Gil Grissom

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

Grissom is the night-shift 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. He has a large knowledge of insects and entomology, which he applies to his investigations, and has led to his nickname, "The Bug Man".

His dispassionate demeanor and high intellect often work to his advantage in his job and in his personal life. However, his avoidance of job politics 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, child predators, 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. Despite this, he is an excellent marksman as seen in episode 2 of season 4.

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 (in the season 6 episode "Still Life", Grissom tells Catherine Willows his father was a botanist) died when he was nine years old, most likely from heat stroke. 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." Also when speaking with a priest who heard the confession of a murderer he said "I believe in science and I believe in God but I don't believe in someone telling me how to live my life."

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, it is not until the sixth season finale 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."

Grissom has a more than passing similarity to Sherlock Holmes. Like Holmes, Grissom is dispassionate with a fierce devotion to logic and little regard for societal norms of behavior (Grissom once smashed mustard jars in a grocery store to illustrate a theory; similarly, Holmes once practiced spearing a pig at a market to determine how strong a man would have to be to transfix a man with a harpoon). He possesses a Moriarty-like nemesis, Paul Millander, over whom he ultimately triumphs, a woman in whom he has taken an unusual interest, Lady Heather who is a parallel to Irene Adler in her powerful intellect, physical beauty, strong personality, ability to unsettle her opponents, and contextually unconventional lifestyle. Although Grissom does possess a John Watson, like Holmes, his "Watson", Jim Brass does not play a foil but rather a genuine assistant.

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 (which he claims he gets about once a year), for which he has prescription medication.

In Season seven, Grissom shaved his beard for the first time in three seasons.

Trivia

• 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.

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."
• "There is always a clue."
• "A little more absorbing, Greg, a little less rock and roll."