Gary Dourdan

Gary Dourdan (born Gary Robert Durdin: December 11, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Warrick Brown on the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and for portraying Shazza Zulu on the television series A Different World.

Gary Dourdan
Born
Gary Robert Durdin

(1966-12-11) December 11, 1966
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActor
Years active1991–present
Known forWarrick Brown on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Spouse(s)
​
(
m. 1992; div. 1994)
Partner(s)Cynthia Hadden
Jennifer Sutton (1995–2000)
Children2 including Lyric, Nyla
Parent(s)Robert Durdin (father)
Sandy Durdin (mother)

Early life

Dourdan was born Gary Robert Durdin in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Sandy, a teacher and fashion designer, and Robert Durdin, an entrepreneur and agent for jazz musicians.[1] Dourdan is the fourth of five children. When he was six, his 21-year-old brother Darryl died after falling from a balcony in Haiti while "doing research on the family lineage." The case remains unsolved.[1][2] In his youth he moved with his family to Willingboro, New Jersey. During that 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 acted in regional theatre around the tristate area. He began acting in music videos, including playing Janet Jackson's love interest in the video for her 1993 hit "Again," and had a cameo appearance in the music video "Move the Crowd" by Eric B. & Rakim. 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. In 1996, Dourdan appeared in the Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episode "Never On Sunday," wherein he played Ziggy, an assistant to Baron Sunday. In 1997, Dourdan played the character Christie, the first mate, crack shot, and second in command of the spaceship Betty, in the film Alien: Resurrection. He also appeared in the films Playing God and Thursday, and on television starred in the Dick Wolf production Swift Justice and played a recurring role on the Showtime series Soul Food. Dourdan joined hip-hop artist DMC (of Run–D.M.C.) onstage at the Live 8 concert in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, and sang alongside Macy Gray at the 2005 Emmy Awards. He is an alternative musician and a record producer.[3]

In 2007, he played the character Cameron, the boyfriend of Rowena Price (Halle Berry), in the film Perfect Stranger.

Dourdan's most popular role was as a cast member of the original CSI series, which debuted on October 6, 2000. He played analyst Warrick Brown, who, viewers find out, has a checkered past fraught 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.[4] 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 Gil Grissom.[5]

After leaving CSI, he took recurring roles as Stephan in the series Christine and Sheldon DeWitt in the series Being Mary Jane.[6]

Personal life

Dourdan has African-American, Native American, Franco-Haitian (Haiti), Jewish, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.[1] He married model Roshumba Williams in 1992; they divorced two years later.[7] He has two children: a son, Lyric, with Cynthia Hadden, and a daughter, Nyla, with Jennifer Sutton, whom Dourdan dated from 1995 to 2000.[8] He also collects classic cars and was featured on Season 1, Episode 3, of Street Customs.

In 2008, Dourdan was arrested for possession of cocaine and ecstasy. A third charge, possession of heroin, was dropped.[9] Despite rumors, the drug charges had nothing to do with his departure from CSI, as the contract negotiations had already concluded and he had finished filming the last of his scenes before the incident. In July 2011 after crashing his car, Dourdan was arrested but charges were dropped for drug possession (oxycontin). He was, however, charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.[10] In November 2011, he was arrested for felony battery, after allegedly breaking his girlfriend's nose, and placed on five years' probation. He was also ordered to attend weeks of domestic violence counseling and to stay away from the victim for five years.[11] Dourdan filed for bankruptcy in August 2012, owing roughly $1.7 million to creditors.[12]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1992 The Good Fight Elijah Television Movie
1993 Weekend at Bernie's II Cartel Man #2
1994 The Paper Copy Guy
1994 Keys Loot Television Movie
1996 Sunset Park Dreadlock Guy
1997 Playing God Yates
1997 Alien: Resurrection Christie
1997 Get That Number James Short film
1997 Fool's Paradise Derek
1998 Scar City Sergeant Dan Creedy
1998 Thursday Ballpean
1999 The Weekend Theirry
1999 Rendezvous Jeff Nelson Television Movie
1999 New Jersey Turnpikes unknown role
2000 King of the World Malcolm X Television Movie
2000 Trois Jermaine Davis
2001 Impostor Captain Burke
2006 60 Seconds of Distance Dylan Short film
2007 Perfect Stranger Cameron
2007 Black August George L. Jackson
2008 Batman: Gotham Knight Crispus Allen (voice role) Direct-to-Video
2009 Fire! Phil May
2009 The Magnificent Cooly-T Dominick
2011 Jumping the Broom Chef
2012 The Woods Dylan Banks
2013 Five Thirteen Clyde
2013 The Last Letter George
2014 Cobayas: Human Test Eric Short film
2014 With You Ruben Haze Short film
2015 Mysterious Ways Mozart
2015 For the Love of Ruth Braxton
2015 Reversion Ayden
2016 Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story Augie
2017 Media Jabbar Randolph Television Movie
2017 Guns Guitars and a Badge.. Romeo
2018 All She Wrote Aaron
2018 Memoria Adam Turner Short film
2018 The Third Degree unknown role

