Browse Members Show All Joan Allen Kevin Anderson Alana Arenas Randall Arney Kate Arrington Ian Barford Robert Breuler Gary Cole Kathryn Erbe K. Todd Freeman Frank Galati Francis Guinan Moira Harris Jon Michael Hill Tim Hopper Tom Irwin Ora Jones Terry Kinney Tina Landau Martha Lavey Tracy Letts John Mahoney John Malkovich Mariann Mayberry Tarell Alvin McCraney James Vincent Meredith Laurie Metcalf Amy Morton Sally Murphy Austin Pendleton Jeff Perry William Petersen Yasen Peyankov Martha Plimpton Rondi Reed Molly Regan Anna D. Shapiro Eric Simonson Gary Sinise Lois Smith Rick Snyder Jim True-Frost Alan Wilder

Birthplace: Evanston, Illinois
Ensemble Member Since: 2008
Productions with Steppenwolf: 4 (full list)

William Petersen first appeared at Steppenwolf in the seminal production of Balm in Gilead in 1980 and has since appeared in Fool for Love and Dublin Carol. In 1979, Petersen founded the Remains Theater Ensemble in Chicago with a group of fellow actors, including current Steppenwolf ensemble members Gary Cole and Amy Morton. In 1983, he starred as Jack Henry Abbott in In the Belly of the Beast which he performed at the Wisdom Bridge Theater in Chicago, at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland and at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. In 1996, Petersen made his Broadway debut in a revival of Tennessee Williams’ The Night of the Iguana. He serves as executive producer on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and was nominated in 2004 for a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of Gil Grissom, the lead investigator.