Broadway BUZZ

Gary Dourdan began his acting career at an early age when he enrolled in a prestigious inner-city program in Philadelphia called “Freedom Theater.” Born and raised in Philadelphia, Dourdan began making weekly trips to New York City for auditions and music lessons. Before long, he relocated to New York where he trained in the “Meisner” technique and at Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. His career escalated to numerous roles in off-Broadway plays, fashion magazine layouts and a well recognized love interest in Janet Jackson’s video hit “Again.” During this time he caught the attention of television director and producer Debbie Allen. She suggested that Gary move to Hollywood to pursue more work in TV and film.

Dourdan’s career break came when he was cast in The Cosby Show spin-off, A Different World, as Shazza. After that, more television appearances followed including, The Good Fight, the HBO mini-series Laurel Avenue, a lead role in Dick Wolf’s series Swift Justice, as well as BET’ Soul Food and Beggars and Choosers. Gary also starred opposite Terrence Howard as Malcolm X in the ABC television movie, Muhammad Ali: King of the World. On the big Screen, Gary Dourdan landed his first major role as the character Yates in Playing God, opposite David Duchovny and Angelina Jolie. That same year he was also cast in Alien: Resurrection with Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder. Other notable film credits include New Jersey Turnpikes with Kelsy Grammar. His independent feature works included Scarred City with Chazz Palminteri and The Weekend, with Brook Shields and Gena Rowlands. “The Weekend” won a special jury prize at the Seattle Film Festival for Best Ensemble Cast. In 2000, Gary Dourdan starred as Warrick Brown in the #1 crime drama television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation with co-stars William Peterson and Margaret Helenberger. The acclaimed CBS series has been nominated for Golden Globes, EMMYS and SAG Awards. The show has also won the People’s Choice Award and has achieved a phenomenal status as the number one TV show in the world. Gary Dourdan was nominated twice and won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series by the NAACP Image Awards in 2006 & 2007; he also won a SAG Award along with being nominated for a Golden Globe, Emmy Award and several People Choice Awards. In 2017, Gary Dourdan completed filming on ‘All She Wrote’ a dark comedy by young Bulgarian director Niki LLiev, in which he plays a former MMA champion suffering from brain damage caused by his fights. As a talented musician, Gary Dourdan was seen on the Emmy Awards singing a duet with Macy Gray and appearing with hip hop artist DMC on stage at the “Live 8 Concert” held in Ontario, Canada in 2005. In 2009, he was asked to make an endorsement for the Spanish Tourism board. He subsequently appeared in numerous events and shows in Europe including a duet with French Singer/Songwriter Ayo on National French TV, singing the classic Sam Cooke song “A Change is Gonna Come.” In between guest appearances in such TV shows as Being Mary Jane, and most recently Power, and recent leading role alongside Andy Garcia in the feature length film Redemption Day, Gary Dourdan has been spending time in his state-of-the-art recording studio composing music for an album and developing three films, including a musical, under his production company. His album which will include several well-known musical guests and is slotted for release in 2022. These past few months Gary Dourdan was on location in Senegal for the feature length film Zero with French director Jean-Luc Herbulot, as well as in Morocco for as- yet-entitled feature length with Redemption Day director Hicham Hadji. Gary is currently preparing to record an album musicians and guest artists from Africa and the U.S.