Gary Robert Durdin (he changed his surname when he started acting) was born on 11 December 1966, the second youngest of five children by Robert and Sandy Durdin. Tragedy hit Gary at the tender age of 6 when his beloved older brother Darryl (age 23) while researching the French lineage of his father, was pushed to his death off a motel balcony on a high cliff in Haiti. The Haitian authorities had no motive or suspects in the case and thirty years on the case still remains unsolved.

"I was really connected to my brother. So everything I do now, be it my acting
or my music, is always in honor of him."

Darryl with his Father in 1972

Gary who was always interested in acting, graduated from a local performing arts high school the renowned Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia, Pa. but instead of going to college or making the rounds of casting directors, he entered what he calls a "reckless period” abusing alcohol and drugs, drifting from Philadelphia to Miami and back, playing in a few bands in New Jersey then moving to a rat-infested basement apartment in Manhattan. He knew his life was out of control when he began getting fired from restaurant jobs for showing up late. On one especially bleak night in Miami, he was held up at gunpoint by a guy on drugs so Gary gave him what he wanted $30 and some jewellery.

"After the fact, all I could think about was
what me being killed would have done to my parents."

Gary with his parents at the 37th NAACP Image Awards 2006

Gary cleaned up his and act and started focusing on his career doing regional theatre off Broadway and also working several jobs in between DJ, doorman, cook to make ends meet. He also ventured into modelling appearing in several magazine and books. In 1991, while on holiday in Paris with his then girlfriend Roshumba, he bumped into Debbie Allen, the actress and director of the Cosby spin-off "A Different World". He started sending her tapes of his work in theatre and eventually she offered him the role of "Shazza Zulu", a con artist in the series.

Gary as "Shazza" in A Different World

Gary then featured in many TV appearances and films which included:The Good Fight (TV), Laurel Avenue (TV), Soul Food (TV), Muhammad Ali, King of the World (TV Movie), Scar City, Alien Resurrection, Imposter , and the infamous Trois. He was one of the first African-American to have "locks" on TV, but felt thwarted by the business’ limited view on ethnicity which seem to only typecast him as pimps and drug dealers, not entirely the vision he had for his career.

"I was probably the first guy with dreadlocks to be on a national TV show and I didn't realize that my image had taken on such a life of its own. Sometimes, I would play the consciousness of the plotline and other times I'd be the drug dealer, but eventually, the roles became caricatures"

So during a trip to Egypt he made a momentous decision to cut them off and renew spiritually. This decision left him short of work for awhile but he used that time to return to his passion of writing and producing music. Eventually the work started coming in and he starred in the Muhammad Ali biopic "King of the World" playing the role of "Malcolm X", a part he considers a career highlight. Since 2000, the handsome 6-foot-2 green eyed actor can be seen every week on the US No.1 show "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" as "Warrick Brown".

Gary in his role as "Malcolm X"

Gary as "Warrick Brown" in CSI

In 2003 Gary received a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Warrick Brown in CSI and in 2005 he received a SAG (Screen Actors Guild) Award with the rest of the CSI cast for the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. This year Gary won his second NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Warrick Brown in CSI.

Gary accepting his NAACP Image Award

Gary with his SAG Award

Gary with his 2nd NAACP Image Award

Gary is also an accomplished musician, producer, songwriter and has his own production company, Temple of Thoughts and recently completed a project called the "Mother Tongue" which captured various art forms in music, fashion, spoken word etc. He plays several instruments including the guitar, piano, flute, bass and has formed and worked with several bands which include: Smoky Mirrors, Rent Money, Gary Dourdan and the New Congregation, Bell Cafe Band and Bare Eccentrics.

Gary recently recorded new music material under his pseudonmyn "Kolade". Purchase of this material via iTunes can be found by clicking here Gary Dourdan's Official Website. In 2005 Gary not only had the pleasure of recording a track called "Machine Gun" with DMC (formerly of legendary hip-hop band Run DMC) but performing with him and other fellow musicians at the momentus Live8 Concert at Barrie, Ontario which was part of a global musical extravanza to focus on the world's biggest problem, poverty.

In his spare time he mentors aspiring artists and musicians in his recording studio in Venice Beach Ca. where he resides. He has two children, a daughter Nyla aged 8 and son Lyric aged 4.

"I want to mix mediums so that it's not about making a choice between music, film or TV.
I don't want to have to make an either/or decision."

Gary in his studio, Venice Beach Ca.

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