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Grayson Hall was an American actress of Jewish descent. She is better known for her role as Dr. Julia Hoffman in Gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows" (1966-1971). She was once nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 1922, Hall was born Shirley Grossman in Philadelphia. Her father Joseph Grossman was from Latvia, and her mother Eleanor was from South Africa. Eleanor was a theatrical actress, who performed in the Yiddish theatre. Her parents had separated by 1930, but never officially received a divorce.

Hall became interested in an acting career since childhood, and auditioned for plays as a high school student. She made her professional theatrical debut in 1942, at the age of 20. She performed with a summer stock company in Long Island

In 1946, Hall married fellow actor Bradbart "Ted" Brooks. They separated in 1949, and she married her second husband, screenwriter Sam Hall (1921-2014) in 1952. She changed her professional name to Grayson Hall at that time.

Hall built-up her acting reputation with influential avant-garde plays such as "Six Characters in Search of an Author" (1955) by Luigi Pirandello (Phoenix Theatre, 1955) and "The Balcony" (1960) by Jean Genet. She played guest star roles in television, and made her film debut with "Run Across the River" (1961).

Her first notable film role was playing chaperone Judith Fellowes in "The Night of the Iguana" (1964). The film was based on the 1961 play by Tennessee Williams (1911-1983), and Fellowes was depicted as an adversary of leading character Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon (played by Richard Burton). For this role, Hall was nominated for an the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The award was instead won by rival actress Lila Kedrova (1909-2000).

Hall's next film role was the kidnapping victim Margaret Miller in the thriller film "That Darn Cat!" (1965). Her television roles included guest appearances in both "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1964-1968), and its spin-off series "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." (1966-1967).

Hall's most famous role was psychologist Dr. Julia Hoffman in "Dark Shadows". Hall was only supposed to appear in a limited number of episodes, but Hoffman became one of the series main characters. Hall appeared in 474 episodes, playing either Hoffman or a number of look-alike characters. Hall's other roles within the series included Countess Natalie Dupres; gypsy Magda Rakosi, a housekeeper, Julia Collins; and Constance Collins. Hall appeared as Julia Hoffman in the spin-off film "House of Dark Shadows" (1970), and as housekeeper Carlotta Drake in the sequel film "Night of Dark Shadows" (1971).

Following the end of "Dark Shadows", Hall had a supporting role as reporter Marge Grey on "All My Children". She had a guest star appearance in "Kojak", and played scheming mother Euphemia Ralston in the soap opera "One Life to Live".

Hall's life and career were cut-short when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She died due to this cancer in 1985, at age 62. "Dark Shadows" remains popular and has since received further spin-off projects. Dr. Julia Hoffman has continued to appear in more recent projects, with other actresses replacing Hall.

(play) &quot;Happy End&quot; opened on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on May 7, 1977. <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0000658/?ref_=nmwrk">Meryl Streep</a> also appeared, making her Broadway debut. The play closed on July 10, 1977 after 75 performances.

(play) &quot;Subways are for Sleeping&quot; opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on December 27, 1961. Grayson Hall played Myra. The play closed on June 23, 1962 after 205 performances.

(play) &quot;The Leaf People&quot; opened on Broadway at the Booth Theatre on October 20, 1975. It closed October 26, 1975 after 8 performances.

(play) &quot;The Suicide&quot; opened on Broadway at the Anta Playhouse Theatre on October 9, 1980. Grayson Hall played the part of Serafima. The play closed on November 30, 1980 after 60 performances.

Other works

Grayson Hall

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