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, Shazza Zulu on the television series A Different World and Mickey Monroe in crime thriller Righteous Villains.

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. 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.

Career Dourdan played in several bands in New York City in the early 1990s and acted in regional theatre in the New York metropolitan area. He acted in music videos, including playing Janet Jackson's love interest in the video for her 1993 hit "Again", and had a cameo in the music video "Move the Crowd" by Eric B. & Rakim. 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" playing Ziggy, an assistant to Baron Sunday. In 1997, he played Christie, the first mate 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, he starred in the Dick Wolf production Swift Justice and played a recurring role on the series Soul Food. Dourdan joined hip-hop artist DMC (of Run–D.M.C.) onstage at the Live 8 concert in Barrie, Ontario, and sang alongside Macy Gray at the 2005 Emmy Awards. He is an alternative musician and a record producer.

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 series CSI, which debuted on October 6, 2000. He played analyst Warrick Brown, who has a checkered past fraught with gambling problems. By working in Las Vegas, the character uses his personal experiences to help his career.

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. 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.

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

He made his Broadway debut in Hadestown as Hades on March 3, 2026. On August 30, 2026 his run as Hades will conclude.

Personal life Dourdan has African-American, Native American, Franco-Haitian (Haiti), Jewish, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. He has two children: a son with Cynthia Hadden and a daughter with Jennifer Sutton, whom Dourdan dated from 1995 to 2000.

Dourdan collects classic cars and was featured on Season 1, Episode 3, of Street Customs.

Legal issues In 2008, Dourdan was arrested for possession of cocaine and ecstasy. A third charge, possession of heroin, was dropped. 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 (oxycodone). He was, however, charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. In November 2011, he was arrested for felony battery after 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. Dourdan filed for bankruptcy in August 2012, owing roughly $1.7 million to creditors.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1992 The Good Fight Elijah Television film 1993 Weekend at Bernie's II Cartel Man #2 1994 The Paper Copy Guy Keys Loot Television film 1996 Sunset Park Dreadlock Guy 1997 Playing God Yates Alien Resurrection Christie Fool's Paradise Derek Get That Number James Short 1998 Scar City Sergeant Dan Creedy Thursday Ballpean 1999 The Weekend Theirry New Jersey Turnpikes - Rendezvous Jeff Nelson Television film 2000 King of the World Malcolm X Television film Trois Jermaine Davis Dancing in September - 2001 Impostor Captain Burke 2006 60 Seconds of Distance Dylan Short 2007 Perfect Stranger Cameron Black August George L. Jackson 2008 Batman: Gotham Knight Crispus Allen Voice, direct-to-video 2009 Fire! Phil May The Magnificent Cooly-T Dominick 2011 Jumping the Broom Chef 2012 The Woods Dylan Banks 2013 Five Thirteen Clyde The Last Letter George 2014 Cobayas: Human Test Eric Short With You Ruben Haze Short 2015 Mysterious Ways Mozart For the Love of Ruth Braxton Reversion Ayden 2016 Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story Augie 2017 Media Jabbar Randolph Television film Guns Guitars and a Badge.. Romeo 2018 All She Wrote Aaron Kinky Greenland 2020 Influence Perk Righteous Villains Mickey Monroe 2021 Redemption Day Brad Paxton 2022 The Moderator Agent Richard Bourdeau Rolling Into Christmas Joe Franks Television film 2023 Heaven Sent Jeff 2024 Albany Road Phil Zero Daniel 2025 The Lost Princess Nassim Ikken

Television Year Title Role Notes 1991–1992 A Different World Shazza Zulu Guest: season 4, recurring cast: seasons 5-6 1993 Laurel Avenue Anthony Episode: "Part I & II" 1994 New York Undercover Trey King Episode: "To Protect and Serve" 1995 The Office Bobby Harold Main cast 1996 Lois & Clark: New Adventures of Superman Ziggy Episode: "Never on Sunday" Swift Justice Randall Patterson Main cast 1998 Sins of the City - Episode: "Sins of the City" 1999 Seven Days Sergeant Mohmand Episode: "Daddy's Girl" 1999–2000 Beggars and Choosers Julius Henry 2 episodes 2000–2001 Soul Food Jack Van Adams Recurring cast: season 1, guest: season 2 2000–2008 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Warrick Brown Main cast: seasons 1-8, guest: Season 9 2002 Fillmore! Ken Fillmore Voice, episode: "Cry, the Beloved Mascot" Lyric Cafe Himself Host 2005 Kim Possible Dash DaMont Voice, episode: "Team Impossible" 2012 Christine Stephan Recurring cast 2013 Belle's - Episode: "Runaway Bride" Mistresses Anthony Newsome Recurring cast: Season 1 2014 Glee D'Shawn Episode: "The Back-Up Plan" 2015 Being Mary Jane Sheldon Recurring cast: Season 2 2018 Power Charles Hamilton Episode: "When This Is Over" 2019 The Family Business Trent 2 episodes 2021 First Wives Club Dr. Malcolm Reynard Recurring cast: Season 2 The Last O.G. Bricks Episode: "The First Hump is the Hardest" 2023 And Just Like That... Toussaint 2 episodes

Music videos Year Title Artist 1987 "Move the Crowd" Eric B. & Rakim 1993 "Judgment Night" Biohazard & Onyx "Again" Janet Jackson 2002 "Soulful Energy Xchange" Wanted 2004 "What's Your Number?" Cypress Hill featuring Tim Armstrong

Video games Year Title Voice role 2000 Alien: Resurrection Christie 2003 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Warrick Brown 2004 CSI: Dark Motives Warrick Brown 2006 CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder Warrick Brown 2007 CSI: Hard Evidence Warrick Brown

Awards and nominations