Spalding Gray Dead

[chris olivarez]

AP reports that a body found in the East River is that of actor Spalding Gray.His remains were identified through his dental records.

[RainyDay]

This is very sad news. My condolences to friends and family. How very sad.

[Alexander]

In the wake of his disappearence, I'd been rereading some of his monologues recently. I had just finished (literally, minutes before logging on) "It's a Slippery Slope," which talks about the end of his first marriage, the birth of his first child, and his turning 52 (the age at which is mother committed suicide), when I saw the news. He spent his life making art out of despair, only to have his despair finally get the best of him. Having struggled with depression and suicidal impulses myself over the years, I have great sympathy for his struggle...

Rest In Peace, Spalding...

[Johnny E]

RIP Spalding.

[7/4]

NYTIMES:

Spalding Gray, 62, Actor and Monologuist, Is Confirmed Dead

By JESSE McKINLEY

Published: March 8, 2004

Spalding Gray, the wry monologuist and actor who transformed his personal experiences, fascinations and traumas into such acclaimed pieces as "Swimming to Cambodia" and "Monster in a Box,"was confirmed dead today, two months after his wife reported him missing, a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner's office said. He was 62.

Mr. Gray's body was pulled from the East River near Greenpoint, Brooklyn, on Sunday and was identified through dental records, said the spokeswoman, Ellen Borakove. The authorities did not provide the cause of death.

Mr. Gray, who had been battling depression, was reported missing on Jan. 11, a day after he had left his apartment in Manhattan and never returned. He had told his family that he was going to see friends.

Several witnesses told detectives investigating the disappearance that they had seen Mr. Gray aboard the Staten Island Ferry on the night of Jan. 10, the police said.

Almost always seated behind a simple desk, with a glass of water, a microphone and some notes, Mr. Gray practiced the art of storytelling with a quiet mania, alternating between conspiratorial whispers and antic screams as he roamed through topics large and small.

This talent was perhaps never better displayed than in "Swimming to Cambodia," his 1984 monologue in which his experiences filming a small role in the movie "The Killing Fields" became a jumping-off point for exploring the history and culture of war in Southeast Asia. The piece was itself turned into a noted film, directed by Jonathan Demme, in 1987.

"Swimming" may have been Mr. Gray's most famous work, but for 25 years, he turned out a consistent stream of well-crafted, well-received pieces on subjects as varied as writing ("Monster in a Box," 1990) and illness ("Gray's Anatomy," 1993), to less-weighty issues like learning to ski ("It's a Slippery Slope," 1996) and performing while high on LSD ("Point Judith," 1980).

His relentless self-absorption drew a broad range of audiences, from those at such high-end, 1,000-seat theaters as the Vivian Beaumont at Lincoln Center (where he produced four shows during the 1990's) to downtown crowds at the 100-seat theaters at the Performing Garage and P.S. 122, two performance spaces where he typically fine-tuned his monologues.

While his performances resembled — and influenced — the confessional style of contemporaries like Eric Bogosian and John Leguizamo, Mr. Gray's work also displayed an instinctive curiosity and taste for first-person research, turning his life travels and travails into a type of closely observed,— and publicly performed, autobiography.

A self-confessed depressive, he reportedly attempted suicide at least once before in recent years, Mr..Gray had a common refrain in many of his monologues: a search for larger meaning, a quest, as he put it, for "the perfect moment."

The monologues were also, for the record, usually painfully funny.

"He is a sit-down monologuist with the comic sensibility of a stand-up comedian," Mel Gussow wrote in The New York in 1981 in a review of "47 Beds," a chronicle of all the beds, and continents, Mr. Gray had slept in. "He describes in vivid detail his search for self-discovery, and then laughs at himself and needles nirvana."

One of three sons, Mr. Gray was born on June 5, 1941, in Barrington, R.I. His father was a factory worker, and his mother a homemaker; Mr. Gray referred to himself as "a Rhode Island WASP," raised in a house he depicted as rife with repression, depression and all kinds of neurosis. Perhaps as a reaction to that, Mr. Gray, tall and lanky with an awkward charm, began acting in high school; by his mid-20's that interest had blossomed into a modest career as an actor on the regional theater circuit.

In 1967 Mr. Gray moved to New York and soon emerged as an active member of the city's then-thriving downtown experimental theater scene. In 1970 he joined director Richard Schechner's influential troupe, the Performance Group, and in 1973, appeared in the New York premiere of "Tooth of Crime," by Sam Shepard.

Edited March 9, 2004 by 7/4

[Jazzmoose]

Having struggled with depression and suicidal impulses myself over the years, I have great sympathy for his struggle...

I hear you. Gray's disappearance occured pretty close to the time that my depression decided that "melancholy" wasn't enough and "suicidal" was more appropriate. Fortunately, I sought help and it looks like my current medication is doing the trick. From what I understand, Gray never found the right medication with many, many attempts. I can't imagine what it would be like to live with this condition longterm without finding the right treatment. I mean, you know it's the disease causing those thoughts, but still...after a while, the struggle would just be too much. I've got to tell you, reading about Gray's plight before my doctor and I got this under control really shook me. I've always been somewhat bothered by the phrase "rest in peace", but in this case, it does seem appropriate.

[BruceH]

Very saddening. My sympathies go out to his family and friends.

[HWright]

"You're lucky to be here, Spalding, you're lucky to be alive!"

Edited March 9, 2004 by HWright