Spalding Gray, RIP
The body of actor/writer Spalding Gray, who had been missing for over two months, was found today in New York’s East River. Though cause of death has not yet been officially determined, it seems likely it was a suicide.
I was never an intent fan of the monologues that made Gray famous; my favorite work of his was a taped version of the Our Town revival he did in 1989, which won a Tony. Gray played the stage manager, Eric Stoltz played George and Penelope Ann Miller Emily. Our Town is a play that most of us have seen inappropriately cast in junior high school productions, so seeing it in the hands of actors who actually know what they’re doing is something of a revelation.
But as someone who quite desperately wants what from the outside it appeared Gray had obtained–to be a rich, liberal elitist with a wife/partner and family–stuff like this scares me.
