Spalding Gray

Infobox actor
name = Spalding Gray


imagesize = 300px
caption = Gray in the 1996 film "Gray's Anatomy"
birthname = Spalding Rockwell Gray
birthdate = birth date|1941|06|05|mf=y
birthplace = Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
deathdate = ca. death date and age|2004|01|10|1941|06|05
deathplace = New York, New York, U.S.
spouse = Renée Shafransky (1991–1993)
Kathleen Russo (1994–2004)

Spalding Rockwell Gray (June 5, 1941 – ca. January 10, 2004) was an American actor, screenwriter, performance artist, and playwright. Gray also became famous for writing the play "Swimming to Cambodia" (1985) which was adapted into a film in 1987.

Biography

Early life

Spalding Rockwell Gray was born in Providence, Rhode Island to Rockwell Gray, Sr. who was a factory worker and Margaret Elizabeth "Lizzie" Horton (1915–1967) who was a homemaker. He also had two younger brothers named Rockwell Gray, Jr. and Channing Michael Gray. Gray was raised in the Christian Scientist faith and grew up in Barrington, Rhode Island and attended Barrington High School.

After his high school graduation Gray attended Emerson College and studied literature there for four years until he graduated in 1963.

In 1965, Gray moved to California and became a speaker and a teacher at the Esalen Institute. Also at the Esalen institute Gray began to write, after being strongly influenced by the poetry of Allen Ginsberg. In 1967 while Gray was on a vacation in Mexico City his mother had committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. After his mother's suicide, Gray moved away from the west coast and moved to New York where he would live the rest of his life.

Gray's books "Impossible Vacation" and "Sex and Death to the Age 14" are strongly based on his childhood and early adulthood.

Career

After a few minor cinema roles and appearing in "The Farmer's Daughter", a pornographic film, Gray first achieved national prominence with his play "Swimming to Cambodia", which was published in 1985 and filmed in 1987. He based the monologue on his experiences in Southeast Asia while filming a small part in the 1984 movie "The Killing Fields". Gray's monologue "Swimming to Cambodia" won him the Guggenheim Fellowship and the National Book Award in 1985.

Aside from his more well-known monologues, Gray was a founding member of the experimental theater company The Wooster Group, and appeared in a large number of plays, including a high-profile revival of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town".

In 1992, Gray published his first and only novel, "Impossible Vacation". The novel is strongly based upon Gray's own life experiences, including his Christian Scientist upbringing, his WASP background, and his mother's suicide. True to form, Gray wrote a monologue about his experiences writing the book, entitled "Monster in a Box".

Personal life and death

In June 2001, he suffered severe injuries in a car crash while on holiday in Ireland. "In the crash, Gray, who had always battled his hereditary depression and bipolar tendencies, suffered a badly broken hip, leaving his right leg almost immobilized, and a fracture in his skull that left a gruesome, jagged scar on his forehead. Shattered both physically and emotionally, he had spent the ensuing months experimenting with every therapy imaginable. [cite web | last = Williams | first = Alex | title = Vanishing Act | work = New York Magazine | date = 2004-2-2 | url = http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/features/n_9787/ | accessdate = 2008-07-09] "

In January 2004, Gray, known to suffer bouts of depression in part as a result of these injuries, was declared missing. The night before his disappearance he had seen Tim Burton's film "Big Fish", which ends with the line "A man tells a story over and over so many times he becomes the story. In that way, he is immortal". Gray's widow, Kathie Russo, has said “You know, Spalding cried after he saw that movie. I just think it gave him permission. I think it gave him permission to die.” ("New York Magazine" February 2, 2004)

When Gray was first declared missing, his profile was featured on the FOX Network show "America's Most Wanted". [ [http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/brief.cfm?id=25815 AMW.com | Spalding Gray - Missing Person ] ]

On March 7, 2004, the New York City medical examiner's office reported that Gray's body had been pulled from the East River. It is believed that he jumped off the side of the Staten Island Ferry. In light of a suicide attempt in 2002, and the fact that his mother had taken her own life in 1967, suicide was the suspected cause of death. [ [http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/wire/2004/03/08/spalding/index.html Spalding Gray's body found in East River - Salon.com ] ] It was reported that Gray was working on a new monologue at the time of his death, and that the subject matter of the piece – the Ireland car crash and his subsequent attempts to recover from his injuries – might have triggered his final bout of depression. [ [http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/features/n_9787/ Vanishing Act - Spalding Gray - Cover Story ] ]

He was survived by his wife, Kathie Russo, stepdaughter Marisa, two sons, Forrest Dylan Gray (aka "Forrest Fire Gray"), guitarist with the band Too Busy Being Bored, and Theo Spalding Gray, an actor, and brothers Channing and Rockwell Gray.

