William Petersen as Gil Grissom
Gil Grissom is portrayed by William Petersen in the hit drama series,
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Grissom spent his formative years in Marina Del Rey, California. His mother was in charge of an art gallery and his father was involved in an import/export enterprise. When he was five years old, his parents separated, and a few years later, he made a habit of taking his bike to the beach and collecting dead animals. Wanting to know more about the process of death, he performed autopsies on the dead animals and examined them carefully. In his teens, he was often tasked by the local authorities to conduct autopsies on dead animals like dogs and cats, and eventually, he started interning at the LA County Morgue.
After he earned his degree in Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles, he gained employment as a coroner, and at the age of 22, was deemed the youngest coroner in the history of LA County. Several years later, he was offered the position of supervisor for the Field Services Office in Las Vegas. The job had him handling the night shift team of crime scene investigators. He is an expert in etymology, which has led others to give him the nickname, “The Bug Man.” He is known for his great dislike for abusive husbands, child predators and drug dealers, and seldom takes out and uses his firearm.
He has a good working relationship with his team, but he has had some confrontations with his superiors. He is good friends with Catherine Willows and police officer Jim Brass, and has formed a strong bond with agents Nick Stokes, Warrick Brown and Greg Sanders. He has also been romantically involved with forensic anthropologist Teri Miller and S&M parlor manager Lady Heather, and is presently in a relationship with fellow investigator Sara Sidle, with whom he shares numerous interests and traits.
(Photo courtesy of Ron P. Jaffe for CBS)