Eric Kyle Szmanda (; born July 24, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for having played Greg Sanders in the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

police drama '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', a role he held from the show's beginning in 2000 until it ended in 2015.

Early life and education

Szmanda was born in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, to Elaine (née Enders) and Donald Szmanda, and has two brothers, Brett and Robert. His great-uncle

Ray Szmanda Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

was the "

Menard's Menards is an American home improvement retail company headquartered in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Menards is owned by founder John Menard Jr. through his privately held company, Menard, Inc. It has 335 stores in 15 states: Il ...

Guy," a local celebrity in the Midwest famous for his enthusiastic ads for Menard's, a chain of hardware stores. When Eric was very young, the family moved to Mukwonago, Wisconsin. He attended

Mukwonago High School Mukwonago High School is located in Mukwonago in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Mukwonago Area School District. Approximately 1700 students attend the school, which has over 150 staff members. The original buildi ...

and subsequently Carroll College in

Waukesha, Wisconsin Waukesha ( ) is the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Its population was 71,158 at the 2020 census. The city is adjacent to the Village of Waukesha. History The area tha ...

. While he was in school, he began marketing internships with music conglomerate BMG and moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, to take a full-time job in the music business. Szmanda attended classes for four years at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, and graduated.

Career

In his first role on television, Szmanda starred in '' The Net'', a series based on the 1995 film of the same name. In 2000, Szmanda began a recurring role in the

police drama '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' in the first two seasons as Greg Sanders, a DNA technician and investigator. He was subsequently added to the main cast in the third season. He remained on the show until it ended after the fifteenth season in September 2015.

Activism

Szmanda supports the

U.S. Campaign for Burma {{Democracy movements in Burma The United States Campaign for Burma (USCB) is a U.S.-based membership organization that evolved out of the Free Burma Coalition founded by Maung Zarni. Founders were Jack Healey, who provided fiscal sponsorship to ...

and traveled to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

to see the conditions of Burmese refugees who have fled their native country. Szmanda showed his support for Animal Defenders International (ADI) in March 2017 along with former ''CSI'' co-star

Jorja Fox Jorja-An Fox ( ) is an American actress and producer. She first came to prominence with a recurring role in the NBC medical drama '' ER'' as Dr. Maggie Doyle from 1996 to 1999. This was followed by another critical success in the recurring ro ...

. The two helped to host a benefit to raise money for the charity that aims to help and save animals all over the world from circuses and from other forms of animal cruelty. He and Fox attended the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

to help put forward a bill to stop circuses from using animals and protect them.

Filmography

Film and television credits

Video games

Stage

References

External links

Eric Szmanda Bio at CBS - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Szmanda, Eric 1975 births Male actors from Milwaukee American male film actors Male models from Wisconsin American male television actors Living people People from Mukwonago, Wisconsin