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Marg Helgenberger

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Marg Helgenberger
File:CSI-MargHelgenberger.jpg
Marg Helgenberger
Born
Mary Marg Helgenberger
Other namesMary Helgenberger
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Spouse(s)Alan Rosenberg (September 9, 1989-present) 1 child

Mary Marg Helgenberger (pronounced with a hard 'G', unlike the name Marge) (born November 16, 1958 in North Bend, Nebraska), is an American film and television actress.

Helgenberger was born in North Bend, Nebraska to Roman Catholic parents Hugh (a German American) and Kay Helgenberger (an Irish American).

Marg started as a local news weather girl in her native Nebraska. The news producer felt her name was too long and made her change it to Margi McCarty.

One her first jobs, as a teenager, was spending her summers and her Christmas breaks working as a ‘boner’ at the meat packing plant where her father was employed.

Marg played the French horn in her high school (North Bend Central High School) marching band.

A scout for the soap opera Ryan's Hope discovered Helgenberger when she performed as Kate in a University of Nebraska-Kearney production of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, in the summer of 1981. Helgenberger debuted on the series in March 1982 playing Siobhan Ryan Novak, until 1986. Although she was actually the third actress to play the role, she is the one most identified with the part.

In 1984, Helgenberger met Alan Rosenberg, a guest actor on Ryan's Hope. The two became friends and started dating in 1986. They married in 1989 and have one son, Hugh Howard Rosenberg (born October 21, 1990), named after Marg's father, Hugh Helgenberger.

Her first major television role was on the period drama China Beach, where she played KC Koloski, a hardened prostitute who catered to the servicemen on base. Helgenberger won an Emmy for the role (Supporting Actress) in 1990.

She later won critical acclaim for her portrayal of Patsy Ramsey in Perfect Murder, Perfect Town: JonBenét and the City of Boulder. She is now best known for her current portrayal of Catherine Willows, the lead female character, in the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

While not appearing in-frame, she is the unrequited love interest of the bespectacled amphibian Buddy in Mark Heath's "Spot the Frog" comic strip.

She will be featured in the upcoming movies Conan: Red Nails and Mr. Brooks.

Career and Success

Marg Helgenberger Statistics

  • Height: 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in.)
  • Hair color: Strawberry-blond
  • Nationality: American
  • Ethnicity: German American/Irish American

In mid 2006 Helgenberger’s home town of North Bend, Nebraska population 1213 announced ‘Helgenberger Avenue’ on the street of Helgenberger’s childhood home.

In 2005 Universal Studios submitted Marg in the best supporting actress category for the Oscars for her performance as Ann Foreman in her 2004 movie In Good Company.

Media spotlight

Helgenberger continues to be included in lists of Hollywood's Most Beautiful. In 2003 she was listed on People Magazine’s "50 Most Beautiful People".

She was also listed #16 on VH1's 40 Hottest Women over 40.

A result of her mother's 27 year battle against breast cancer, Marg and her husband Alan Rosenberg have become very involved in the fight against breast cancer. They host the Marg and Alan's Celebrity Weekend every year in Omaha, Nebraska and have done so since since 1997.

When CSI first started filming, Marg visited the Clark County Coroner’s Office (Las Vegas) to see how things were really done. She even viewed autopsies that were being performed.

Marg has stated that she was angered at the franchising of CSI. She has also stated that she is unlikely to stay past her current contract on CSI which ends in 2008. She says that she often plays hacky sack with the guys during their free time on set.

She was Dawson's Creek star Joshua Jackson's first kiss on the movie Crooked Hearts in 1991.

She was named number 15 of The 25 Most Attractive (Famous) Women in America in 2004.

She was featured in Esquire Magazine’s “5 More Women We Love” in 2002.

In 2003 Marg was asked to pose in Playboy Magazine but turned in down.

Marg got the chance to act with her husband, Alan Rosenberg, again when he guest starred on CSI, season 5, “Weeping Willows”.

Marg and Jorja Fox sang Stand by Me as a duet for What a Pair 4!! This is an annual charity event to raise money for breast cancer research.

In 2004 she ranked number 35, 30, 29, 20, 17, 12 and 9 on The Glamour Girls Hot 100 due to her movie In Good Company and her TV Guide cover. She was on the list for about 10 weeks and spent 1 week on the top ten. She is the 4th oldest woman to be in the top ten.

Marg's character, Catherine Willows, along with the character of Gil Grissom, was named number 82 in "Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters".

CSI co-star Gary Dourdan's nickname for Marg is "Margalicious”.

Marg's production company "Don't Call Me Marge!" is her humorous jab at people’s mispronunciation of her name.

On March 2006 her character Catherine Willows was named number 6 on The Star's Top Ten Hottests TV Characters.

In 2007 Marg was named one of the most pleasant celebrites on E! online's Answer B!tch Q&A page.

On March 2007 Marg was named one of the sexiest TV stars of 2007 by TV Guide Magazine.

Until she went to college, Marg wanted to be a nurse like her mother.

At one time both Marg and her husband Alan Rosenberg had successful series on CBS. Marg: CSI (2000 – present) Alan: The Guardian (2001 - 2004).

