Gary Dourdan

Gary Dourdan, born Gary Robert Durdin on December 11, 1966, is an American actor, alternative musician, and record producer. He is best known for portraying forensic analyst Warrick Brown on the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Shazza Zulu on the television series A Different World, and Mickey Monroe in the crime thriller Righteous Villains.

Dourdan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Sandy, a teacher and fashion designer, and Robert Durdin, an entrepreneur and agent for jazz musicians. He is the fourth of five children and has African-American, Native American, Franco-Haitian, Jewish, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. When he was six years old, his 21-year-old brother Darryl died after falling from a balcony in Haiti while conducting research on their family lineage, a case that remains unsolved.

In the early 1990s, Dourdan played in several bands in New York City and performed in regional theatre across the New York metropolitan area. He also appeared in music videos, notably playing Janet Jackson's love interest in her 1993 video for "Again" and making a cameo in "Move the Crowd" by Eric B. & Rakim. Director Debbie Allen cast him in A Different World after viewing a tape of his performance in an avant-garde play.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Dourdan expanded his film and television career. He appeared in a 1996 episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman as Ziggy, an assistant to Baron Sunday, and played Christie, the first mate of the spaceship Betty, in the 1997 film Alien Resurrection. His other early screen credits include the feature films Playing God and Thursday, as well as television roles in Swift Justice and Soul Food. In 2007, he played Cameron, the boyfriend of Halle Berry's character, in the film Perfect Stranger.

Dourdan achieved widespread recognition as a cast member on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which debuted on October 6, 2000. He portrayed analyst Warrick Brown, drawing on his character's personal background to aid his work in Las Vegas. Alongside his acting, Dourdan performed musically, joining hip-hop artist DMC at the Live 8 concert in Barrie, Ontario, and singing with Macy Gray at the 2005 Emmy Awards. Dourdan departed CSI in 2008 following contract negotiations, with his character exiting during the season eight finale and season nine premiere.

Following his work on CSI, Dourdan took recurring television roles as Stephan in Christine and Sheldon DeWitt in Being Mary Jane. He was cast to make his Broadway debut in Hadestown as Hades from March 3, 2026, through August 30, 2026. Outside of performing, Dourdan collects classic cars and was featured on an episode of Street Customs. He was married to model Roshumba Williams from 1992 to 1994 and has two children.