Date of Birth
18 September 1922, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Date of Death
7 August 1985, New York, USA (cancer)
Birth Name
Shirley Grossman
Spouse
Sam Hall (12 January 1952 - 7 August 1985) (her death) 1 child
Ted (Bradbart) Brooks (1946 - 1949) (divorced)
Trivia
She appeared on "One Life to Live" (1968) in 1983. At that time, husband Sam Hall and son Matthew Hall were writers for the show.
Known for sometimes outré performances on Broadway, the slim, sharp-featured, red-headed actress was a perfect choice for the cult TV series "Dark Shadows" (1966) (her husband Sam Hall was a head writer).
She made very few films during her career, but her performance in The Night of the Iguana (1964) earned her both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.
She was using the stage name Shirley Grayson when she became involved with Sam Hall. He called her "Grayson" like he would an old army buddy. After her marriage, she took the name Grayson Hall because she had been hired for an acting job, and the person who wrote the contract had always heard her husband call her "Grayson" and assumed that it was her first name, so he wrote up the contract for "Grayson Hall." She kept it as her professional name.
Her husband, Sam Hall, was hired as a writer on "Dark Shadows" (1966) after producer Dan Curtis attended a party at the Halls' home, and asked Sam to come and write for the show. She had been acting on the show for several months at that time.
First husband Ted (Bradbart) Brooks, while an actor, is no relation to the Conrad Brooks listed on this site.
Believed for many years to be the female storyteller on the Disney album Chilling, Thrilling Sound of the Haunted House. However, Walt Disney records in Mousetracks: The story of Walt Disney Records and Hall's biography state the actress on the album is Laura Olsher.
Perhaps the greatest testament to her talent and appeal is that when she was first cast on TV's enormously popular supernatural soap opera "Dark Shadows" (1966) as Dr. Julia Hoffman, who tries to cure Barnabas Collins of being a vampire, the original intention was to have Barnabas kill her character off within a few weeks. However, Hall proved to be so effective in the role that those plans were changed, and she remained with the series for entire run.