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Gary Dourdan (born Gary Robert Durdin; December 11, 1966) is an American actor. He is widely known for portraying Warrick Brown on the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Early years

Dourdan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Sandy, a teacher and fashion designer, and Robert Durdin, an entrepreneur and agent for jazz musicians.^{[1] [2]} Dourdan is the second youngest of five children. When he was 6 years old, his older brother Darryl was murdered while on vacation in Haiti; the case is still unsolved.^[2] He moved with his family to Willingboro, New Jersey when he was in his youth. At this time his interests included acting, music, and martial arts. Later Dourdan moved to New York City and worked as a doorman at a rehearsal studio where he met some of Manhattan's promising young artists.

Career

Dourdan played in several bands in New York City in the early 1990s and acting in regional theatre around the tristate area. He received his first break when Debbie Allen cast him as Shazza Zulu on A Different World based on a tape of him in an avant-garde play. Dourdan played the character Christie, the first mate and second in command of the spaceship Betty, in the 1997 film, Alien Resurrection. He appears in the films Playing God and Thursday. He starred in the Dick Wolf production Swift Justice and had a recurring roles on the Showtime series Soul Food until he nabbed the part of Warrick Brown on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In 2007, he played the character Cameron, the boyfriend of Rowena Price (played by Halle Berry), in the film Perfect Stranger.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Dourdan's most popular role began as a cast member of the original CSI series which aired on October 6, 2000. He played analyst Warrick Brown who, viewers find out, has a dark past checkered with gambling problems. By working in Las Vegas, the character is able to use his personal experiences from the street to help him throughout his career. Ultimately, he ends up battling his demons throughout the show instead of overcoming them.

In 2008 there was media speculation surrounding Dourdan's CSI contract negotiations with CBS. The parties could not reach a resolution, and as a result his contract was not renewed. It was reported on April 14, 2008, that Dourdan was leaving the show.^[3] In the Season 8 finale, Dourdan's character was shot and left for dead at the episode's end. The Season 9 premiere revealed Dourdan's character dying in the arms of his colleague and friend, Grissom.^[4]

Music and music videos

Dourdan played Janet Jackson's love interest in the video for her 1993 hit "Again". He had a cameo appearance in the music video "Move the Crowd" by Eric B. and Rakim.

Dourdan joined hip hop artist DMC (of Run-DMC) onstage at the Live 8 concert in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. He sang alongside Macy Gray at the 2005 Emmy Awards.

Dourdan is an alternative musician and a record producer.^{[citation needed]}

Other appearances

TV Guide voted him the Sexiest CSI actor on TV in its 2008 "Sexiest" issue.^[5]

He was the host of a BET spoken word show entitled Lyric Cafe.

In 2008 he voiced the character Crispus Allen in three of the six short films for Batman: Gotham Knight. The animated short films were released straight to DVD and chronicled the time in between the films Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008).

He is portrayed as Ray Carter in FlatOut 2 and FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage.

Personal life

Dourdan married model Roshumba Williams in 1992; the couple divorced two years later.^[6] He has two children: a son, Lyric, and a daughter, Nyla. Lyric's mother is Cynthia Hadden and Nyla's mother is Jennifer Sutton, whom Dourdan dated from 1995 to 2000.^[7]

References

External links

• Gary Dourdan at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview (archived) at africana.com
• The Gary Dourdan Experience
• Cheap Saki: A Gary Dourdan Fan site - photos, news, biography, information