Name
Spalding Gray
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1941-06-05
Deathday
2004-01-11 (63 years old)
Place of Birth
Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Biography
Spalding Gray (June 5, 1941 – January 11, 2004) was an American actor, novelist, playwright, screenwriter and performance artist. He is best known for the autobiographical monologues that he wrote and performed for the theater in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as for his film adaptations of these works, beginning in 1987. He wrote and starred in several, working with different directors.
Theater critics John Willis and Ben Hodges called Gray's monologues "trenchant, personal narratives delivered on sparse, unadorned sets with a dry, WASP, quiet mania." Gray achieved renown for his monologue Swimming to Cambodia, which he adapted as a 1987 film in which he starred; it was directed by Jonathan Demme. Other of his monologues that he adapted for film were Monster in a Box (1991), directed by Nick Broomfield, and Gray's Anatomy (1996), directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Gray died by suicide at the age of 62 after jumping into New York Harbor on January 11, 2004. He had been struggling with depression and severe injuries following a car accident. Soderbergh made a documentary film about Gray's life, And Everything Is Going Fine (2010). An unfinished monologue and a selection from his journals were published in 2005 and 2011, respectively.
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Known For
7.5
New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg is on assignment covering the Cambodian Civil War...
6.35
When her scientist ex-boyfriend discovers a portal to travel through time -- and brings ba...
5.7
A story about the life of a twenty dollar bill as it weaves in and out of the various live...
5.518
The wife and mistress of a cruel school master collaborate in a carefully planned and exec...
6.081
Natalie allows her classmate Jeff, who has run away from home, to stay at her place while ...
6.8
Based on the Depression-era bildungsroman memoir of writer A. E. Hotchner, the film follow...
- 1984 The Killing Fields as U.S. Consul
- 1985 Almost You as Travel Agent
- 1995 Beyond Rangoon as Jeremy Watt
- 1996 Diabolique as Simon Veatch
- 2001 Kate & Leopold as Dr. Geisler
- 1986 True Stories as Earl Culver
- 1996 Gray's Anatomy as Spalding Gray
- 1993 King of the Hill as Mr. Mungo
- 1995 Glory Daze as Jack's Dad
- 1992 Monster in a Box as Self
- 1993 The Pickle as Doctor
- 1987 Swimming to Cambodia as Self
- 1976 The Farmer's Daughters as George
- 1992 Straight Talk as Dr. Erdman
- 1988 Beaches as Dr. Richard Milstein
- 2002 Confessions of a Sociopath as Himself
- 2010 And Everything Is Going Fine as Self (archive footage)
- 1988 Clara's Heart as Peter Epstein
- 1990 The Image as Frank Goodrich
- 1985 Variety as Obscene Phone Caller (voice)
- 1999 Yesterday's Tomorrows as Self
- 2001 Julie Johnson as Mr. Tom Miranda
- 1988 Stars & Bars as Reverend T.J. Cardew
- 1997 Drunks as Louis
- 1987 Spalding Gray: Terrors of Pleasure as Spalding Gray
- Soon Thirty Second Spots: TV Commercials for Artists (1982-83) as Spalding Gray
- 1984 Spalding Gray's Map of L.A. as Spalding Gray
- 1984 Double Lunar Dogs
- 1993 Zelda as Sayre
- 1985 Hard Choices as Terry Norfolk
- 1991 To Save a Child
- 1989 Our Town as Stage Manager
- 1997 Bliss as Alfred
- 1981 Anybody's Woman
- 1970 Love-In '72 as Radical at Party
- 1982 Sex and Death to the Age 14 as Himself
- 1982 A Personal History of the American Theater as Himself
- 2014 Rumstick Road as Self (archive footage)
- 1986 Seven Minutes in Heaven as Dr. Rodney
- 1978 Maraschino Cherry as Penny's Client with Beard (uncredited)
- 1994 The Paper as Paul Bladden
- 1993 Twenty Bucks as Priest
- 2002 Revolution #9 as Scooter McCrae
- 1995 Bad Company as Walter Curl
- 1989 Heavy Petting as Self
- 2001 How High as Prof. Jackson
- 1986 What You Mean We? as Talk show host
- 1985 Variety as Voice on answering machine (voice)
- 1985 Spalding Gray: A Life in Progress as Himself
- 1999 Coming Soon as Mr. Jennings
- 1974 Prisoner's Dilemma as Spalding Gray
- 2018 Real Life as Earl Culver
- 1991 Laurie Anderson: The Collected Videos as The Talk Show Host
- 1999 The Mike O'Malley Show ( 1 episode )
- 1985 Spenser: For Hire ( 1 episode )
- 1975 Saturday Night Live ( 1 episode ) as Narrator of 'Brides' (voice) (uncredited)
- 1971 Great Performances ( 1 episode ) as Stage Manager
- 1985 Alive from Off Center ( 1 episode ) as self
- 1985 Alive from Off Center ( 1 episode ) as Talk Show Host (voice)
- 1993 The Nanny ( 9 episodes ) as Dr. Miller
