Early life

Helgenberger was born in Fremont, Nebraska, to Mary Kay (née Bolte), a nurse, and Hugh Helgenberger, a meat inspector. She was raised in North Bend, Nebraska, where she graduated from North Bend Central High School. Helgenberger is of Irish and German descent and had a Roman Catholic upbringing. She has one older sister named Ann and a younger brother named Curt. Helgenberger played the French horn in her high school marching band. Until she went to college, Helgenberger aspired to be a nurse like her mother, but attended Kearney State College (now the University of Nebraska at Kearney) in Kearney, Nebraska, then attended Northwestern University's School of Speech in Evanston, Illinois, (now the School of Communication) and earned a B.S. degree in speech and drama.

Career

Helgenberger began as a nightly weather person at KHGI-TV in Kearney, Nebraska, while attending college (her name was changed by the producer to Margi McCarty). During the summer she also worked as a deboner at her father's meat packing plant. After portraying the role of Blanche Dubois in a university production of A Streetcar Named Desire, she developed an interest in acting.

While performing in a summer 1981 NU campus production of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, where she played Kate, Helgenberger was spotted by a scout for the TV soap opera Ryan's Hope. Soon after completing college, Helgenberger landed her first professional role on the long-running ABC Daytime soap opera in March 1982, playing amateur cop Siobhan Ryan Novak DuBujak, a role previously played by Ann Gillespie. After nearly four years, Helgenberger left the show in January 1986 to pursue new opportunities.

Helgenberger guest starred in an episode of the ABC series Spenser: For Hire, NBC's Matlock and ABC's thirtysomething. She also played a regular role as Natalie Thayer, opposite Margot Kidder and James Read, on the six-episode drama comedy series Shell Game (1987).

She then had a role as Karen Charlene "K.C." Koloski, a heroin-addicted prostitute on the ABC war drama series China Beach from 1988 to 1991. The role earned her an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1990.

In 1989, Helgenberger made her feature film debut in a leading role as an all-night answering service operator in one segment of the Wheat brothers’ horror anthology After Midnight. She followed it up with a role in Steven Spielberg's romantic comedy-drama Always (starring Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, and John Goodman), a modern version of the original 1943 Victor Fleming film A Guy Named Joe.

During the early to mid-1990s, Helgenberger played the love interest to Woody Harrelson's character in The Cowboy Way (1994), and had a small role as Capt. Alison Sinclair in Michael Bay's action comedy film Bad Boys (1995). She also played Dr. Laura Baker, a molecular biologist, in Roger Donaldson's sci-fi thriller, Species (1995), and reprised the role in the sequel, Species II (1998).

Helgenberger had roles in the television films Not on the Frontline and In Sickness and in Health. She played opposite Bruno Kirby in I'll Be Waiting, and as a novelist on the miniseries Stephen King's The Tommyknockers opposite Jimmy Smits. After playing a recurring role as George Clooney's love interest on NBC's medical drama ER, Helgenberger appeared as David Caruso's sex-starved widow on Showtime’s Elmore Leonard's Gold Coast. She starred with Steven Seagal in the 1997 action film Fire Down Below and portrayed the furious sibling to Steven Weber's character on the miniseries about the elusive Gulf War Syndrome, Thanks of a Grateful Nation. She also starred opposite Ann-Margret in Showtime's Happy Face Murders.

In 2000, Helgenberger made a guest appearance in the Valentine's Day episode of Frasier, in which Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) finally wears down his dad Martin's resistance and gets the older man to accompany him to the opera. Actually, this invitation is but a smokescreen, so that Frasier can "accidentally" run into his newest dream girl Emily (Helgenberger).

Helgenberger co-starred in the role of Catherine Willows, a former show girl employed as a blood spatter analyst on the CBS drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Her performance as the female lead has earned her two Emmy Award and two Golden Globe nominations. In 2005, she and her fellow cast members won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. When CSI first started filming, Helgenberger visited the Clark County Coroner’s Office to learn about her role, even viewing autopsies in progress. Helgenberger got the chance to act with her husband, Alan Rosenberg, when he guest starred on CSI, Season 5 ("Weeping Willows") and Season 7 ("Leaving Las Vegas").

During her time on the show, Helgenberger acted in the feature film Erin Brockovich and portrayed Patsy Ramsey on the miniseries about the mysterious murder of 6-year-old beauty pageant contestant JonBenét Ramsey in Perfect Murder, Perfect Town. She also starred as Dennis Quaid’s wife and Scarlett Johansson’s mother in writer-director Paul Weitz's romantic drama comedy In Good Company (2004).

In 2006, Helgenberger’s hometown of North Bend, Nebraska, renamed the street on which Helgenberger had her childhood home "Helgenberger Avenue."

In 2007, she was in the film Mr. Brooks with Kevin Costner in which her character's daughter is played by Danielle Panabaker, the sister of Kay Panabaker, who plays her fictional daughter on CSI.

In April 2008, Helgenberger was chosen as an endorser of the Got Milk? campaign.

In December 2009, Forbes magazine placed Helgenberger third amongst prime-time's top-earning women with estimated earnings of $9.5 million, after Tyra Banks and Katherine Heigl.

Helgenberger received the 2,458th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 23, 2012 for her television work.

She lent her voice as Greek goddess Hera to the straight-to-video animated film Wonder Woman.

