William Petersen Named Official Steppenwolf Ensemble Member

Steppenwolf Theatre Company announced today its newest ensemble member: William Petersen. The Steppenwolf ensemble, the longest-existing theater ensemble in the United States, now totals 42 members.

"We are delighted to welcome our long-time friend, William Petersen, into the Steppenwolf ensemble," commented Steppenwolf Artistic Director Martha Lavey.  "Billy was one of the founding members of Chicago's Remains Theatre, an ensemble theater that, like Steppenwolf, helped define the storefront theater life of Chicago in the 1980s.  He currently appears in Steppenwolf's Dublin Carol and previously appeared in our productions of Balm in Gilead and Fool for Love.  We are delighted that Billy is a friend from our past, present and a part of our future," adds Lavey. 

William Petersen has a distinguished background in theater, television and film. He is currently starring in Steppenwolf's special engagement of Dublin Carol through January 4, 2009.  He also appeared at Steppenwolf in Balm in Gilead (1980) and Fool for Love (1984).  In 1979, Petersen founded the Remains Theater Ensemble in Chicago with a group of fellow actors, including current ensemble members Gary Cole and Amy Morton.  In 1983, he starred as Jack Henry Abbott in In the Belly of the Beast which he performed at the Wisdom Bridge Theater in Chicago, at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland and at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.  In 1996, Petersen made his Broadway debut in a revival of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana.  He has appeared in a number of regional stage productions including Dublin Carol, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Time of Your Life, Glengarry Glen Ross and Speed the Plow.  He serves as executive producer on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and was nominated in 2004 for a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of Gil Grissom, the lead investigator.  His other television credits include Long Gone, The Rat Pack, the Golden Globe award-winning mini-series The Kennedys of Massachusetts and The Beast.  His feature film credits include To Live and Die in L.A., Manhunter, Cousins, Young Guns II, Fear, The Contender, and the films Hard Promises and Keep The Change, both of which he also produced.  Petersen was born in Evanston, Illinois and studied acting in Spain.

The 42-member Steppenwolf ensemble includes:  Joan Allen, Kevin Anderson, Alana Arenas, Randall Arney, Kate Arrington, Ian Barford, Robert Breuler, Gary Cole, Kathryn Erbe, K. Todd Freeman, Frank Galati, Francis Guinan, Moira Harris, Jon Michael Hill, Tim Hopper, Tom Irwin, Ora Jones, Terry Kinney, Tina Landau, Martha Lavey, Tracy Letts, John Mahoney, John Malkovich, Mariann Mayberry, James Vincent Meredith, Laurie Metcalf, Amy Morton, Sally Murphy, Austin Pendleton, Jeff Perry, William Petersen, Yasen Peyankov, Martha Plimpton, Rondi Reed, Molly Regan, Anna D. Shapiro, Eric Simonson, Gary Sinise, Lois Smith, Rick Snyder, Jim True-Frost and Alan Wilder.
 Committed to the principle of ensemble performance through the collaboration of a company of actors, directors and playwrights, Steppenwolf Theatre Company's mission is to advance the vitality and diversity of American theater by nurturing artists, encouraging repeatable creative relationships and contributing new works to the national canon.  The company, formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, is dedicated to perpetuating an ethic of mutual respect and the development of artists through on-going group work.  Steppenwolf has grown into an internationally renowned company of 42 artists whose talents include acting, directing, playwriting, filmmaking and textual adaptation.  

For additional information, visit www.steppenwolf.org.