Early Life
Hall was born Shirley H. Grossman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Joseph and Eleanor Grossman. Her father was from Latvia and her mother from South Africa. Joseph and Eleanor separated when Shirley was eight but never divorced. Hall became interested in acting, as an escape from a painful childhood, and auditioned for plays in New York City while she was still in high school. She landed her first professional job doing summer stock in Long Island in 1942.
In 1946, she married fellow actor Ted (Bradbart) Brooks in Los Angeles. They separated in 1949 and Shirley returned to New York. In 1952, she married writer Sam Hall. Their son, Matthew Hall, was born in 1958. She had always used the stage name Shirley Grayson, but Sam Hall disliked the name Shirley and called her Grayson, "like an old Army buddy", she said in an interview. She finally adopted Grayson Hall as her professional name.
Read more about this topic: Grayson Hall
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