William Petersen

William Louis Petersen was born on February 21, 1953 in Evanston, Illinois, the youngest of six children of June (née Hoene; 1909–2006) and Arthur Edward Petersen (1907–2004), who worked in the furniture business.^[3][4] Of Danish and German descent, he was raised in the Roman Catholic faith of his mother.^[5][6] He has two brothers, Arthur Jr. and Robert, and three sisters, Anne, Mary Kay, and Elizabeth.^[7]

He graduated from Bishop Kelly High School in Boise, Idaho, in 1972. He was accepted to Idaho State University on a football scholarship. While at Idaho State, Petersen took an acting course, which changed the direction of his life.

In 1974 he and his wife Joanne left college^[8] and followed a drama professor to the Basque country. There he studied as a Shakespearean actor. Petersen also became interested in Basque culture: He studied the Basque language and gave his daughter the Basque name "Maite Nerea" ("My Beloved"); she was born in Arrasate/Mondragón in 1975.^[9]

Petersen returned to Idaho with the intention of being an actor. But not wanting to work a nonacting job there, he returned to the Chicago area, living with relatives. He became active in the theater and earned his Actors' Equity card. He performed with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, of which he has been an ensemble member since 2008.^[10] He was a co-founder of the Remains Theater Ensemble,^[8] which also included other prominent Chicago actors Gary Cole and Ted Levine.^{[citation needed]}

Petersen made his film debut with a bit part in Thief (1981), directed by Michael Mann. The actor received his first break when he played a Secret Service agent gone rogue to avenge his mentor in William Friedkin's 1985 action film To Live and Die in L.A.^[11] In 1986, he played FBI agent Will Graham in the first Hannibal Lecter film, Manhunter.^[12]

Because his role was so emotionally exhausting, he did everything he could to rid himself of Graham after finishing principal photography. He shaved off his beard, cut his hair, and bleached it blond. He also claims to have done this because, while rehearsing for a play in Chicago, he found he was speaking like Graham. He dyed his hair so he could look in the mirror and see a different person.^[13]

He declined a part in Oliver Stone's Platoon, as it would have kept him in the Philippines, away from his family. Instead, he worked on the 1987 HBO made-for-TV movie Long Gone as a minor league baseball player and manager named Cecil "Stud" Cantrell.^[14] Petersen was offered the role of Henry Hill in the film Goodfellas, but turned it down. An exposé about the film in the May 2015 issue of Playboy claims that Petersen turned down the audition altogether.^[15]

In a 1990 ABC three-part miniseries, The Kennedys of Massachusetts, Petersen played U.S. President John F. Kennedy's father, Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy.^[16] The film won an Emmy and a Golden Globe from eight and two nominations, respectively. Also in 1990, Petersen portrayed the infamous Patrick Floyd "Pat" Garrett in Young Guns II.^[17]

In 1993, Petersen appeared in a CBS TV miniseries, Return to Lonesome Dove, as former Ranger Gideon Walker.^[18] He played Steven Walker, a father who stops at nothing to break up the relationship between his daughter and her vicious boyfriend in Fear (1996).^[19] Petersen played Governor Jack Hathaway, an unscrupulous candidate for vice president following the death of the incumbent, in The Contender in 2000.^[20]

He appeared uncredited in the noir thriller Mulholland Falls as a character who finds himself on the violent receiving end of a Los Angeles police squad's tactics. In 1999, he starred in Kiss the Sky as "Jeff."^[21][22] He appeared as part of an all-star cast in the 1997 remake of 12 Angry Men (as Juror #12, a.k.a. "the Snob").^[23]

From 2000 to 2009, he played Dr. Gil Grissom in the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.^[24] Petersen took a break from CSI in 2006 to appear in a five-week run of the Trinity Repertory Company production of Dublin Carol by Conor McPherson, in Providence, Rhode Island.^[25] Petersen renewed his contract with CBS to appear on CSI for the 2008–09 season, reportedly for $600,000 per episode.^[26] On July 15, 2008, the Associated Press reported that Petersen was leaving the show as a regular following Season 9's tenth episode, in order to pursue more stage-acting opportunities, but that he might return for guest spots.^[27] He remained an executive producer of the show.^[27] He reprised his role of Gil Grissom in the eleventh-season episode "The Two Mrs. Grissoms" (aired February 3, 2011). He came back in 2015 as a guest in the series finale, "Immortality."

In February 2020, Petersen was announced to return for a CSI sequel series along with Jorja Fox, before the series was picked up as CSI: Vegas. In October 2025, Petersen stated he was retired from acting and was not seeking any new roles.^[28]

In 1975, Petersen and his wife Joanne Brady had a daughter, Maite. They later divorced.

In June 2003, Petersen married his longtime girlfriend Gina Cirone. On July 5, 2011, Petersen and Cirone had twins, a daughter and son, via surrogate.^[29]

In 2004, he described to Playboy a near-death experience he had in the 1980s which gave him "assurance" that there is an afterlife.^[30] In August 2021, he was taken to the hospital via ambulance after feeling unwell on the set of CSI: Vegas. He was experiencing symptoms of exhaustion after 12 weeks of shooting, and was released from the facility soon after.^[31]

On February 3, 2009, Petersen received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[32]

• List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame