Spalding Gray

Born: 1941-06-05

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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Spalding Gray, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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How High

as Prof. Jackson
Released: 2001-12-21

Multi-platinum rap superstars Redman and Method Man star as Jamal and Silas, two regular guys...

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King of the Hill

as Mr. Mungo
Released: 1993-08-20

Based on the Depression-era bildungsroman memoir of writer A. E. Hotchner, the film follows the...

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The Killing Fields

as U.S. Consul
Released: 1984-11-23

New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg is on assignment covering the Cambodian Civil War, with...

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Gray's Anatomy

as Self
Released: 1996-09-11

The film documents, in an often dramatic and humorous fashion, Gray's investigations into...

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Kate & Leopold

as Dr. Geisler
Released: 2001-12-25

When her scientist ex-boyfriend discovers a portal to travel through time -- and brings back a...

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Beaches

as Dr. Richard Milstein
Released: 1988-12-21

A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong...

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Beyond Rangoon

as Jeremy Watt
Released: 1995-05-24

Dr. Laura Bowman is a young widow who's unwittingly drawn into political turmoil while...

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The Paper

as Paul Bladden
Released: 1994-03-18

Henry Hackett is the workaholic editor of a New York City tabloid. He loves his job, but the...

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Bliss

as Alfred
Released: 1997-04-14

A newly married happy couple visits a sex therapist to determine why the wife can't achieve an...

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Glory Daze

as Jack's Dad
Released: 1995-10-01

Jack, a soon-to-be graduate, finds he's having a difficult time letting go of the college life...

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Diabolique

as Simon Veatch
Released: 1996-03-22

The wife and mistress of a cruel school master collaborate in a carefully planned and executed...

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True Stories

as Earl Culver
Released: 1986-10-10

A small but growing Texas town, filled with strange and musical characters, celebrates its...

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Clara's Heart

as Peter Epstein
Released: 1988-10-07

David is a teenager whose parents are in a deteriorating marriage after their infant daughter...

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Bad Company

as Walter Curl
Released: 1995-01-20

CIA operative Nelson Crowe is tasked with a deadly assignment: infiltrate a highly secret...

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Seven Minutes in Heaven

as Dr. Rodney
Released: 1986-05-09

Natalie allows her classmate Jeff, who ran away from home after a fight with his stepfather, to...

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Coming Soon

as Mr. Jennings
Released: 1999-06-08

Privileged teenage friends Jenny, Nell and Stream spend their senior year on a quest to rid...

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Almost You

as Travel Agent
Released: 1985-03-29

Alex and Erica Boyer are a young couple in crisis. Alex, despite his loving wife, beautiful home...

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Stars & Bars

as Reverend T.J. Cardew
Released: 1988-03-18

A British art expert leaves New York to buy a long-lost Renoir from a Georgia eccentric.

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Swimming to Cambodia

as Self
Released: 1987-03-13

Spalding Gray sits behind a desk throughout the entire film and recounts his exploits and chance...

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Straight Talk

as Dr. Erdman
Released: 1992-04-03

Honest and straightforward small-town Shirlee Kenyon chucks her boyfriend and heads for Chicago....

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Variety

as Obscene Phone Caller (voice)
Released: 1985-02-27

A repressed young woman becomes obsessed with pornography and the mysterious rich patrons of the...

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Variety

as Voice on answering machine (voice)
Released: 1985-02-27

A repressed young woman becomes obsessed with pornography and the mysterious rich patrons of the...

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Drunks

as Louis
Released: 1997-03-14

At the beginning of a nightly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Jim seems particularly troubled. His...

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Twenty Bucks

as Priest
Released: 1993-10-21

A story about the life of a twenty dollar bill as it weaves in and out of the various lives of...

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The Pickle

as Doctor
Released: 1993-04-30

Harry Stone always dreamed of making "The Great American Movie." Instead he made The Pickle - a...

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Julie Johnson

as Mr. Tom Miranda
Released: 2001-01-26

A New Jersey housewife is dissatisfied with her everyday life because she is smarter than she or...

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Heavy Petting

as Self
Released: 1989-09-22

Celebrities and creatives -- including musician David Byrne, performance artist Spalding Gray,...

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And Everything Is Going Fine

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2010-06-04

From the first time he performed Swimming to Cambodia - the one-man account of his experience of...

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Hard Choices

as Terry Norfolk
Released: 1985-01-24

A teenaged boy goes for a ride with his brother and the brother's friends, who proceed to rob a...

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Revolution #9

as Scooter McCrae
Released: 2002-11-15

A handsome and successful young man with a lovely fiancée, James Jackson seems to have...

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Monster in a Box

as Self
Released: 1992-05-15

Monologuist Spalding Gray talks about the great difficulties he experienced while attempting to...

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Our Town

as Stage Manager
Released: 1989-04-01

This classic American play, performed on an almost-bare stage, is about the mundane but rather...

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The Image

as Frank Goodrich
Released: 1990-01-27

When career-focused journalist's investigation indirectly causes a suicide, he questions his own...

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Zelda

as Sayre
Released: 1993-11-06

Famous 1920s modernist writer F. Scott Fitzgerald and his eccentric Flapper socialite wife Zelda...

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Spalding Gray: Terrors of Pleasure

as Self
Released: 1987-11-28

Monologue by Spalding Gray about his misadventures in purchasing a home.

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Yesterday's Tomorrows

as Self
Released: 1999-08-09

Showtime's "In the 20th Century" is a millennium-related series of feature-length documentaries...

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Prisoner's Dilemma

as Spalding Gray
Released: 1974-12-31

A two-part tape of a video performance done on January 22, 1974, at 112 Greene Street (as part...

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Confessions of a Sociopath

as Himself
Released: 2002-01-01

Confessions of a Sociopath is an autobiographical film on digital video and Super 8 film,...

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Double Lunar Dogs

as uncredited
Released: 1984-01-01

Based on Robert Heinlein’s 1941 story “Universe,” Double Lunar Dogs presents a vision of...

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Sex and Death to the Age 14

as Himself
Released: 1982-01-01

Monologue created and performed by Spalding Gray, who takes us through his childhood...

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To Save a Child

as uncredited
Released: 1991-09-08

A doctor and his pregnant young wife move into a small New Mexico town. At first the locals are...

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Love-In '72

as Radical at Party
Released: 1970-03-21

A man must decide whether to flee the U.S. draft and go to Canada or stay or go fight for his...

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Spalding Gray's Map of L.A.

as Self
Released: 1984-01-01

Spalding Gray comes to LA to perform a set of monologues.

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Spalding Gray: A Life in Progress

as Himself
Released: 1985-01-01

Performance clips and biographical anecdotes from the life of Spalding Gray.

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A Personal History of the American Theater

as Himself
Released: 1982-01-01

An autobiographical monologue in which Spalding Gray randomly draws cards for titles of the...

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Rumstick Road

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2014-05-01

A video reconstruction of the 1977 Wooster Group production Rumstick Road, an experimental...

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Anybody's Woman

as uncredited
Released: 1981-01-01

The goings-on around a porn theater in New York’s East Village, interspersed with actors...

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The Farmer's Daughters

as George
Released: 1976-06-11

After the farmer's daughters attack the farm hand Fred, three escaped convicts arrive and have...

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Maraschino Cherry

as Penny's Client with Beard (uncredited)
Released: 1978-10-20

The madame of a high-class new York brothel teaches her younger sister all about the business.

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Saturday Night Live

as Narrator of 'Brides' (voice) (uncredited)
First aired: 1975-10-11

A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The...

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Great Performances

as Stage Manager
First aired: 1971-01-28

The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse...

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Spenser: For Hire

as uncredited
First aired: 1985-09-20

Mystery and suspense series based on Robert Parker's "Spenser" novels. Spenser, a private...

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