Grayson Hall

• Name — Grayson Hall • Birth Name — Shirley Grossman • Born — 18 September 1922 • Birthplace — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. • Died — 7 August 1985 • Place of death — New York City, New York, U.S. • Height — 5 ft 6 in • Other Names — Shirley Grayson • Occupation — Actress • Years Active — 1950s–1985 • Children — 1

Grayson Hall was born Shirley Grossman in Philadelphia in 1922, 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. 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.

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. 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 Pepe, 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. She was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Supporting Actress at the 37th Academy Awards for her performance. Hall portrayed Margaret Miller, a kidnapped bank teller in Walt Disney Productions' That Darn Cat! in 1965. She appeared on "The Pieces of Fate Affair", an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in 1967.

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 du Pres; Magda Rakosi, a Gypsy; Hoffman, a Mrs. Danvers–type housekeeper; Julia Collins; and Constance Collins, sister of Brutus Collins (Louis Edmonds). She also appeared in both Dark Shadows feature films: in House of Dark Shadows (1970) again as Dr. Julia Hoffman, and in Night of Dark Shadows (1971) as a new character, housekeeper Carlotta Drake.

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

In 1946, she married fellow actor Ted Brooks in Philadelphia. 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. After suffering from lung cancer for six months, Hall died at New York Hospital in Manhattan in 1985 at the age of 62, only six weeks before her 63rd birthday. A simple marker near her Rhinebeck, New York, home reads "Grayson Hall—August 7, 1985." In 2006, a biography titled Grayson Hall: A Hard Act to Follow was released.

• Title — Role — Notes • 1951 — Lights Out — Laura Holloway — Episode: "For Release Today" Credited as Shirley Grayson • 1954 — The Philco Television Playhouse — Episode: "Friday the Thirteenth" Credited as Shirley Grayson • 1954 — Kraft Television Theater — Episode: "Charm Bracelet" Credited as Shirley Grayson • 1955 — Robert Montgomery Presents — Episode: "A Dream of Summer" Credited as Shirley Grayson • 1955 — Goodyear Television Playhouse — Sylvia Baker — Episode: "The Way Things Happen" Credited as Shirley Grayson • 1955 — Justice — Episode: "Shadow of Terror" Credited as Shirley Grayson • 1955 — Danger — Episode: "The Operator" Credited as Shirley Grayson • 1955 — Star Tonight — Episode: "The Critic" Credited as Shirley Grayson • 1956 — Omnibus — Narrator — Episode: "Something About the Sky" Credited as Shirley Grayson • 1957 — Modern Romances — Episodes: "The Real Thing", "The Misguided Man", Parts 1-6 Credited as Shirley Grayson • 1958 — True Story — Episode: "The Scent of Roses" Credited as Shirley Grayson • 1959-1961 — The United States Steel Hour — Secretary — Episodes: "Wish on the Moon" Credited as Shirley Grayson "The Mating Machine" • 1964 — Route 66 — Mrs. Reston — Episode: "Follow the White Dove with the Broken Wing" • 1965 — Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre — Miss Fitzhugh — Episode: "Back to Back" • 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" • The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. — Mrs. Fowler — Episode: "The High and the Deadly Affair" • 1967–71 — 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" • 1972 — Gargoyles — Mrs. Parks — Television film • 1973 — All My Children — Marge Grey • 1974 — Kojak — Mrs. Campbell — Episode: "Hush Now, Don't You Die" • 1974 — The Great Ice Rip-Off — Helen Calso — Television film • 1975 — The Wide World of Mystery — Rhea — Episode: "The Two Deaths of Sean Doolittle" • 1982 — CBS Library — Mrs. Mahoney (segment "The Chaparral Prince") — Episode: "Robbers, Rooftops, and Witches" • 1982–83 — One Life to Live — Euphemia Ralston