John Spacely

John Spacely / Gringo
Born Venice Beach, California, U.S.
Died 1993
NY, NY
Occupation actor, musician, activist

John Spacely, also known as Gringo, was an American musician, actor, and nightlife personality. His life was chronicled in two Lech Kowalski documentaries, Story of a Junkie and Born To Lose: The Last Rock and Roll Movie.[1]

Personal life

He was born in Venice, Los Angeles, and his birth name is unknown. He adopted the stage name of John Spacely at a young age. His father abandoned his family, which made him not want to use his father's last name. He later was known in New York City as Gringo. His grandfather was of Hispanic descent, and he had one brother and one sister. He attended Venice High School.[2]

Spacely began hustling on the Venice Beach boardwalk after high school. He then moved on to hustling in the San Francisco area, and on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Various reports have stated he had multiple long term girlfriends/wives. These relationships ended in tragedy, as one of his first marriages ended in her death, and a girlfriend died in a motorcycle accident, which greatly affected him and led to his growing substance abuse. One of his girlfriends became pregnant, but it ended in a miscarriage.

In the 1970s, he moved to New York City for better career opportunities. He first lived in Alphabet City, near the East Village. Alphabet City during this time was largely populated by Hispanic immigrants and African-Americans, which made Spacely stand out in the street. Spacely got a job working for Punk Magazine as a contributor and publisher, which lasted until his drug addiction got to the point where he was unable to work. He then returned to his life of hustling, focusing on the St. Mark's area of the East Village, where he became a popular street personality. Around this time, he got in an altercation with a drag queen, who pierced Spacely's eye with a high heeled shoe. After this incident, Spacely most often wore an eye patch over his damaged eye, because he did not have enough money to have the surgery needed to correct the eye. He also began bleaching his hair light blond, which gave him his trademark look. He would often run out of hair salons without paying with the bleach still in his hair, because he didn't have money for the bill.[3]

Spacely began befriending many of the musicians and artists that lived in the East Village during that time, including Keith Richards, Willy Deville, Joey Ramone, and members of the New York Dolls, especially Johnny Thunders, who was his close friend (despite the two getting in an on-stage physical altercation in 1982, as seen in the documentary Born To Lose: The Last Rock and Roll Movie). Spacely would sometimes perform on stage in different capacities. His main focus however was acting.[4]

Gringo

In 1982 producers approached him to play the lead in the film Gringo: Story of a Junkie. In the film he appears as a fictionalized version of himself. Story of a Junkie depicts the widespread drug problem in New York City during that time, featuring graphic scenes of Spacely shooting up heroin. The film played in several festivals, and to promote the film the director Lech Kowalski hired local artist Art Guerra to paint a mural of Spacely on the side of a building on St. Mark's Place in the East Village, where he was the self described "mayor of the street". The mural of him caused controversy, some stated it glorified Spacely's dangerous lifestyle. The mural became a popular tourist point until 2000, when the building's owner decided to paint over the mural. Photos of the mural can still be found online.[5][6]

Later life

Spacely cleaned up his act after appearing in Gringo, and tried to pursue a serious acting career. He appeared in the film Sid and Nancy, which was shot in New York City. Spacely was a personal friend of Sid Vicious. He was an early supporter of Ibogaine as a treatment for drug addiction. Spacely contracted HIV, and died in 1993 from AIDS. As he was dying from AIDS, he was filmed for the documentary Born To Lose: The Last Rock and Roll Movie. Since his death, his story has become folklore in the places he used to hustle, his story appearing in many books about New York City street culture. Spacely is still remembered today for his vibrant personality and street antics.[7][8]

References

  1. ↑ Sordid Look At The Life Of A Drug Addict. philly.com (April 2, 1986)
  2. ↑ John Spacely:The Man with the Eyepatch Retrieved February 4, 2015
  3. ↑ Will the real John Spacely please stand up. brucecarleton.com
  4. ↑ John Spacely:The Lost Hero of Punk. vertigomindwarp.com
  5. ↑ Gringo's Fast Life. NY Times (October 4, 1998)
  6. ↑ Gringo film website. lechkowalski.com
  7. ↑ New York Memories:Gringo Archived April 3, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 4, 2015
  8. ↑ A Threat Shadows a Relic From a Grim Era. NY Times (February 27, 2000)
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