Since its debut in 2000, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has been a franchise fueled by its legendary cast. However many came and went while it lasted, there is one actor in particular who participated in more episodes than any other.
Actors such as William Petersen, Jorja Fox, Marg Helgenberger, George Eads, Gary Dourdan, Ted Danson, Laurence Fishburne, Elisabeth Shue and Paul Guilfoyle spent several seasons on CSI entertaining the television masses and doing their part to help bring justice to the CBS series, one crime scene at a time.
With a history and episode count like the one you have CSI, it’s easy to get lost trying to figure out who may have appeared in the most episodes over the years. The answer may actually surprise you as a fan of the series or always a sporadic viewer.
Looking back at everyone’s episode count, we can see that there have definitely been several heavy hitters and regulars from CSI. According to IMDb, more than 10 different actors have appeared in 100 or more episodes. This includes Helgenberger, Eads, Fox, Petersen, Dourdan and Guilfoyle. After that, we started to delve into CSI icon territory. According to IMDb, only four people have appeared in 300 or more episodes of the popular crime drama and there is one actor who wins it all.
Eric Szmanda, who plays DNA specialist Greg Sanders, is the titleholder with the most appearances in episodes of CSI in the history of the program. Not including “credits only” appearances, Szmanda has appeared in 327 episodes since the show’s debut in 2000. Our runner-up is forensic investigator Nick Stokes, aka George Eads, who appeared in 323 episodes.
Greg Sanders was played by actor Eric Szmanda on CSI
While Szmanda’s Greg Sanders was a supporting character who didn’t leave the lab much in the early seasons of CSIwould later evolve into a deeper and more interesting personality in the long-running series.
During his career, Szmanda appeared in every season of the original series CSI, from 2000 to 2015. The veteran actor told CSI Files that it was nice to see things change over the years, including his character. As he explained, playing the same character for 13 years meant watching him evolve from a more joking figure to someone who takes his job more seriously.
