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Name: Marg Helgenberger
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Date of Birth:
November 16, 1958
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Place of Birth:
Fremont, Nebraska, USA
Mini-bio:
Best known for her television work, Marg Helgenberger started acting in college theatrical productions while studying speech at Northwestern University. A native of Omaha, NE, where she was born on No... read morevember 16, 1958, Helgenberger moved to New York after graduating from college and landed a role as a tough young policewoman on the soap opera Ryan's Hope. During her four-year tenure on the show, she also maintained her ties with the theater through her involvement with TADA, the Children's Theater Company.Following a move to Southern California, Helgenberger began guest starring on such television series as Matlock, thirtysomething, and HBO's Tales From the Crypt. She co-starred on the short-lived series Shell Game (1987) before getting her big break with the role of K.C., a tough prostitute, on the distinguished drama China Beach in 1988. Helgenberger's role won her two Emmy nominations and one win in 1990. Following the series' demise in 1991, Helgenberger returned to television guest-star status on ER, where she had a four-episode-long recurring role, and in the miniseries The Tommyknockers.A presence on the big screen since 1989, when she made her feature-film debut in Steven Spielberg's romantic fantasy Always, Helgenberger has played a wide variety of roles in films ranging from Species (1995) to the moody The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997) to Steven Soderbergh's widely acclaimed Erin Brockovich (2000), which cast the actress as a woman whose family is devastated by cancer because of the chemicals dumped into their water by a local power plant. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Helgenberger took on numerous roles in made-for-TV movies and as a guest star on many TV series. In particular she appeared in many movies made specifically for the Lifetime cable network and also for Showtime. She won critical acclaim for In Sickness and in Health (1992) (TV), Thanks of a Grateful Nation (1998) (TV) and Perfect Murder, Perfect Town: JonBenét and the City of Boulder (2000) (TV). In TV series she won an Emmy for her portrayal of a hard-bitten prostitute who catered to Vietnam War soldiers, in the series "China Beach" (1988). She also was George Clooney's love interest in a multi-episode arc of the monumentally successful TV series "ER" (1994). In feature films, Helgenberger has appeared in Tootsie (1982), Steven Spielberg's Always (1989), Species (1995) and In Good Company (2004). Her greatest claim to fame on the silver screen may be when she played opposite Julia Roberts as a chemical exposure victim in the popular movie Erin Brockovich (2000). Helgenberger is most known for her TV role as a crime scene investigator in "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (2000). She shared in CSI's 2005 Screen Actors Guild award for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series. In her personal life, Helgenberger is the daughter of a cancer survivor and is very active in supporting research for breast cancer.
