Creation and Development
Anthony E. Zuiker, who created the show, loosely based Grissom on real life Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department criminalist Daniel Holstein. Zuiker was "fascinated" by Holstein, who, like Grissom, kept maggots and pig's blood in his refrigerator. Holstein works as a consultant for the show. Zuiker originally named the character Gil Sheinbaum, but after he became part of the cast, William Petersen requested the name to be changed, Petersen and Zuiker decided to rename the character "Grissom", after astronaut Gus Grissom, of whom Petersen was a great admirer. The name Gil came from one of the actor's hobbies, fishing.
In 2000, CBS had bought the pilot script from Zuiker, and Nina Tassler, CBS's head of drama development, passed it on to Petersen, who had a pay or play contract with the network. Petersen has said that many TV shows were offered to him over the years, but he "didn't want to get locked down". However, he was impressed with the complexity of Grissom's character, and he decided to audition. It was the second time Petersen portrayed a forensic scientist, having portrayed Will Graham in the 1986 film Manhunter.
Read more about this topic: Gil Grissom
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