RIP Granville Adams

Photography by Seth Browarnik, Ryan Troy, nathan, Alejandro Chavarria, Jordan A. Mermell on November 2nd, 2021 in Celebrity, Editorials, Lifestyle, RIP

Granville Adams at Le Baron at The Florida Room on December 3, 2008

Miami, FL – November 2, 2021 – I first met Granville Adams in the early ‘90’s. I was a bartender, while Granville was already a legend having worked side by side with Richard Grieco at The Palladium. This was ‘one suave dude’ I said to myself. His style, his charm, his looks and his chuckle would put you in a trance. He then became the manager at MATCH in Soho, owned by Billy Gilroy and my best friend Tom Fontana (creator of OZ). We would stay up late, talking about our desires to crack Hollywood and make it. We were truly inseparable. We caused a lot of trouble… all good trouble. This man didn’t have a bad bone in his body. He was a silent weapon on OZ, a cool, calm character who you could never quite figure out. That was his magic.

During those days, we would go to Miami a lot. We would run with Gilbert Stafford who was my close friend and who I had worked with at The Living Room in NYC in ‘91. Gilbert and Granny introduced me to Chris Paciello; you could see the respect they all had for one another. Granville’s greatest first challenge came at that fateful night at BED in NYC. A situation that still haunts me. It crushed Granny. Tom Fontana, myself and Josh Wagner all thought it would be best to get Granny out of dodge. So we moved him quietly and quickly to Miami to keep him safe. Once he was safe, he reinvented himself in Miami and flourished. Miami was his home. He was healthy, always in shape and that smile, that effervescent smile reappeared and all was good. Cancer is a c*nt. Caught Granny off guard a couple of years back. I met Amanda Cereto at The Sundance film festival and eight months later she contacted me about Granny’s health. None of us knew. He was too proud. Tom Fontana and I got into action. Contacted the OZ cast, Lee Tergesen, Kirk Acevedo, Harold Perrineau, Eamonn Walker, Chris Meloni and Evan Seinfeld, and nightlife impresarios such as Amy Sacco and David Rabin. We started a GoFundMe page for Granny and doubled our expectation within 5 days. The end was coming and sadly, we all knew it. Evan Seinfeld and I flew down to Miami in May to be with Granville. We sat by the pool and although he was in a wheelchair, I’ll be damned if he still wasn’t the handsomeness motherfucker on the planet. We laughed, traded war stories. His wife Christina is a bonafide rockstar. She has handled this like a pro, my admiration for her goes beyond words. She is an amazing woman, an amazing friend and the most amazing wife. My heart is broken, for I truly loved this man. I am better for knowing you my brother.

Words by Dean Winters

To help support Granville’s family during this trying time, please visit this link to donate.

A gathering of friendship and love will be held on November 6, 2021 from 4-7PM at Miami Shores Country Club to celebrate the wonderful life of Granville.