Spalding Gray

Actor-writer Spalding Gray, who laid bare his life in a series of acclaimed monologues like " Swimming to Cambodia " while making memorable appearances in such films as " The Paper, " was found dead over the weekend. He had walked out of his Manhattan apartment and disappeared two months earlier. He was 62.

Mr. Gray ' s body was pulled from the East River on Sunday and identified yesterday through dental records and X-rays. The cause of his death was still under investigation, according to a spokeswoman for the medical examiner. But Mr. Gray had a history of depression and attempted suicide in 2002.

His family told police he was last seen Jan. 10, the night several witnesses told authorities they saw Mr. Gray on the Staten Island ferry. His wife, Kathleen Russo, has said she feared he jumped off the boat.

" We ' re hoping now that we have some closure, " Russo said yesterday from the couple ' s Long Island home. " The family will begin to heal. "

Mr. Gray ' s riveting live performances generally featured only a desk and a glass of water as props. Usually wearing his trademark plaid flannel shirt, the performer would never move from the desk as he read in a soft, New England-inflected voice.

He worked in underground theater in Manhattan, eventually co-founding the Wooster Group in 1979. There, he wrote an autobiographical trilogy of plays about life in Rhode Island.

In more than a dozen monologues starting in 1979, Mr. Gray told audiences about his childhood, " Sex and Death to the Age 14 " ; his adventures as a young man, " Booze, Cars and College Girls " ; and his struggles as an actor, " A Personal History of the American Theater. " Many were published in book form and several were made into films.

" The man may be the ultimate WASP neurotic, analyzing his actions with an intensity that would be unpleasantly egomaniacal if it weren ' t so self-deprecatingly funny, " Associated Press Drama Critic Michael Kuchwara wrote in 1996. " He questions everything and ends up more exhausted than satisfied. "

Mr. Gray ' s greatest success was his Obie-winning monologue " Swimming to Cambodia, " which recounted in part his movie role opposite Sam Waterston in " The Killing Fields. " The monologue, developed over two years of performance, became a film directed by Jonathan Demme.

Mr. Gray continued working both alone and in Hollywood, appearing in movies including " The Paper, " " Kate and Leopold " and Beaches " 38 film appearances in all.

He is survived by Russo; three children; and two brothers, Rockwell Gray, an English professor in St. Louis, and Channing Gray. A memorial service will be held in a couple of months, Russo said yesterday.