Actor, Author. He was an American actor, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and performance artist. He was noted for his many autobiographical monologue films including, "Swimming To Cambodia" in 1987, "Spalding Gray: Terror Of Pleasure" in 1988, "Monster In A Box" in 1992, and "Gray's Anatomy" in 1996, among others. Gray's many other films include, "Cowards" in 1970, "Little Orphan Dusty" in 1976, "The Killing Fields" in 1984, "Seven Minutes In Heaven" in 1986, "Clara's Heart" and "Beaches" in 1988, "Bad Company" and "Drunks" in 1995, Beyond Rangoon" in 1996, "Kate & Leopold" in 2001, and "The Paper Mache Case" in 2003, as 'Dr—Calhoun', one of his last roles. Gray also appeared in television roles in episodes of "The Mike O'Malley Show," "Trying Times," "Spenser For Hire," "Alive From Off Center," and as 'Dr. Jack Miller' in "The Nanny" in 1997 and 1998. Among his supporting roles, he also played the lead role of the Stage Manager in a high-profile 1988 revival of Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" by the Lincoln Center Theater. Born one of three sons into an upper-middle-class family, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Emerson College in Boston in 1963 before relocating to California to teach in a private school. After his mother's 1952 suicide, he returned to the East, settling in New York City and eventually acting in theaters. He gained career recognition after writing "Swimming to Cambodia," which was first performed as a stage monologue in New York City, was published as a book in 1985, and adapted into a film in 1987. For his acting role and his writing talents in this work, he was nominated for the 1988 Independent Spirit Award and received a Guggenheim Fellowship and the National Book Award in 1985. In 2001, Gray was involved in a catastrophic car accident in Ireland, receiving serious head injuries. Besides his physical injuries, he developed an ongoing depression. On January 10, 2004, Gray disappeared. According to some people, he was last seen on the Staten Island ferry on the East River in New York. Gray, who had a history of depression, was believed to have committed suicide by jumping overboard. On March 7, 2004, a badly decomposed body was found in the waters near Brooklyn, and a day later, it was confirmed as his. At the time of his disappearance, Gray had been working on a monologue film that told of his 2001 car accident and his recovery from his injuries.