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William Petersen

File:WilliamPetersen.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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William Petersen

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Also known as William Louis Petersen

American actor

OverviewAI-generated

William Louis Petersen is an American film, stage, and television actor who began his professional career in 1981. Born in Evanston, Illinois, on February 21, 1953, he is a citizen of the United States. He received his education at Idaho State University and is a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Petersen speaks English and Basque, with English as his native language.

His notable works include the television series *CSI: Crime Scene Investigation* and the films *To Live and Die in L.A.*, *Manhunter*, and *Young Guns II*. He has received a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His acting work spans drama fiction and thriller genres.

Petersen has resided in Evanston, Boise, and Arrasate/Mondragón. He is the father of three children. In addition to his acting career, he is an author with works such as *Concepts of ethnicity* and *Three Thrillers*.

Synthesized by Vinony from 36 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Crossref, Last.fm, TMDb, Vinony collections, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works
46

Top works

  • Concepts of ethnicity
  • Treasurer's cactus barrel full of Arizona recipes
  • Mythical
  • Three Thrillers
  • Staying the Hand of God

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Evanston, Illinois, USA

William Louis Petersen is an American actor and producer, best known for playing Dr. Gilbert "Gil" Grissom on the hit CBS series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Richard Chance in the film To Live and Die in L.A., and Will Graham in the film Manhunter. Born in Evanston, Illinois, Petersen attended Idaho State University on a football scholarship, where he first tried acting and immediately joined…

Known for

  • Three Short Plays by Tracy Letts — Ted2021
  • CSI: Vegas — Gil Grissom2021
  • Friedkin Uncut — Self2018
  • CSI: Immortality — Gil Grissom2015
  • 100 Years of Wrigley Field — Self - Narrator (voice)2014
  • Manhattan — Col. Emmett Darrow2014
  • Seeking a Friend for the End of the World — Trucker2012
  • Blue — Mitch2012
  • Detachment — Mr. 'Sarge' Kepler2011
  • CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Grave Danger — Gil Grissom2005

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Country
CA
Active from
1925-08-15
Active to
2007-12-23

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
2
Total plays
23

<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/William+Petersen">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · William Petersen

Key facts

Born
William Louis Petersen , ( 1953-02-21 ) February 21, 1953 (age 73) , Evanston, Illinois , U.S.
Other name
William L. Petersen
Education
Bishop Kelly High School
Alma mater
Idaho State University
Occupations
Actor producer
Years active
1976–2024
Known for
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Spouses
Joanne Brady ​ ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1974 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1981 ) ​ Gina Cirone ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 2003 ) ​

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Louis
Family name
Q27094683
Gender
male
Citizenship
United States
Place of birth
Evanston
Occupation
stage actor
Languages spoken
Basque
Native language
English language
Image
WilliamPetersen.jpg
Number of children
3
Show 7 more facts
Commons category
William Petersen
date of birth
1953-02-21
name in native language
William Petersen
start of work period
1976-00-00
writing language
English language
birth name
William Louis Petersen
Sources (11)

via Wikidata · CC0

~7 min read

Encyclopedic overview

William Louis Petersen (born February 21, 1953) is an American retired actor. He is best known for his role as Gil Grissom in the CBS drama thriller series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000–2015), for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award; he was further nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards as a producer of the show. He reprised his role as Gil Grissom in the sequel CSI: Vegas, which premiered on October 6, 2021.

He also starred in the films To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Manhunter (1986), Young Guns II (1990), Fear (1996), The Contender (2000), Detachment (2011), and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012).

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “William Petersen” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (2)