What Is Marg Helgenberger's Net Worth and Salary?
Marg Helgenberger is an American actress who has a net worth of $35 million. Marg Helgenberger is probably best known for her role as Catherine Willows on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." She starred in 264 episodes of the series between 2000 and 2012, then again in 2013 and 2015.
Marg Helgenberger "CSI" Salary
What was Marg Helgenberger's salary per episode of "CSI"? $390,000. That worked out to around $9 million per season.
Real Estate
In 2019, Marg bought and sold homes. She sold her longtime personal residence in Brentwood, Los Angeles, for $8 million, and not long after, she bought a new nearby home for $4.6 million.
(Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Early Life
Marg Helgenberger was born on November 16, 1958, in Fremont, Nebraska. She is the daughter of Mary Kate and Hugh Helgenberger and was raised in North Bend, Nebraska. Marg has an older sister named Ann and a younger brother named Curt. She graduated from North Bend Center High School, where she played the French horn in the marching band. Marg initially wanted to be a nurse like her mother but instead chose to pursue a degree in speech and drama at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Early Career
Helgenberger started off as a nightly weather person under the name Margi McCarty in Kearney, Nebraska, at the local ABC affiliate during college. She performed in campus productions and was seen by a TV scout during a campus production of Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew."
The talent scout gave Marg the lead role of amateur cop Siobhan Ryan in the ABC soap opera "Ryan's Hope," a role she played from 1982 to 1986. She appeared on "Spenser: For Hire," "Matlock," "Shell Game," and "thirtysomething." From 1988 to 1991, Marg played a prostitute on the ABC series "China Beach." For that role, she won her first Emmy Award in 1990 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
Success
Marg appeared in her first feature film with a leading role in 1989's "After Midnight." Her second film was Steven Speilberg's "Always," alongside Richard Dreyfuss, John Goodman, and Holly Hunter. In 1994, she played Woody Harrelson's love interest in "The Cowboy Way," and that same year, she had a role in Michael Bay's "Bad Boys." In 1995, Helgenberger played Dr. Laura Baker in the science fiction thriller "Species." She reprised her role in the sequel "Species II" in 1998. She returned to TV with roles in "Not on the Frontline," "I'll Be Waiting," "ER," "Gold Coast," "Happy Face Murders," and the miniseries "Thanks of a Grateful Nation." In 1997, she starred alongside Steven Seagal in "Fire Down Below." In 2000, Marg had a guest role on "Frasier."
"CSI"
Marg is perhaps best known for her role as former showgirl turned blood spatter analyst Catherine Willows on Anthony Zuicker's CBS drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," opposite William Petersen. The role earned her two Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe nods. Helgenberger threw herself into the role by learning as much as she could about her character's job, visiting the County Coroner's office to view autopsies in progress. She also won People's Choice Awards for her work on "CSI," winning Favorite Female TV Star and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2005. That same year, the "CSI" cast won the same award from the Screen Actors Guild. While on "CSI," Marg appeared in the movie "Erin Brockovich," and she also portrayed Patsy Ramsey in "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town," a miniseries about the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. In 2004, she starred in the romantic dramedy "In Good Company." She appeared in "Mr. Brooks" alongside Kevin Costner in 2007 and, in 2008, was chosen as an endorser of the Got Milk? campaign.
At her peak, Helgenberger was among primetime's top-earning women thanks to "CSI." She appeared in the first 12 episodes of season 12 of "CSI" and left the show on January 25, 2012. She briefly returned to "CSI" for its 300th episode and joined the cast of "Under the Dome" in February 2015.
Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images
Other Work
Helgenberger returned to the stage in June 2014 for a production of "The Other Place" in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In 2016, she starred in a revival of "The Little Foxes" at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.
In 2019, she began starring on the CBS series "All Rise."
Honors
Marg's hometown of North Bend, Nebraska, renamed the street that her childhood home was on, changing the name to "Helgenberger Avenue" in her honor.
For her television work, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January 2012.
Personal Life
Helgenberger met Alan Rosenberg in 1984 when he was a guest actor on "Ryan's Hope." They became fast friends but waited two years before they began dating. The pair got married in 1989. They share one son, Hugh Howard Rosenberg, born in 1990. They announced their separation in December 2008, and in March 2009, Marg filed for divorce. Alan and Marg's divorce was finalized in February 2010. Helgenberger was linked briefly in 2010 to Alan Finkelstein.
She is involved in several breast cancer-related charities as a result of her mother's nearly three-decade battle with the disease. Together with Alan, they still run a benefit annually in Omaha, Nebraska, called "Marg and Alan's Celebrity Weekend." They have run the event together since 1999.