Following William Petersen's departure from CSI, Helgenberger became one of the two highest paid actors in any of the CSI franchises, earning $375,000 per episode, the same as David Caruso, and $25,000 more per episode than Laurence Fishburne.

Helgenberger only appeared in the first twelve episodes of the twelfth season of CSI, as she wanted to return to the stage. The producers said they left the door open for Helgenberger if she wanted to return. Helgenberger left the show on January 25, 2012, during a two-part episode ("Ms. Willows Regrets" and "Willows in the Wind"). The last one was the most watched episode of the season with 14.26 million viewers.

Helgenberger also starred as Lilian Strand in the series Intelligence alongside Josh Holloway and Meghan Ory. Additionally, she briefly returned to CSI as Catherine for the 300th episode. In February 2015, she joined the third season of Under the Dome.

Personal life

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 (b. 1990), named after Helgenberger's late father. On December 1, 2008, the couple announced that they were separating, and on March 25, 2009, she filed for divorce. Their divorce was finalized in February 2010.

As a result of Helgenberger's mother's 27-year battle against breast cancer, Helgenberger and Rosenberg became involved in the fight against breast cancer and have hosted a benefit called Marg and Alan's Celebrity Weekend annually in Omaha since 1999.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Tootsie	Suzanne
1989	After Midnight	Alex
1989	Always	Rachel
1989	Peacemaker	Mrs. Cooper
1991	Crooked Hearts	Jennetta
1993	Distant Cousins	Connie
1994	The Cowboy Way	Margarette
1995	Just Looking	Darlene Carpenter
1995	Bad Boys	Capt. Alison Sinclair
1995	Species	Dr. Laura Baker
1996	Frame by Frame	Det. Rose Ekberg
1996	My Fellow Americans	Joanna	Uncredited
1997	Fire Down Below	Sarah Kellogg
1997	The Last Time I Committed Suicide	Lizzy
1998	Species II	Dr. Laura Baker
1999	Happy Face Murders	Jen Powell
1999	Lethal Vows	Ellen Farris
2000	Erin Brockovich	Donna Jensen
2004	In Good Company	Ann Foreman
2007	Mr. Brooks	Mrs. Emma Brooks
2008	Columbus Day	Alice
2009	Wonder Woman	Hera
2009	Conan: Red Nail	Princess Tascela
2016	Holding Patterns	Samantha	In post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982-86	Ryan's Hope	Siobhan Ryan	Contract role
1986	Spenser: For Hire	Nancy Kettering	Episode: "An Eye for an Eye"
1987	Shell Game	Natalie Thayer	6 episodes
1987	Matlock	Laura Norwood	Episode: "The Gambler"
1988-91	China Beach	Karen Charlene Koloski	Series regular (61 episodes)
1990	Blind Vengeance	Virginia Whitelaw	Movie
1991	Tales from the Crypt	Vicky	Episode: "Deadline"
1991	The Hidden Room	Jane	Episode: "A Friend in Need"
1991	Death Dreams	Crista Westfield	Movie
1992	In Sickness and in Health	Mickey	Movie
1992	Through the Eyes of a Killer	Laurie Fisher	Movie
1993	Partners	Georgeanne Bidwell	Movie
1993	The Tommyknockers	Roberta "Bobbi" Anderson	Miniseries
1993	Fallen Angels	Eve Cressy	Episode: "I'll Be Waiting"
1993	The Seduction of John Hearn	Debbie Banister	Movie
1994	Keys	Maureen Kickasola	Movie
1994	Lie Down with Lions	Kate Nessen	Movie
1994	Where Are My Children?	Vanessa Meyer Vernon Scott	Movie
1995	The Larry Sanders Show	Susan Elliot	Episode: "Nothing Personal"
1995	Inflammable	Kay Dolan	Movie
1996	ER	Karen Hines	5 episodes
1997	Gold Coast	Karen DiCilia	Movie
1998	Giving Up the Ghost	Anna Hobson	Movie
1998	Thanks of a Grateful Nation	Jerrilynn Folz	Movie
2000	Frasier	Emily	Episode: "Out with Dad"
2000	Perfect Murder, Perfect Town	Patsy Ramsey	Movie
2000-12 2013, 2015	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Catherine Willows	Series regular (257 episodes) Special Guest (3 episodes)
2004	King of the Hill	Mrs. Hanover	Episode: "Hank's Back"
2014	Intelligence	Lilian Strand	Series regular (13 episodes)
2015	Under the Dome	Christine Price	Guest star (10 episodes)

Awards and nominations

• Emmy Awards
  • 1990: won - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - China Beach
  • 1991: nominated - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - China Beach
  • 1992: nominated - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - China Beach
  • 2001: nominated - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series - CSI
  • 2003: nominated - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series - CSI
• Golden Globe Awards
  • 1991: nominated - Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV - China Beach
  • 2002: nominated - Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama - CSI
  • 2003: nominated - Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama - CSI
• Satellite Awards
  • 2002: nominated - Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Drama - CSI
• People's Choice Awards
  • 2005: won - Favorite Female TV Star - CSI
  • 2005: won - The cast of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series - CSI
• Screen Actors Guild Awards
  • 2005: won - Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series - CSI
• Viewers For Quality Television Awards
  • 1989-91: won - Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series - China Beach

Charities

Marg Helgenberger supports the following charitable causes: Leukemia, Cancer, Women's Issues.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]