Harold Michael Gray (October 26, 1935 – April 30, 2013) was an American writer, screenwriter, cinematographer, film producer and director.

Career

Film and TV

In 1965, Mike Gray and Jim Dennett co-founded The Film Group, a Chicago film production company. In 1968, the pair along with editor

Howard Alk Howard Alk (25 October 1930 – January 1982) was a Chicago, Illinois-based filmmaker, and an original co-founder of The Second City theater troupe. In the 1960s he began to work in film with the Chicago Film Group, filming and directing document ...

, produced the award-winning documentary ''

American Revolution 2 ''American Revolution 2'' is a 1969 documentary on the 1968 Democratic National Convention and its aftermath. Part of the film focuses on the creation of an alliance between the Young Patriots Organization and local Black Panthers. On its releas ...

'' (1969), followed by the trio's ''

The Murder of Fred Hampton ''The Murder of Fred Hampton'' is a 1971 American documentary film about the short life and death of Fred Hampton, a young African-American civil rights activist in Chicago and leader of the Illinois Black Panther Party. During the film's produc ...

'' (1971). The Film Group was also behind the seven part educational series, "Urban Crisis and the New Militants", consisting primarily of footage shot during the production of ''American Revolution 2'' but also includes footage of Chicago Black Panthers members (including future Congressman

Bobby Rush Bobby Lee Rush (born November 23, 1946) is an American politician, activist and pastor who served as the U.S. representative for for three decades. A civil rights activist during the 1960s, Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Pant ...

) and a 1966 Civil Rights march in

Cicero, Illinois Cicero (originally known as Hawthorne) is a suburb of Chicago and an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 85,268. making it the 11th largest municipality in Illinois. The town of Cic ...

. This series can be streamed o
Chicago Film Archives' website
and . After moving to California, Gray shot ''The Gift'' (1973), a documentary about the life and art of Marc Chagall then co-wrote, with

T. S. Cook Thomas Steven "T. S." Cook (August 25, 1947 – January 5, 2013) was an American screenwriter and producer, who wrote ''The China Syndrome'' (1979) with Mike Gray and James Bridges, which garnered him Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominat ...

and

James Bridges James Bridges (February 3, 1936June 6, 1993) was an American screenwriter, film director, producer, and actor. He is a two-time Oscar nominee: once for Best Original Screenplay for '' The China Syndrome'' and once for Best Adapted Screenplay fo ...

, the screenplay for the nuclear thriller ''

The China Syndrome ''The China Syndrome'' is a 1979 American disaster thriller film directed by James Bridges and written by Bridges, Mike Gray, and T. S. Cook. The film stars Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas (who also produced), Scott Brady, James ...

'' (

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

), which film became notable for opening 12 days before the

Three Mile Island accident The Three Mile Island accident was a partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island, Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor in Pennsylvania, United States. It began at 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979. It is the most significant accident in U.S. commercial nuclea ...

(nuclear reactor meltdown). He also wrote and directed ''

Wavelength In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, t ...

'' (1983), an independent science fiction film starring

Robert Carradine Robert Reed Carradine ( ; born March 24, 1954) is an American actor. A member of the Carradine family, he made his first appearances on television Western series such as ''Bonanza'' and his brother David's TV series, '' Kung Fu''. Carradine's fi ...

Cherie Currie Cherie Ann Currie (born November 30, 1959) is an American singer, musician, actress and artist. Currie was the lead vocalist of The Runaways, a rock band from Los Angeles, in the mid-to-late 1970s. After The Runaways, she became a solo artist. ...

, and Keenan Wynn, with a soundtrack by

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

. Gray next co-created the television series '' Starman'' (1986–87). Following ''Starman'', he became series writer/producer for the 1988–89 season of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''. Gray was a second unit director on '' The Fugitive'' (

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

) and acted as Swizlard in ''

Chain Reaction A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events. Chain reactions are one way that sys ...

'' ( 1996). Gray scripted ''The Zone'' and ''Forget About Yesterday'' in 2008, and was working with director Andy Davis and legendary filmmaker,

Haskell Wexler Haskell Wexler, ASC (February 6, 1922 – December 27, 2015) was an American cinematographer, film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the Inte ...

on an as yet untitled documentary.

Bibliography

*''The Warning'' (1982), about the

accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researche ...

at Three Mile Island *''Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess and How We Can Get Out'' (1998) *''Angle of Attack'' (1992), a biography of Harrison Storms which also details America's race to the moon *''The Death Game: The Luck of the Draw'' (2003) *''Busted'' (2004), a book about the USA's drug war

Personal life

Gray grew up in Indiana and graduated from

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

with a degree in engineering. He later lived in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

with his wife, Carol, a reporter for public radio. His son, Lucas, is a storyboard artist for ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

''.

Death

Gray died at his desk April 30, 2013.

References

External links

*
Mike Gray
(official website) *
Drug Crazy
' (official website)
Film Group Collection, 1966-1969
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Mike American political writers American male non-fiction writers 1935 births 2013 deaths Writers Guild of America Award winners