Gerrit Graham, Actor in ‘Phantom of the Paradise,’ Screenwriter and Grateful Dead Collaborator, Dies at 77 — SkimNews
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- Gerrit Graham died Tuesday in Rhinebeck, N.Y., at age 77, after suffering from lung disease and other ailments.
- Graham co-wrote a song for The Grateful Dead while also working as an actor, screenwriter and songwriter across multiple creative fields.
- Graham launched his career starring opposite Robert De Niro in early Brian de Palma films, including "Hi Mom!" and another de Palma title (truncated in source).
- Graham also appeared in "Phantom of the Paradise," per the article headline, cementing his place in de Palma's 1970s filmography.
Why it matters: Graham's death closes a chapter on the cross-genre creative class of the 1970s — an actor who moved fluidly between Brian de Palma's cult cinema (alongside a young Robert De Niro) and a songwriting credit with the Grateful Dead. For fans of de Palma's early New York films and Dead-adjacent circles, the loss is a reminder of how thin that connective tissue has become.
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