Delbert Grady

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Delbert Grady is a fictional character in the 1977 novel The Shining by Stephen King and in the 1980 film of the same name directed by Stanley Kubrick. In the film, Delbert Grady was portrayed by British actor Philip Stone (1924-2003).

In the film, Jack Torrance (portrayed by Jack Nicholson) takes the job of winter caretaker at the fictional Overlook Hotel in Colorado. It is revealed to him that the previous caretaker, Delbert Grady, had gone insane from cabin fever and murdered his wife and child. When Torrance himself begins to hallucinate, Grady appears in a waiter's uniform, spills a drink on Torrance, apologizes profusely and takes Torrance to the restroom to wash the stain off. During this sequence, Torrance recognizes the name and confronts Grady's image on the murder. Grady denies all knowledge of the murder and claims Torrance has actually always been the caretaker.

Throughout the rest of the story, Torrance hears Grady's voice urging him to murder his own family, and he eventually attempts (unsuccessfully) to do so. The viewer is probably meant to infer that the hotel is haunted by numerous dangerous spirits, including that of Delbert Grady.