Grayson Hall

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Grayson Hall
Born Shirley Grossman
September 18, 1922
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died August 7, 1985
New York, New York
Spouse(s) Ted (Bradbart) Brooks (1946-1949)
Sam Hall (1952-1985)

Grayson Hall (September 18, 1922 – August 7, 1985) was an Oscar-nominated American actress .

Hall was born Shirley Grossman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was widely regarded for her avant garde theatrical performances in the 1960s-70s. She was also lead actress in the Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows (1966-1971), and appeared on One Life to Live in 1982-83. Both her husband Sam Hall, and their son, Matthew Hall, were writers for the show at the time.

Grossman married Ted (Bradbart) Brooks in approximately 1946, they divorced a few years later. She later married writer Allison Samuel Hall (aka "Sam Hall") on January 12, 1952. Their only son, Matthew, was born in 1958. Early in her career, she used the stage name Shirley Grayson. Her husband called her 'Grayson', "like I was his Army buddy" and it accidentally became her screen and public name.

In September 1963, Grayson Hall traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to play the role of Judith Fellowes in John Huston's version of The Night of the Iguana, based on the original Tennessee Williams play. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as a latent lesbian character. In the original play, her character is usually non-sympathetic (basically, a villain); Grayson's film performance provided a few endearing and powerful moments creating a complex characterization notable as an early gay character in American cinema. Though the other actors in this film turn in quite good performances, Ms. Hall was the only actor nominated for an Oscar from Huston's 1964 film.

Perhaps Hall's best-known role was that of "Dr. Julia Hoffman", on Dark Shadows, where she portrayed a friend of the vampire, Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid). Other key roles that she played on the show were those of Countess Natalie Dupres; Magda, a Gypsy; and Hoffman, a housekeeper.

She was a widely regarded actress on the New York stage. Unlike her television and film appearances, Grayson rarely portrayed a spinster but rather flamboyant and overtly sexual women, most notably as The Actress in La Ronde (1953), Madam Irma in Jean Genet's The Balcony (1960-61), Warda in Jean Genet's The Screens (1971-72) and The Lady in Gray/The Fly in Happy End (1977) which co-starred Meryl Streep and Christopher Lloyd.

A biography, Grayson Hall: A Hard Act to Follow, was written by R. J. Jamison.

[edit] Trivia

Grayson Hall died on the same day as fellow Dark Shadows castmember David Ford did two years earlier from a heart attack.


[edit] Filmography