MARG HELGENBERGER

Mary Marg (Marg — pronounced with a HARD 'G') Helgenberger was born in Fremont, Nebraska on the 16th November, 1958. Her father, Hugh Helgenberger (German American) was a meat inspector at the local meatpacking plant, while her mother Kay (Irish American) was a nurse at one of the local schools. Marg grew up in North Bend, along with her older sister Ann (now a jazz musician) and her younger brother Curt (now a meat inspector).

Marg went to North Bend Central High School, where she participated in a lot of extra-curricular activities. As well as playing the French Horn and playing in the volleyball team, Marg also sang in the glee club and participated in speech and drama activities.

Marg originally had ambitions to be a nurse, but after going on a field trip to visit the nursing college she was going to attend, she rapidly had a change of heart and decided to go to Kearney State College. Following the advice of her boyfriend at the time, Marg then transferred to Northwestern University Alumnus School of Speech in Evanston, IL. Once there, Marg majored in Speech and Drama, and was soon bitten by the acting bug when she played Blanche DuBois in the Northwestern University production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Marg's big break came when she portrayed Kate in the Northwestern production of The Taming of the Shrew and a scout for the soap opera Ryan's Hope was in the audience during the summer of 1981. The scout recognized Marg's talent, but Marg made it clear she wanted to finish college first. Undeterred, the scout promised to check back in with Marg when she had finished college — and she did.

Marg went to New York to audition for the role of Siobhan Ryan Novak, and Marg Helgenberger debuted in the role in March 1982. She continued to play this role until 1986, and although she was the third actress to play the role, Marg is the one most remembered for the part.

By this time, Hugh Helgenberger had been battling multiple sclerosis for three years. It was a very progressive form of the disease, and when Hugh came to visit his daughter in New York and on the set, he was already in a wheelchair. After a five year battle, Hugh passed away in 1985.

In 1988, Marg got her big break, landing a role in the new television drama China Beach where she played KC Koloski, a heroin addicted hooker with a heart. It became a big hit, earning Marg three Q Awards (1989, 1990 and 1991), two Emmy nominations (1991 and 1992), one Golden Globe nomination (1991) and of course her big Emmy win in 1990.

Fans were crushed when China Beach was cancelled in 1991, but Marg was certainly not idle. She took on minor movie roles including The Tommyknockers (1993), The Cowboy Way (1994) and Species (1995). Marg finally returned to television in 1996 for a five-episode stint on ER where her character Karen Hines became George Clooney's girlfriend. After ER, Marg worked on more movies, including Perfect Murder, Perfect Town: JonBenet and the City of Boulder (for which she won critical acclaim) and of course, her moving portrayal of cancer victim Donna Jensen in 2000's Erin Brockovich. Marg based her portrayal of Donna on the experiences her mother Kay had been through, and even Kay said that it was like watching Marg play Kay. For this role, Marg was nominated for a 2001 BlockBuster award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama. Although she didn't win, Marg is often singled out by critics for her outstanding work in this film.

By 2001, with her young son growing up, Marg wanted to do something that would give her regular hours so that she could spend more time with him. This meant going back to television, and Marg was soon hired as CSI Catherine Willows in the groundbreaking new drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Marg's role as former exotic dancer and single mother Catherine Willows, has earned her a TV Guide nomination (2001), two Emmy nominations (2001 and 2003), two Golden Globe nominations (2001 and 2002) and an award at the 31st People's Choice Awards for Favorite Female Star in 2005.

Even while making CSI, Marg has kept busy. In 2004 she played Dennis Quaid's wife in the movie In Good Company which also starred Topher Grace and Scarlett Johansson. In 2007, Marg was once again on the big screen when she starred as Kevin Costner's wife in the thriller Mr. Brooks.

This biography was written by Anne. For the full, detailed text, please visit Margamania.

We do not own CSI, Catherine or Warrick. But all original material © An Evident Gamble 2005-2007