Grayson Hall

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For the American banker, see O. B. Grayson Hall Jr.

Grayson Hall
Born
Shirley Grossman

(1922-09-18)September 18, 1922[1]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedAugust 7, 1985(1985-08-07) (aged 62)
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Other namesShirley Grayson
OccupationActress
Years active1950s–1985
Height5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Spouses
Bradbart "Ted" Brooks
​
​
(m. 1946; div. 1949)​
​
(m. 1952⁠–⁠1985)​
Children1

Grayson Hall (born Shirley Grossman; September 18, 1922 – August 7, 1985) was an American television, film and stage actress. She was widely regarded for her avant-garde theatrical performances from the 1960s to the 1980s. Hall was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe Award for the John Huston film The Night of the Iguana (1964).

Hall played multiple prominent roles on the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows (1966–71) and appeared on One Life to Live (1982–83). In 2006, a biography titled Grayson Hall: A Hard Act to Follow was released.[2]

Early life[edit]

Hall was born Shirley Grossman in Philadelphia in 1922,[3] the only child of Eleanor and Joseph Grossman. Her father was from Latvia and her mother, who had acted in the Yiddish theatre, was from South Africa. Both were from Jewish immigrant families.[1]

When Hall was eight, her parents separated, but they never divorced. Hall became interested in acting as an escape from a painful childhood, and auditioned for plays in New York City while still attending Simon Gratz High School in North Philadelphia. She enrolled at Temple University but did not matriculate. She landed her first professional job with a summer stock company on Long Island in 1942.

In 1946, she married fellow actor Ted Brooks in Philadelphia.[4] They separated in 1949 and she returned to New York. In 1952, she married writer Sam Hall. Their son Matthew was born in 1958. She had always used the stage name Shirley Grayson, but Sam Hall called her Grayson "like an old Army buddy," as she said in an interview. She eventually adopted Grayson Hall as her professional name.[1]

Career[edit]

Hall enjoyed an active stage career in New York City. Her theater credits include roles in off-Broadway productions of influential avant-garde plays including Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello (Phoenix Theatre, 1955). She also appeared as the madam Irma in the first New York production of The Balcony by Jean Genet for more than a year at the Circle in the Square Theatre Downtown in Greenwich Village.[5][6]

Having guest-starred on various television programs during the mid-1950s, Hall made her film debut in 1961 in Run Across the River. She also appeared in Satan in High Heels as a cabaret club owner, but she later disavowed the film.

In September 1963, Hall traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to play the role of Judith Fellowes in John Huston's film version of The Night of the Iguana, based on the original play by Tennessee Williams.[7] She was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

Hall portrayed a kidnapped bank teller in Walt Disney Productions' That Darn Cat! in 1965. She appeared on an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in 1967.

Dark Shadows[edit]

Hall's best-known television role was as Dr. Julia Hoffman on Dark Shadows. She portrayed the loyal confidant and friend of the vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid). Other key roles that she played on the show were those of Countess Natalie Dupres; Magda Rakosi, a Gypsy; Hoffman, a Mrs. Danvers–type housekeeper; Julia Collins; and Constance Collins, sister of Brutus Collins.[8] She also appeared in both Dark Shadows feature films: in House of Dark Shadows again as Dr. Julia Hoffman, and in Night of Dark Shadows as a new character, housekeeper Carlotta Drake.

Later career[edit]

After Dark Shadows ended, Hall portrayed reporter Marge Grey on All My Children for a short period in 1973. She continued acting on stage in Jean Genet's The Screens (1971–72) and in Happy End (1977) with Meryl Streep and Christopher Lloyd.[9]

In the 1970s, Hall appeared on several television films, including Gargoyles (ABC), filmed in New Mexico with Cornel Wilde, and the Dan Curtis television film The Great Ice Rip-Off (ABC) with Lee J. Cobb and Gig Young. She starred in the mystery film The Two Deaths of Sean Doolittle (ABC), which was written by her husband Sam Hall.

Hall appeared in the Broadway premiere of The Suicide (1980) with Derek Jacobi and appeared opposite Geraldine Page, Carrie Nye and Madeleine Sherwood in an off-Broadway revival of The Madwoman of Chaillot.[7]

Her last onscreen role was as Euphemia Ralston (Delila's scheming mother) on the soap opera One Life to Live from July 1982 until April 1983.[5]

Death[edit]

After a six-month battle with lung cancer, Hall died at New York Hospital in Manhattan in 1985 at the age of 62. A simple marker near her Rhinebeck, New York home reads "Grayson Hall — August 7, 1985."[10]

Selected filmography[edit]

Title Role Notes
1951 Lights Out Laura Holloway Episode: "For Release Today"
Credited as Shirley Grayson
1955 Danger Episode: "The Operator"
Credited as Shirley Grayson
1959 The United States Steel Hour Secretary Episode: "Wish on the Moon"
Credited as Shirley Grayson
1962 Satan in High Heels Pepe
1964 The Parisienne and the Prudes Decorator
1964 Route 66 Mrs. Reston Episode: "Follow the White Dove with the Broken Wing"
1964 The Night of the Iguana Judith Fellowes Nominated: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
1965 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Miss Fitzhugh Episode: "Back to Back"
1965 That Darn Cat! Margaret Miller
1966 Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo? Miss Maxwell English title: Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?
1966 The Trials of O'Brien Louise Malcolm Episode: "A Horse Called Destiny"
1967 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Judy Merril Episode: "The Pieces of Fate Affair"
1967 The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. Mrs. Fowler Episode: "The High and the Deadly Affair"
1967–1971 Dark Shadows Dr. Julia Hoffman
Natalie du Pres
Magda Rakosi
Julia Hoffman (PT)
Julia Collins
Constance Collins 		474 episodes
1970 Night Gallery Ann Brigham Episode: "The House/Certain Shadows on the Wall"
1970 End of the Road Peggy Rankin
1970 House of Dark Shadows Dr. Julia Hoffman
1970 Adam at Six A.M. Inez Treadly
1971 Night of Dark Shadows Carlotta Drake Alternative title: Curse of Dark Shadows
1972 Gargoyles (TV movie) Mrs. Parks
1973 All My Children Marge Grey Unknown episodes
1974 Kojak Mrs. Campbell Episode: "Hush Now, Don't You Die"
1975 Pick-up Voice, uncredited
1982–1983 One Life to Live Euphemia Ralston Unknown episodes

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Jamison, R.J. (2006). Grayson Hall: A Hard Act to Follow. iUniverse. pp. 4–5. ISBN 0-595-40462-6.
  2. ^ Grayson Hall: A Hard Act to Follow. Goodreads. Archived September 3, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  3. ^ Hall also gave 1923 and 1925 as her year of birth on various documents, but elementary school and census records substantively establish 1922 as the correct year.
  4. ^ Marriage, announcement (May 26, 1946). "Newspapers.com". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 35. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Grayson Hall at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
  6. ^ "Lortel Archives"
  7. ^ a b Grayson Hall at the Internet Broadway Database
  8. ^ Scott, K.L. (2000). Dark Shadows Almanac (2nd ed.). Pomegranate Press. ISBN 978-0-938817-18-5.
  9. ^ Napoleon, Davi (1991). Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater. Iowa State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8138-1713-2.
  10. ^ Jamison, R. J. (August 7, 2006). Grayson Hall: A Hard Act to Follow. iUniverse. ISBN 9780595848324 – via Google Books.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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