Partial filmography

Awards and Nominations

  • 1989: won the Q Award (Viewers for Quality Television) – Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series – China Beach
  • 1990: won the Q Award (Viewers for Quality Television) – Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series – China Beach
  • 1990: won the Emmy – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series – China Beach
  • 1991: nominated for a Golden Globe – Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV – China Beach
  • 1991: won the Q Award (Viewers for Quality Television) – Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series – China Beach
  • 1991: nominated for an Emmy – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series – China Beach
  • 1992: nominated for an Emmy – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series – China Beach
  • 2001: nominated for a TV Guide Award – Actress of the Year in a New Series – CSI
  • 2001: nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment Award – Favorite Supporting Actress in a Drama – Erin Brockovich
  • 2001: nominated for an Emmy – Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series – CSI
  • 2002: nominated for a People’s Choice Award – The cast of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
  • 2002: nominated for a Golden Satellite Award – Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Drama – CSI
  • 2002: nominated for Golden Globe – Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama – CSI
  • 2003: nominated for a People’s Choice Award – The cast of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
  • 2003: nominated for Golden Globe – Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama – CSI
  • 2003: nominated for an Emmy – Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series – CSI
  • 2004: nominated for a People’s Choice Award – The cast of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
  • 2005: won the People's Choice Award – Favorite Female TV Star – CSI
  • 2005: won the People’s Choice Award – The cast of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series – CSI
  • 2005: won the Screen Actors Guild Award – The cast of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series – CSI

Quotes

  • (on what she’ll miss when she’s done on CSI) “I’ve always liked shooting in Vegas, it’s such a character. It’s so visually stimulating.”
  • “I either play cops or criminals - I'm either on the right side of the law or the wrong side. I gravitate toward edgier material because it suits my nature. I find it fascinating to play. I'm just that kind of person.”
  • (on her hair at the 2001 TV Guide Awards) “I had pink hair! I don't know. You know what? That shade was known as 'PMS Pink.' I was totally PMS-ing that day - I was crazy! What did I think, I was gonna get away with pink hair on CSI?”
  • “We were in Paris this last summer and we were at the Musée d'Orsay, and it just always freaks me out when people stop you and wanna take your picture as opposed to looking at a Van Gogh, or something.”
  • (on her CSI versus the two spin-offs) “I always love it when people say [assumes self-important mock voice] ‘It's the only one we watch, none of them can compare to you guys, blah, blah, blah’.”
  • (on filming the squeamish scenes on CSI) “I'm relatively squeamish in civilian life. I've been very fortunate not to have to deal with such things in my immediate family. When we're filming autopsy scenes, I actually feel sad. Behind each of these deaths there's usually a back story of unhappiness and loss. We use a guidebook the Las Vegas police put together that's incredibly graphic. Looking at the pictures can make me turn white. If I'm going over the script at home, my husband will ask, 'Are you all right?'”
  • (on wanting romance for her character) “I keep telling the producers I'd love to have a relationship. We do a lot of cerebral work on the show playing opposite a swab or a computer screen. I'd much rather play opposite someone like Gary Dourdan - he's not bad at all! It would be great because it would give my character the opportunity to show a few more colors - her passionate side, or intimate side or vulnerable side.”
  • (on a street being named after her in her home town of North Bend, Nebraska) “They wanted to honor me by naming a street after me, Helgenberger Avenue. It was on the corner that I grew up. I was able to tour the home in which I grew up. It was right across the street from the public swimming pool where I was a lifeguard swim instructor.”
  • (on whether Gil and Catherine will ever get together) “I doubt it will be any kind of an intimate relationship. We always will have some closeness, but I think we have just a marriage of the minds, the two of us, and he's great to work with. A bit of yin and yang in that relationship, for sure.”
  • “I'm more willing to sit back and let things come to me, but this business is too competitive, and one has got to be more aggressive and go for things. Those are the ones that succeed.”
  • “My career is always just been putting one foot in front of the other.”
  • “I'm Catholic, he's Jewish, and it was just easier to elope.”
  • “When I think of home, I think of fishing with my dad.”
  • (on meeting her husband Alan at a bank in LA) “I opened an account and a relationship.”
  • “I think it made the whole group of us closer...It was a real bonding experience, especially given the way the season was. We didn't see much of each other. There was competitiveness between the two shifts.”
  • “I don't boss you around.”

Appearances

  • She also appeared briefly in the 1989 movie Always, directed by Steven Spielberg.
  • She also appeared in the 1982 movie "Tootsie" as Suzanne ( uncredited )
  • She also attended WWE's WrestleMania 21 in Los Angeles, California.
  • She hosted "Her Life & the NFL".
  • On the air with Howard Stern (2005).
  • The Ellen DeGeneres Show (December 2005).
  • The Early Show (September 2005).
  • The View (2003).
  • Regis and Kelly (September 2005).
  • The View (2006).
  • Regis and Kelly (January 2005).
  • The Tony Danza Show (2005).
  • The Early Show (October 2002).
  • The Early Show (September 2003).
  • The Early Show (January 2003).
  • "What A Pair" Concert (May 2006).
  • David Letterman (September 2006).
  • The Early Show (September 2006).
  • Regis and Kelly (September 2006).
  • The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005).