Gil Grissom

Encyclopedia : G : GI : GIL : Gil Grissom

Gilbert "Gil" Grissom, Ph.D. (August 17, 1956— ) is a fictional character featured on the TV crime drama . Grissom is played by William Petersen, who is also one of the show's producers.

Grissom is the nightshift supervisor of the Clark County, Nevada CSI (forensics) team, investigating many cases in and around the city of Las Vegas. He is a forensic entomologist who earned his degree in biology from UCLA. Because of this knowledge (and his ability to apply it to his investigations), Grissom has been nicknamed "The Bug Man."

The character has strong tendencies toward ethics, logic and deduction. His dispassionate demeanor and high intellect often work to his advantage in his job. However, his avoidance of job politics and sometimes poor interpersonal skills can alienate his superiors and subordinates. He is never disturbed by the various subcultures with which his job brings him into contact. He hates abusive husbands and drug dealers who "deal death to kids." He is also the least trigger happy CSI member, rarely drawing his firearm, a tendency that has brought about several scoldings from Jim Brass.

Grissom's mother is deaf; because of this, he knows sign language. He has inherited his mother's otosclerosis, a disease which was causing him to go deaf slowly, but he underwent corrective surgery.

Grissom's hobbies include his work, cockroach racing, reading, solving crossword puzzles, and riding roller coasters.

Little is known about Grissom's past or personal life. He grew up in Marina Del Rey, California. His father, who was in the importing/exporting business (although it was also mentioned that his father was a botanist.) died when he was nine years old, most likely from a heat stroke and his Mother ran an art gallery in Venice. He says that in high school, he was a "ghost." He was raised to believe in the Roman Catholic Church, but later said, "That guilt's not a part of my life anymore."

In as much as Grissom confides to anyone, he confides in Catherine Willows. He once likened her to being "his wife" though the two have never been more than very good friends. Of all of his fellow investigators, he is most similar to Sara Sidle. Both are self-described "science nerds" and are the most socially awkward pair on the team. While at times both have expressed more than a hint of interest in the other romantically, they have yet to act on it, until the sixth season finale, where it is implied that they finally took the next step. He has supported Warrick Brown through several brushes with the law and has a fatherly bond with Nick Stokes. He shares a good friendship with Dr. Al Robbins.

Grissom keeps a variety of specimens in his office, including a radiated fetal pig and a tarantula. He also has a fish-shaped bulletin board on which unsolved cases go ("the ones that got away.") In keeping with the fish theme, he has a Big Mouth Billy Bass over the door to his office, claiming that it's "better than a watchdog."

Most people refer to him as "Grissom" or "Gil". He is also often called "Griss", usually by Warrick Brown; Catherine Willows and Dr. Al Robbins regularly refer to him as "Gil".

His health not only consists of the recently repaired otosclerosis, but the occasional migraine, for which he has prescription medication.

Trivia

Many viewers have speculated that Grissom may have Asperger's Syndrome because of his obsessiveness in his areas of interest, his seemingly endless reservoir of knowledge, and because of his social naïveté.
The character was originally intended to be named Gil Scheinbaum. William Petersen changed the surname because of his admiration for astronaut Gus Grissom.
Despite the Grissom character being from the West Coast, he has a somewhat noticeable Chicago accent. (Petersen is from the Chicago area.)
Grissom is extremely knowledgeable about literature, in particular the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels. He occasionally quotes Shakespeare and has a weakness for wordplay and slightly off-color puns.
Grissom has extensive knowledge about entomology. The character of Will Graham whom William Petersen played in the film Manhunter (based upon the Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon), wrote "the standard monograph on determining time of death by insect activity".
Grissom is based loosely on real life Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department criminalist Daniel Holstein.
Grissom, as said in the CSI computer game, has a liking to insects and bugs.

Quotes

"Albert, dead men don't ride roller coasters."
"Concentrate on what cannot lie. The evidence..."
"Could you close the door, please?...No, from the other side."

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.