-190. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005. |
6 |
His depression worsened when his family moved from the house he loved in Sag Harbor to one he hated in New Haven. |
7 |
Had two sons with Kathleen Russo: Forrest and Theo. |
8 |
Said that only his children could make him laugh |
9 |
Was claustrophobic. |
10 |
His mother committed suicide in 1967; Gray sometimes referred in his monologues to a desire to do the same. |
11 |
Suffered severe injuries in a 2001 automobile accident in Ireland. At the time of his disappearance in January 2004, it was reported that Gray had been working on a new monologue based upon his experience and recovery after the accident. According to some published reports, Gray suffered from depression which intensified after the accident. |
12 |
Was reported missing on Sunday, January 10, 2004. His body was found in the East River (New York City) on March 7, 2004. |
13 |
The directors of the filmed versions of Gray's monologues Swimming to Cambodia (1987), Spalding Gray: Terrors of Pleasure (1988), Monster in a Box (1992) and Gray's Anatomy (1996) , are all considered to be of the first rank: respectively Jonathan Demme, Thomas Schlamme (multi Emmy-winning producer and director of The West Wing (1999)), Nick Broomfield (renowned British documentary maker) and Steven Soderbergh. |
14 |
Graduated from Emerson College. |
15 |
All of Spalding Gray's monologues were initially performed in The Performing Garage in Soho in New York City and/or Lincoln Center in New York City before being set to film. |
16 |
Best known for his monologue films Swimming to Cambodia (1987), Monster in a Box (1992), and Gray's Anatomy (1996), in which the sole action in the film is Gray sitting at a microphone telling his stories. |
Actor
Actor
Title | Year | Status | Character |
---|
The Paper Mache Chase |
2003 |
Short |
Dr. Calhoun |
How High |
2001 |
|
Prof. Jackson |
Kate & Leopold |
2001 |
|
Dr. Geisler |
Revolution #9 |
2001 |
|
Scooter McCrae |
Julie Johnson |
2001 |
|
Mr. Tom Miranda |
The Mike O'Malley Show |
1999 |
TV Series |
Professor Beaumont |
Coming Soon |
1999 |
|
Mr. Jennings |
The Nanny |
1997-1998 |
TV Series |
Dr. Jack Miller |
Bliss |
1997 |
|
Alfred |
Jimmy Zip |
1996 |
Short |
|
Diabolique |
1996 |
|
Simon Veatch |
Glory Daze |
1995 |
|
Jack's Dad |
Drunks |
1995 |
|
Louis |
Beyond Rangoon |
1995 |
|
Jeremy Watt |
Bad Company |
1995 |
|
Walter Curl |
The Paper |
1994 |
|
Paul Bladden |
Zelda |
1993 |
TV Movie |
Sayre |
King of the Hill |
1993 |
|
Mr. Mungo |
The Pickle |
1993 |
|
Doctor |
Twenty Bucks |
1993 |
|
Priest |
Straight Talk |
1992 |
|
Dr. Erdman |
To Save a Child |
1991 |
TV Movie |
Hobart |
The Image |
1990 |
TV Movie |
Frank Goodrich |
Great Performances |
1989 |
TV Series |
Stage Manager |
Beaches |
1988 |
|
Dr. Richard Milstein |
Clara's Heart |
1988 |
|
Peter Epstein |
Stars and Bars |
1988 |
|
Reverend T.J. Cardew |
What You Mean We? |
1987 |
TV Movie |
Talk Show Host (voice) |
Trying Times |
1987 |
TV Series |
Gary |
Spenser: For Hire |
1987 |
TV Series |
Edward Niles |
True Stories |
1986 |
|
Earl Culver |
Alive from Off Center |
1986 |
TV Series |
Talk Show Host |
Seven Minutes in Heaven |
1985 |
|
Dr. Rodney |
Almost You |
1985 |
|
Travel agent |
Hard Choices |
1985 |
|
Terry Norfolk |
The Killing Fields |
1984 |
|
U.S. Consul |
Variety |
1983 |
voice |
|
Anybody's Woman |
1981 |
Short |
|
Maraschino Cherry |
1978 |
|
Penny's Client with Beard (uncredited) |
Saturday Night Live |
1977 |
TV Series |
Narrator of 'Brides' |
The Farmer's Daughters |
1976 |
|
George (as Spaulding Gray, Spalding Gray) |
Love-In '72 |
1970 |
|
Radical at Party |
Writer
Writer
Title | Year | Status | Character |
---|
Gray's Anatomy |
1996 |
monologue |
|
Monster in a Box |
1992 |
|
|
Spalding Gray: Terrors of Pleasure |
1988 |
writer |
|
Trying Times |
1987 |
TV Series writer - 1 episode |
|
Swimming to Cambodia |
1987 |
|
|
Alive from Off Center |
1985 |
TV Series 1 episode |
|
Spalding Gray's Map of L.A. |
1984 |
Short |
|
Self
Self
Title | Year | Status | Character |
---|
And Everything Is Going Fine |
2010 |
Documentary |
Himself |
Gray Memorial |
2005 |
Documentary short |
|
New York: A Documentary Film |
1999-2001 |
TV Series documentary |
Himself - Comentator |
The 20th Century: Yesterday's Tomorrows |
1999 |
TV Movie documentary |
Himself |
American Experience |
1997-1999 |
TV Series documentary |
Himself |
The Daily Show |
1997 |
TV Series |
Himself - Guest |
Gray's Anatomy |
1996 |
|
Himself |
Late Night with Conan O'Brien |
1993-1995 |
TV Series |
Himself - Guest |
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno |
1992-1993 |
TV Series |
Himself - Guest |
Monster in a Box |
1992 |
|
Himself |
Caffe Lena |
1990 |
Documentary |
|
Late Night with David Letterman |
1986-1990 |
TV Series |
Himself / Himself - Guest |
Heavy Petting |
1989 |
Documentary |
Himself |
Spalding Gray: Terrors of Pleasure |
1988 |
|
Himself |
Spalding Gray: A Life in Progress |
1988 |
TV Short |
Himself |
Swimming to Cambodia |
1987 |
|
Himself |
The Communists Are Comfortable |
1985 |
Documentary |
|
Alive from Off Center |
1985 |
TV Series |
Himself |
Spalding Gray's Map of L.A. |
1984 |
Short |
Himself |
Archive Footage
Archive Footage
Nominated awards
Nominated awards
Year | Award | Ceremony | Nomination | Movie | Award shared with |
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1988 |
Independent Spirit Award |
Independent Spirit Awards |
Best Male Lead |
Swimming to Cambodia (1987) |
|
1988 |
Independent Spirit Award |
Independent Spirit Awards |
Best Screenplay |
Swimming to Cambodia (1987) |
|
Looks like we don't have salary information. Sorry!
# | Quote |
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1 |
[on Roland Joffé] He has the demeanour of Christ, the eyes of Rasputin and the body of Zorro. |
# | Trademark |
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1 |
New England accent |