In June 2001, Gray was severely injured in a car crash while on vacation in Ireland. In the crash, he suffered a broken hip, which left his right leg almost immobilized, and a fracture in his skull. During surgery on his skull, a
titanium plate was placed over the break after surgeons removed dozens of bone fragments from his
frontal cortex, leaving a jagged scar on his forehead. He struggled to recover from his injuries and a severe depression set in some time after the accident. He had already struggled intermittently with depression. Suffering both from physical impairment and ongoing depression, Gray struggled for months and was treated with a variety of different therapies. Gray sought treatment from
neurologist Oliver Sacks, who began treating him in August 2003 and continued to do so almost until Gray died. Sacks later said Gray perceived the taking of his own life as part of what he had to say, with the monologuist having "talked about what he called 'a creative suicide.' On one occasion, when he was being interviewed, he thought that the interview might be culminated with a 'dramatic and creative suicide.' I was at pains to say that he would be much more creative alive than dead." On January 11, 2004, Gray was declared missing. The night before, he had taken his children to see
Tim Burton's film
Big Fish. It ends with the line, "A man tells a story over and over so many times he becomes the story. In that way, he is immortal." Gray's widow, Kathie Russo, said after he disappeared, "You know, Spalding cried after he saw that movie. I just think it gave him permission. I think it gave him permission to die." In early March 2004, Gray's body was found in the
East River. It is believed that he jumped off the
Staten Island Ferry. He had previously attempted suicide in 2002. Gray was reported to have been working on a new monologue at the time of his death. There was speculation that his revisiting the material of the car crash in Ireland and his subsequent attempts to recover from his injuries might have triggered a final bout of depression. and Theo Spalding Gray, and brothers Rockwell and Channing Gray.
Legacy Theater historian Don Wilmeth noted Gray's contribution to a unique style of writing and acting: Describing the play-film monologue, theatre director Mark Russell wrote: Journalist and author
Roger Rosenblatt described Gray as Director Jonathan Demme said of Gray, "Spalding's unfailing ability to ignite universal emotions and laughter in all of us while gloriously wallowing in his own exquisite uniqueness will remain forever one of the great joys of American performance and literature".
Posthumous works by and about him In 2005, Gray's unfinished final monologue was published in a hardcover edition titled
Life Interrupted: The Unfinished Monologue. The monologue, which Gray had performed in one of his last public appearances, is augmented by two additional pieces he performed at the time, a short remembrance called "The Anniversary" and an open letter to New York City written in the wake of the
September 11 attacks. Also included in the book is an extensive collection of remembrances and tributes from fellow performers and friends. The 2007 play
Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell, produced at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York City, is based on his monologues and journals. Kathleen Russo, his widow, developed the concept for the play. In January 2010,
Steven Soderbergh's documentary
And Everything Is Going Fine was released at Utah's
Slamdance Film Festival. The film was compiled from film and video clips of Gray's early life and career. Russo said that Soderbergh "wanted Spalding to tell the story, as if it was his last monologue, and I think he accomplished that". In 2011 a selection from his journals was published as
The Journals of Spalding Gray, edited by Nell Casey, who had worked with Russo on the project. Dwight Garner found this material less interesting than Gray's monologues. He said they have value as a "portrait of a theatrical coming of age" as Gray determined how to make his art. Garner wrote, "His art, these journals make clear, is what kept him alive." The 2016 season of the Independent Film Channel's mockumentary television series
Documentary Now! includes the episode "Parker Gail's Location is Everything," a parody of Gray's
Swimming to Cambodia. In it,
Bill Hader delivers a monologue expressing his dismay at having to find a new loft apartment in New York City upon learning that his current residence will be converted into an electronics store. ==Filmography==