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1991–1992 A Different World Shazza Zulu series regular; 15 episodes
1993 Laurel Avenue Anthony Television Miniseries; 2 episodes
1994 New York Undercover Trey King Episode: "To Protect and Serve"
1995 The Office Bobby Harold recurring role; 6 episodes
1996 Lois & Clark: New Adventures of Superman Ziggy Episode: "Never on Sunday"
1996 Swift Justice Randall Patterson unknown episode
1998 Sins of the City unknown role Episode: "Sins of the City"
1999 Seven Days Sergeant Mohmand Episode: "Daddy's Girl"
1999 Cold Feet Kris Bumstead Episode: "The Strange Loves of Shelley Bumstead"
1999–2000 Beggars and Choosers Julius Henry 2 episodes
2000–2001 Soul Food Jack Van Adams recurring role; 6 episodes
2000–2008 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Warrick Brown series regular (seasons 1–8); 183 episodes
2002 Fillmore! Ken Fillmore Episode: "Cry, the Beloved Mascot"
2002 Lyric Cafe Host unknown episode
2005 Kim Possible Dash DaMont (voice role) Episode: "Team Impossible"
2012 Christine Stephan recurring role; 3 episodes
2013 Belle's unknown role Episode: "Runaway Bride"
2013 Mistresses Anthony Newsome recurring role; 4 episodes
2014 Glee D'Shawn Episode: "The Back-Up Plan"
2015 Being Mary Jane Sheldon recurring role; 9 episodes
2018 Power Charles Hamilton Episode: "When This Is Over"
2018 Hawaii Five-0 Unknown role Episode: "Mai Ka Po Mai Ka 'Oia'i'o"

Music videos
Year Title Role Artist
1987 Move the Crowd unknown role Eric B. & Rakim
1993 Again Jackson's lost love Janet Jackson
2002 Soulful Energy Xchange Gary Wanted
2004 What's Your Number? unknown role Cypress Hill featuring Tim Armstrong

Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2000 Alien: Resurrection Christie (voice role)
2003 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Warrick Brown (voice role)
2004 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – Dark Motives CSI Level 3 Warrick Brown (voice role)
2006 CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder Warrick Brown (voice role)
2007 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – Hard Evidence Warrick Brown (voice role)

Awards and nominations

The following is a list of accolades received by Dourdan:

Association Year Category Title Result
NAACP Image Awards 2003 Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Won
2004 Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Nominated
2005 Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Nominated
2006 Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Won
2007 Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2002 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Nominated
2003 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Nominated
2004 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Nominated
2005 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Won
Seattle International Film Festival 2000 Citation of Excellence for Ensemble Cast Performance The Weekend Won
South East European Film Festival 2018 Best Actor All She Wrote Won
gollark: Mojang keep horribly mucking it up even with foamfix and whatnot.,
gollark: Yes, especially modded.
gollark: Well, it shouldn't need more than 4 or 5.
gollark: How much RAM are you giving your game?
gollark: If your issue is FPS, then that is not serverside.

References
  1. Faillaci, Sara (August 4, 2005). "Gary Dourdan Experiences". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on January 8, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
  2. "About Gary Dourdan". Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  3. "Gary Dourdan - About This Person", NYTimes.com Movies & TV.
  4. "Exclusive: Gary Dourdan Leaving CSI". TV Guide. Archived from the original on May 7, 2008.
  5. Episode Recap: "For Warrick", CBS.
  6. "Gary Dourdan: The Man Behind Being Mary Jane's Sexy Sheldon". April 7, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  7. "Gary Dourdan", NNDB.com. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
  8. "Gary Dourdan biography", Television AOL.com. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
  9. "'CSI' Star Pleads Guilty to Possessing Cocaine, Ecstasy". Baltimore Sun. May 28, 2008. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  10. "Former 'CSI' regular Gary Dourdan busted again for drugs". Toronto Star. July 8, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  11. "Gary Dourdan accepts plea deal". Belleville Intelligencer. November 30, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  12. Amanda Michelle Steiner (January 29, 2015). "Former CSI Star Gary Dourdan Is Bankrupt, Has Just $84.50 in Savings". people.com. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
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