A Haitian-American actor, Gary Dourdan is popularly known for portraying Warrick Brown, an audio-video analyst from the hit TV series CSI: Las Vegas.
Early Life
The second youngest among five children, Gary Dourdan (original name is Gary Robert Durdin) was born on the 11th of December, 1966. His mother, Sandy is a fashion designer and a teacher while his father, Robert Durdin is an entrepreneur and an agent who represented jazz musicians.
The young Gary Dourdan admires his older brother Darryl so much. His older brother was a DJ at Temple University’s WRTI radio station. It was Darryl who gave Dourdan flute lessons and influenced his love for music. When Dourdan was only 6 years old, a tragedy hit the family when his beloved older brother Darryl was murdered. Darryl was eventually in Haiti trying to research about their family’s history. An unknown assailant pushed him to his death off his motel balcony through a high cliff. Alas, the police could not find a suspect or any possible motive for the crime and the case still remains unsolved.
During his childhood, his first love was music, as he can play a variety of instruments well such as a flute, a piano, a guitar and a saxophone. He played the sax well as his uncle was a former sax player for the local disco sensation, Sister Sledge. At a young age, Dourdan and his family moved to the township of Willingboro, in southern New Jersey. Despite a wide variety of interests which includes acting, breakdancing, music and martial arts, Dourdan focused much of his passion centered on music and acting.
The genuine interest in acting help Dourdan graduate from a local performing art high school in Philadelphia, the Freedom Theater. After graduation, instead of going to college or pursuing acting auditions, Dourdan embarked on what he calls a “reckless period” abusing alcohol and drugs. Still devastated with his brother’s death, Dourdan began to drift between Philadelphia and Miami, playing for a few bands in New Jersey. After stints of playing rock music in Philadelphia and Miami, he then settled in a basement apartment in Manhattan, New York. Trying to survive in New York, he began to work for different restaurants as a chef but he was frequently fired because of tardiness.
Cleaning up his act, Dourdan began to focus getting the drugs and booze out of his system. Without having to seek for professional help, he was able to do so. He works as a doorman, a cook and a DJ to make ends meet. He also began to focus on acting again, landing him roles for off-Broadway shows. He also ventured into modelling for several magazines, proving to himself that change is indeed for the best.
Career
His first big break came in 1991, when he met Debbie Allen in Paris, the producer-director for the Cosby spin-off A Different World. His recurring role was a con artist named “Shazza Zulu” wherein he appeared on the popular comedy show for two seasons. In 1992 he appeared in the TV show called The Good Fight, then in the HBO miniseries Laurel Avenue in 1993. Also in 1993, Dourdan stars as the object of desire in the music video of pop star Janet Jackson for her single “Again”.
He was also a part on New York Undercover by fox and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman by ABC. In 1995 he was part of the short-lived TV series The Office and Swift Justice in 1996. The following year, he was a part of the movie Playing God and Alien: Resurrection.
Dourdan was one of the first African-American with dreadlocks to appear on TV. But there are a lot of narrow-minded people back then that would typecast him as a pimp or a drug dealer. So he made a momentous decision of losing the “locks” during his trip to Egypt.
The year 2000 was a very fruitful year for Dourdan, he appeared on a series of movies including, Muhammad Ali: King of the World, Trois and Dancing in September. By April 2000, the 6-foot-2 greed eyed actor has been recruited for the upcoming show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation from CBS. CSI finished its first season as the highest-rated new drama for television and was even nominated for a Golden Globe. Dourdan went on to play as Warrick Brown, a Las Vegas casino hustler turned forensic detective. Gary Dourdan won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for CSI in the year 2003 and 2006.
Dourdan play the role as Capt. Burke for the sci-fi thriller Impostor in 2002 and in the thriller Perfect Stranger in 2007. In 2008, after his character died in the hit TV series CSI, Dourdan was arrested for drug possession in Palm Springs.
Aside acting, Dourdan is also a musician and a record producer. Under his pseudonym Kolade, Dourdan enjoyed a few spot in the music scene. He has a recording studio in Venice Beach, California where he mentors aspiring artists and musicians.
Personal Life
In 1992, Gary Dourdan married Roshumba Williams, a model but the marriage didn’t last as the couple was divorced after two years. Dourdan is a proud father of two children, Nyla (his daughter from Jeniffer Sutton) and Lyric (his son from Cynthia Hadden).