# Could we have some more "Spalding Gray is dead" threads?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [March 9, 2004, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242 "2004-03-09T04:19:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/21 "2004-03-09T14:19:35Z")
Wasn’t he in Caddyshack?
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### Author:  [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/22 "2004-03-09T14:24:48Z")
This reminds me of the time I was the [first poster](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=4034840#post4034840) to notify the Straight Dope community about [the death of George Plimpton](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=4035324#post4035324). I don’t know why God chose me to shoulder such a responsibility, I can only hope to have proved myself worthy of the task. I think George would have wanted it that way.
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### Author:  [@j\_kat\_251](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_kat_251)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/23 "2004-03-09T14:26:15Z")
> [@World Eater](#):
>
> Who the fuck is Spalding Gray?
>
> Never heard of him.
yeah no shit asshole that’s a great original thought you got going there
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### Author:  [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/24 "2004-03-09T14:44:51Z")
> [@j\_kat\_251](#):
>
> yeah no shit asshole that’s a great original thought you got going there
You sure they didn’t find his corpse up your ass and not in the river?
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### Author:  [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/25 "2004-03-09T14:47:15Z")
Ahh, **1920’s style** gay crucifixions.
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/26 "2004-03-09T16:22:25Z")
Hey, **Otto** , [i[I’m\* the one who’s supposed to have meltdowns about multiple obit threads! Perhaps you remember my famous Gregory Peck-related tantrum of last summer?
By the way, all you yahoos bragging about not know who Spalding Gray was? Unless you are joking, you might want to Google him before exposing your complete lack of cultural and literary knowledge on a Board devoted to “fighting ignorance.”
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/27 "2004-03-09T16:31:01Z")
Badger Badger Badger Spalding
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### Author:  [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/28 "2004-03-09T16:33:27Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#):
>
> Who apparently got crucified while being passionately gay.
Does it make me a bad person to admit that that made me giggle?
-Lil
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### Author:  [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/29 "2004-03-09T16:38:59Z")
Well I looked him up, and I’m not familiar with any of the things he did.
\
And don’t accuse people of not knowing him as being ignorant, it makes you look bad.
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### Author:  [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/30 "2004-03-09T16:49:40Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#):
>
> It’s not his fault; he fell down a slippery slope and landed in the waters while trying to escape a monster in a box. It can happen to anyone.
Thanks for the smile. I was trying to remember the title of that oddly affecting movie, Monster in a Box.
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/31 "2004-03-09T17:13:44Z")
> [@World Eater](#):
>
> And don’t accuse people of not knowing him as being ignorant, it makes you look bad.
Well, except not. He was a very well-known writer and actor who’s been in the headlines for the last two months; there are multiple threads about him right here on the Boards, all with links and descriptions of his work. Anyone popping in here to say “who the fuck was he?” is either being ingenuous, lazy or is a complete boob. “A Rick Dees in a Spalding Gray world,” as Homer Simpson once put it.
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### Author:  [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/32 "2004-03-09T17:35:19Z")
> [@Eve](#):
>
> Well, except not. He was a very well-known writer and actor who’s been in the headlines for the last two months; there are multiple threads about him right here on the Boards, all with links and descriptions of his work. Anyone popping in here to say “who the fuck was he?” is either being ingenuous, lazy or is a complete boob. “A Rick Dees in a Spalding Gray world,” as Homer Simpson once put it.
Well, not well known enough I guess. I’m seeing plenty of people asking who he was, are they all ingenuous, lazy, etc? Of course not, so put the brush away and keep the silly comments to a minimum.
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/33 "2004-03-09T18:03:54Z")
> [@World Eater](#):
>
> Well, not well known enough I guess. I’m seeing plenty of people asking who he was, are they all ingenuous, lazy, etc? Of course not, so put the brush away and keep the silly comments to a minimum.
Silly comments? I’d say “Who the fuck was Spalding Gray?” is a silly comment. You live in _Brooklyn_, fer chrissakes—he was a New York institution for two decades and has been in the headlines for two months.
Still, if you’d somehow never heard of him, you _might_ have scanned one of the many threads about him right here on the Boards, and their links to his work . . . Or asked, “I’m not familiar with his work, who was he?” Rather than “Who the fuck was Spalding Gray?” Especially since so many people are obviously upset about his death (and some knew him personally).
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/34 "2004-03-09T18:12:03Z")
> [@World Eater](#):
>
> Well I looked him up, and I’m not familiar with any of the things he did.
And, thus, you are ignorant. It’s not an insult unless you revel in it (the ignorance, that is).
Julie
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### Author:  [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/35 "2004-03-09T18:12:45Z")
> [@Eve](#):
>
> Silly comments? I’d say “Who the fuck was Spalding Gray?” is a silly comment. You live in _Brooklyn_, fer chrissakes—he was a New York institution for two decades and has been in the headlines for two months.
>
> Still, if you’d somehow never heard of him, you _might_ have scanned one of the many threads about him right here on the Boards, and their links to his work . . . Or asked, “I’m not familiar with his work, who was he?” Rather than “Who the fuck was Spalding Gray?” Especially since so many people are obviously upset about his death (and some knew him personally).
Fair enough, I’ll try and exercise a little more tact next time.
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/36 "2004-03-09T18:15:08Z")
> [@World Eater](#):
>
> And don’t accuse people of not knowing him as being ignorant, it makes you look bad.
That’s what the word means, dear.
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### Author:  [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/37 "2004-03-09T18:19:38Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#):
>
> And, thus, you are ignorant. It’s not an insult unless you revel in it (the ignorance, that is).
>
> Julie
Thus, _everyone_ except the omniscient, is ignorant. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/38 "2004-03-09T18:39:50Z")
> [@Eve](#):
>
> Silly comments? I’d say “Who the fuck was Spalding Gray?” is a silly comment. You live in _Brooklyn_, fer chrissakes—he was a New York institution for two decades and has been in the headlines for two months.
I agree that “Who the fuck was Spalding Gray?” is unnecessarily harsh. Remove the invective, however, and the question is perfectly legitimate IMO.
The impression I’m getting is that Spalding Gray was something of a regional celebrity. I’d never once heard any reference to the man in all my life, none of which was spent on the East Coast. I’m not even sure if any of his plays have ever been performed down here (LA & MS). Perhaps in New Orleans – perhaps – but even if so, Gray certainly wouldn’t get much in the way of billing. His name couldn’t sell a performance down here like it maybe could in New York.
In all seriousness, **Eve** – how might someone have been exposed to Spalding Gray in areas of the country with no prominent drama scene? Surely it’s not the height of ignorance to not have heard of this man before his disappearance? Would you consider “Spalding Gray” a household word all over teh U.S.? There are people who don’t watch basketball at all that know who Michael Jordan is … is Spalding Gray’s name like that?
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/39 "2004-03-09T18:46:41Z")
> [@World Eater](#):
>
> Fair enough, I’ll try and exercise a little more tact next time.
Thanks, toots. Kiss kiss. Now back to the OP: Howcum there aren’t 27 threads on the deaths of [Paul Winfield](http://imdb.com/name/nm0934902/) and [Frances Dee](http://imdb.com/name/nm0214168/)?!
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-have-some-more-spalding-gray-is-dead-threads/233242/40 "2004-03-09T18:47:33Z")
> [@World Eater](#):
>
> Thus, _everyone_ except the omniscient, is ignorant. :rolleyes:
Right again. Congratulations on the new concept.
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