It had to be a serious health scare for William Petersen (72) to permanently leave Hollywood when he was at the peak of his career playing Gil Grissom in CSI: Las Vegas (2000-2015). It was in 2021 when after working tirelessly for three consecutive months, he collapsed, was taken to the hospital, and diagnosed with extreme exhaustion.
William saw the writing on the wall, so he made the drastic decision to retire as an actor.His high purchasing power allowed it, as during the early seasons of the series, he earned between 100,000 and 200,000 dollars per episode, a salary that increased to 600,000 dollars in the final seasons.
Despite the allure of fame and its benefits, after his retirement, the actor decided to move with his family to Chicago, the city where he became an actor over four decades ago. Since then, his loved ones became his priority, spending most of his time with them enjoying simple activities like sports, long walks, going to the movies, dining out, etc.
In June 2003, William married Gina Cirone, with whom eight years later he became the father of twins - a boy and a girl - through surrogacy. They have been his guiding light in recent times.
This new parenthood that arrived 36 years after the birth of his daughter Maite Nerea, which made him a grandfather of two grandchildren, Mazrik William (23) and Indigo August (17), older than their uncles, brought a new youthfulness to the actor. Due to his retirement, the actor can enjoy time with teenagers at any time of the day.
The unforgettable Grissom has returned to the spotlight because paparazzi caught him on the streets of Los Angeles after being missing for five years. The actor looked very good, with gray hair and beard, dressed in a buttoned black shirt, dark jeans, white sneakers, aviator glasses, and a gray visor.
A lesser-known fact about the actor's biography is his special connection to Spain since, with his first wife, Joanne, they left university to move to the Basque Country in 1974. Both went with a drama teacher with whom Petersen trained as an Shakespearean actor.
His passion for the Basque Country led him to study the language, immerse himself in the culture, and even have his first daughter born in Mondragón, a small municipality in Guipúzcoa where she was baptized with the name Maite Nerea.
The actor still feels such affection for the Basque Country that in 2008, while starring in the CSI franchise, he recorded a very special video in Basque for the lehendakari Ibarretxe and the Basque people, where he even dared to sing the traditional song Goiko Mendian.