| The Life and Work of SpaldingGray: Life | ||
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1941 June 5 - Born in Barrington, Rhode Island to 1967 Mother commits suicide. This has a profound effect on Gray's work and his life he is 26 at the time. 1975 Gray forms the Wooster Group with future movie star Willem Dafoe. The group is dedicated to cultivating new forms and techniques of theatrical expression. 1977 Gray graduates from Emerson College 1979 Gray leaves the Wooster Group to pursue his monologue style, or as it was categorized at the time "performance art." 1984 Gray appears in The Killing Fields which inspires his breakthrough monologue Swimming to Cambodia 1987 Swimming to Cambodia is released and becomes a critical success. 1989 Appears in Tony Award winning Broadway production of "Our Town" 1997 While discussing his possible suicide In 1997, Gray suggested the epitaph for his tombstone: "An American Original: Troubled, Inner-Directed and Cannot Type." 2001 June - While vacationing in Ireland Gray is seriously injured in a car accident. He suffers head trauma and a broken hip. Disorientation is misdiagnosed as depression, in reality Gray has a skull fracture which goes undiagnosed for months. September - While recovering from his injuries in his Soho apartment, Gray experiences the horror of the Twin Tower attacks along with millions of other shocked New Yorkers. 2002 September - Gray attempts suicide by jumping from a sailboat, but changes his mind. October - Gray attempts to jump off a bridge in his Long Island home town but is prevented by a friend. 2003 September - Police stop suicide attempt by Gray on Staten Island Ferry 2004 January 10 - Calls his son to "tell him that he loves him' January 11 - Gray fails to show up in Colorado where he is supposed to meet his family for a skiing trip. His wallet and credit cards are found in his apartment January 12 - Gray may have been seen on the Staten Island ferry January 13 - Spalding Gray reported missing by his wife January 15 - Family and friends fear suicide, "We're just waiting for a phone call that they've found him," wife Kathie Russo March 7 - A body is pulled from the East River in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn March 8 - The body is confirmed to be that of Spalding Gray |