Posthumous works

In 2005, Gray's unfinished final monologue was published in a hardcover edition entitled "Life Interrupted: The Unfinished Monologue". Running 39 pages, the monologue — which Gray had performed in one of his last public appearances — is augmented by two additional pieces he also performed at the time, a short remembrance called "The Anniversary" and an open letter to New York City written in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Also included in the book is an extensive collection of remembrances and tributes from fellow performers and friends.

Gray's voice is still being heard through the resurrection of his journal entries in the 2007 play "Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell" at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York City. The concept for this play was derived by Gray's widow. [ [http://www.storieslefttotell.com/Abouttheshow.html About the Show ] ] The show includes a cast of four actors as well as one revolving cast member. [ [http://www.storieslefttotell.com/index.html Spalding Gray: Stories Left To Tell ] ]

Cultural references

* A film adaptation of "Life Interrupted" is to be released in 2008 at Toronto Film Festival, and is being directed by Steven Soderbergh.
* The play "Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell" was presented by a cast of four and a rotating guest star, at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York City.
* An article titled "What It Feels Like to Find Spalding Gray's Body" on page 91 in the August 2007 issue of "Esquire", depicts the first hand experiences of the man who discovered Spalding Gray's body.
* In season one, episode 3 of "Family Guy", Brian calls Peter Griffin the "Spalding Gray of crap" as Peter is about to tell an elaborate and unbelievable story.
* In season 12, episode 9 of "The Simpsons", Homer Simpson describes his intellectual experience as being a "Spalding Gray in a Rick Dees world".

Filmography

Movies written and performed by Spalding Gray

*"Swimming to Cambodia" (1987)
*"" (1988)
*"Monster in a Box" (1991)
*"Gray's Anatomy" (1996)

Actor

*"Cowards" (1970)
*"Love-In '72" (1972)
*"The Farmer's Daughter" (1973)
*"Little Orphan Dusty" (Uncredited, 1976)
*"Maraschino Cherry" (Uncredited, 1978)
*"The Killing Fields" (1984)
*"Hard Choices" (1985)
*"The Communists Are Comfortable" (1985)
*"Almost You" (1985)
*"Seven Minutes in Heaven" (1985)
*"True Stories" (1986)
*"Beaches" (1988)
*"Stars and Bars" (1988)
*"Clara's Heart" (1988)
*"Heavy Petting" (1989)
*"The Image" (1990)
*"To Save a Child" (1991)
*"Straight Talk" (1992)
*"King of the Hill" (1993)
*"Zelda" (1993)
*"Twenty Bucks" (1993)
*"The Pickle" (1993)
*"The Paper" (1994)
*"Beyond Rangoon" (1995)
*"Bad Company" (1995)
*"Drunks" (1995)
*"Glory Daze" (1996)
*"" (1996)
*"Diabolique" (1996)
*"Bliss" (1997)
*"Coming Soon" (1999)
*"The Best Man (play)" (2000)
*"Revolution #9" (2001)
*"Julie Johnson" (2001)
*"How High" (2001)
*"Kate and Leopold" (2001)
*"The Paper Mache Chase" (2003)

Television

*"Saturday Night Live" (1 episode, 1977)
*"" (1 episode, 1987)
*"Trying Times" (1 episode, 1987)
*"The Nanny" (9 episodes, 1997-1998)
*"The Mike O'Malley Show" (1 episode, 1999)

Bibliography

*"Swimming to Cambodia" (1985)
*"The Nothing Issue" (1985)
*"Sex and Death to the Age 14" (1986)
*"In Search of the Monkey Girl" (1987)
*"High & Low" (1988)
*"Homespun" (1988)
*"" (1988)
*"Monster in a Box" (1992)
*"Impossible Vacation" (1992, novel)
*"Gray's Anatomy" (1994)
*"First Words" (1996)
*"It's a Slippery Slope" (1997)
*"Morning, Noon and Night" (1999)
*"Life Interrupted: The Unfinished Monologue" (2005)

References

External links

*
* [http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1781976 Remembering Spalding Gray – Fresh Air Audio Archives] (NPR)
* [http://www.spalding-gray.com Overview of Spalding Gray's Work]
* [http://www.spaldinggray.com/home.html Official Website from the Estate of Spalding Gray]
* [http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/pajj.2008.30.1.1 Spalding Gray's Last Interview] , Theresa Smalec, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art Jan 2008, Vol. 30, No. 1, (PAJ 88): 1–14.
* [http://www.newmillenniumrecords.com/interview.html Audio Interview with Mr. Gray, recorded 1996]
*