Spalding Gray

[pablo]

I hesitate to post such a sad note, but...

Actor & performer Spalding Gray's body was discovered in New York's East River yesterday, two months after his disappearance and suspected suicide. It is believed that he probably jumped off the Staten Island ferry, after a history of depression and previous suicide attempts.

Gray was never a busker - as far as I know - but his performances on stages and videos ("Swimming to Cambodia") are riveting, hilarious & brilliant moments of live entertainment. Using almost no props - a desk, a glass of water, a notebook - Gray was a master storyteller and monologist.

I never saw him in person, but I recommend his movies "Swimming to Cambodia" or "Monster in a Box" if you want to witness a truly unique solo performer. I'd like to hear from anyone who has seen one of his shows.

[Lynneski]

<sigh>

[Peter Voice]

I just saw Spalding as Dr. Jack Miller in a episode of "The Nanny" (a US sitcom). He was a semi regular on the show.

I saw him do "Swimming to Cambodia" at the, now-defunct, "Universal Theatre" in Melbourne about 1986. It was brilliant. The only other one-person show I have seen even come close to it was Whoopee Goldberg's New York shows.

"Swimming to Cambodia" was filmed by Jonathan Demme about 1987. Gray's other monologues, "Terrors of Pleasure('88)", "Monster in a Box('92)", and "Gray's Anatomy('98)" were filmed by his girfriend at the time, Renee Shafransky. Unfortunately as far as I know, his first monologue "Sex and Death to the Age of 14" was never filmed and so only lives in the memories of those lucky enough to see it.

He played the US consul in "The Killing Fields" and had minor roles in "Beaches", "Kate and Leopold" and "The Paper Mache Chase".

"Ohhh, shit"