Biography for
Spalding Gray More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

5 June 1941, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Date of Death

10 January 2004, New York City, New York, USA (suicide)

Birth Name

Spalding Rockwell Gray

Nickname

Spud or Spuddy

Spouse

Kathleen Russo	(1994 - 10 January 2004) (his death) 2 children
Renée Shafransky	(1991 - 1993) (divorced)

Trade Mark

New England accent.

Trivia

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.

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.

Graduated from Emerson College.

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.

Was reported missing on Sunday, January 10, 2004. His body was found in the East River (New York City) on March 8, 2004.

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.

His mother committed suicide in 1967; Gray sometimes referred in his monologues to a desire to do the same.

Was claustrophobic.

Said that only his children could make him laugh

Had two sons with Kathleen Russo: Forrest and Theo.

His depression worsened when his family moved from the house he loved in Sag Harbor to one he hated in New Haven.

Biography/bibliography in "Contemporary Authors," New Revision Series, vol. 138, pages 184-190. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005.

Biography in "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives," Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 215-218. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.

Where Are They Now

(November 1999 - January 2000) New monologue at Lincoln Center, "Morning, Noon and Night"

(January 2004) Reported missing after after disappearing from his Manhattan home.

(March 2004) 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.

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z