Catherine Willows
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation character | |
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| Catherine Willows | |
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| Gender | Female |
| Hair color | Strawberry Blonde |
| Birthdate | March 26, 1963 |
| City | Las Vegas |
| Job | CSI |
| Rank | CSI Level 3 |
| Position | 2nd in command of graveshift CSI, former swing shift supervisor |
| Current status | Alive |
| Known relatives | Lindsey Willows (daughter), Sam Braun (biological father, deceased), Lily Flynn (mother), Walt Braun (half-brother), Tony Braun (half-brother, deceased), Eddie Willlows (ex-husband, deceased), Unnamed sister, Jeremy (nephew) |
| Portrayed by | Marg Helgenberger |
| First appearance | Pilot |
Catherine (Mugs) Willows (Born March 26, 1963) is a character on the CBS television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. She is employed as a crime-scene investigator supervisor (a "CSI-3") and forensic scientist for Clark County, Nevada, which contains the city of Las Vegas. She is played by Marg Helgenberger, who has received two Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations for the role.
[edit] Biography and Personal
Willows was born in Bozeman, Montana and raised by her mother, Lily Flynn (Anita Gillette), a former show girl (Weeping Willows) , (Kiss, Kiss, Bye, Bye) with occasional contact with her biological father, casino owner Sam Braun (Scott Wilson), until his death in Season 7, Episode 2 (Built to Kill, Part 2). Willows herself worked for a time as a dancer/stripper and briefly had a cocaine habit, dropping it before pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from the University of Las Vegas. Like the other characters on CSI, she has a wide knowledge of odd facts that help in their investigations of crime scenes.
Willows has one daughter, Lindsey Willows (originally portrayed by Madison McReynolds, as of 2006 by Kay Panabaker), and had a stormy relationship with ex-husband Eddie (Timothy Carhart) until his murder (Lady Heather's Box). Prosecution of his killer proved impossible due to ambiguous evidence, something she took rather hard. Willows' relationship with her teenaged daughter soured somewhat after Eddie's murder. Lindsey got in fights at school and was picked up for hitchhiking. Willows took her daughter to the morgue and showed her the body of a murder victim to impress upon Lindsey the danger of her behavior. Willows later enrolled Lindsey in Butterfield (4x4), a private school that would keep a tighter rein on her.
Willows' relationship with Sam Braun has occasionally created conflicts in cases where he is involved in some way with an ongoing investigation (i.e., No More Bets). However, Willows and Lindsey are now financially stable thanks to a rather large monetary gift from Sam Braun, which Catherine at the time thought might be intended to buy her off, though she ended up depositing the check anyway. In episode 702 ("Built to Kill: Part 2") Braun is shot and dies moments later in his daughter's arms. Catherine, in episode 705 ("Double Cross"), lights a candle in a Roman Catholic church in Sam's memory, crosses herself, and whispers, "This one is for you, Sam." It remains to be seen what Catherine will inherit from Braun, though it is likely to be sizeable, as he cared very deeply for her, even when she was his legal opponent.
Willows dates in several episodes. One brief flirtation, in the episode Weeping Willows, ended when the man (Adam Novak, played by Marg Helgenberger's real-life husband, Alan Rosenberg) became overly aggressive. No long-term romantic relationships have otherwise been established, though there was a slight flirtation with fellow CSI Warrick Brown, ending with his marriage, which seemed to upset her. Willows maintains a close friendship with the other investigators on the night shift, especially supervisor Gil Grissom, though she has occasionally criticized him for his lax attitude toward paperwork and office politics. When newcomer Sara Sidle arrived they briefly butted heads, but have become friends since then.
[edit] Trivia
Catherine was born in Bozeman, Montana, the same town from which CSI: NY Detective Lindsay Monroe hails from and her daughter and the detective in New York share a similar name. However, Catherine is not known as a "country girl", possibly because of her tough and strong personality and her experience.
Though Willows' birthday is often given as 1963, the episode "Living Legend" established that she was sixteen years old in 1975, the year that the film Jaws was released. This corresponds more accurately with Marg Helgenberger's real life, as she was born in November, 1958 and Jaws was released in June, 1975, when Helgenberger was 16.
[edit] External links
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | |
|---|---|
| Episodes | Characters | Airdates | Official website | |
| Characters | Gil Grissom | Catherine Willows | Nick Stokes | Warrick Brown Sara Sidle | Jim Brass | Greg Sanders | Al Robbins Sofia Curtis | Conrad Ecklie |
| Former Characters | Holly Gribbs | Paul Millander | Lady Heather |
| Creator(s) | Anthony E. Zuiker |
| Computer Games | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | CSI: Dark Motives CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder |
| Related Series | CSI: New York | CSI: Miami |
