Spalding Gray

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Spalding Gray (born June 5, 1941 in Barrington (Rhode Island) , † around January 10, 2004 in New York City ) was an American actor and writer for theater and television.

Life

Spalding Gray was particularly known for the depiction of monologues, which always dealt with his life story and were presented by him in a characteristic mixture of humor, madness and exaggerated self-confidence.

After a few minor cinema roles, including in pornographic films, Gray first achieved national fame with his film Swimming to Cambodia , a film version of his monologues based on experiences while filming The Killing Fields in Southeast Asia in 1984 .

He has received some attention from critics of postmodernism regarding the extent to which his backstage life overlapped his onstage existence. He was also criticized for exploiting the joys and sorrows of others for his monologues. From 1969, Gray was a member of Richard Schechner's New York ensemble The Performance Group and in 1975 he helped to transform the group into the Wooster Group , where all of his monologue pieces were performed in their venue, the Performing Garage on Wooster Street, Soho, New York City Premiere came.

In the early 1990s, he published his first short story Impossible Vacation . In doing so, he stayed true to his style and of course wrote a monologue about the experience of writing his book called Monster in a Box .

In June 2001 he was seriously injured in a car accident while on vacation in Ireland . In January 2004, Gray, who was known to have had flare-ups from the injuries, was reported missing. It was not until March 7, 2004, that a morgue reported that Spalding Gray's body had been recovered from the East River . Since he had attempted suicide in 2002 and his mother had also committed suicide in 1967, suicide was found to be the most likely cause of death.

Since it was known that he had last worked on a new monologue, it is assumed that in this context his depression could have been the trigger for the suicide.

Filmography

  • 1970: Cowards
  • 1972: Love-In '72
  • 1973: The Farmer's Daughter
  • 1976: Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks
  • 1976: Little Orphan Dusty
  • 1978: Maraschino Cherry
  • 1983: Variety
  • 1984: Almost You
  • 1984: Hard Choices
  • 1984: The Killing Fields - Crying country (The Killing Fields)
  • 1985: The Communists Are Comfortable (And Three Other Stories)
  • 1986: True Stories
  • 1986: Seven Minutes in Heaven
  • 1987: Swimming to Cambodia (also as a screenwriter)
  • 1988: Beaches
  • 1988: Spalding Gray: Terrors of Pleasure
  • 1988: Stars and Bars
  • 1988: Clara's Heart (Clara's Heart)
  • 1989: The Image
  • 1989: Heavy petting
  • 1991: Spalding Gray: Monster in a Box
  • 1991: To Save a Child
  • 1991: Monster in a Box (also as a screenwriter)
  • 1992: Straight Talk
  • 1993–1999: The Nanny
  • 1993: King of the Marble (King of the Hill)
  • 1993: Zelda
  • 1993: Twenty Bucks
  • 1993: The Pickle
  • 1994: Headlines (The Paper)
  • 1995: Rangoon - Beyond Rangoon
  • 1995: Bad Company
  • 1995: Hoogste Tijd
  • 1996: Bliss
  • 1996: Glory Daze
  • 1996: Buckminster Fuller: Thinking Out Loud
  • 1996: Gray's Anatomy (also as a screenwriter)
  • 1996: Diabolisch (Diabolique)
  • 1997: Drunks
  • 1997: Bliss - In the moment of lust (Bliss)
  • 1999: Coming Soon
  • 2001: Revolution Number 9
  • 2001: Julie Johnson
  • 2001: So High (How High)
  • 2001: Kate & Leopold

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ US author and actor Spalding Gray found dead in Der Standard on March 14, 2004
  2. ↑ http://www.allmovie.com/artist/spalding-gray-92386/filmography
personal data
SURNAME Gray, Spalding
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor, screenwriter, and writer
DATE OF BIRTH June 5, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Barrington , Rhode Island , United States
DATE OF DEATH at January 10, 2004
Place of death New York City , New York , United States