CSI: NY Star Gary Sinise's Acting Career Began On A Hit '80s Primetime Soap

Gary Sinise's acting career began nearly two decades before his iconic role as Detective Mac Taylor in CSI: NY. Before his breakthrough, Sinise made his acting debut in the 1978 film "A Wedding," but his first credited role came in the 1978 soap opera "Knots Landing." Sinise played Lee Maddox in the tenth episode of the show's first season, during which her son Eric fell for a neighbor's younger sister.

While the main storyline revolved around family matriarch Karen MacKenzie's pregnancy, Sinise's character had a memorable B-plot. Sinise's appearance in "Knots Landing" was just one of many guest roles he would go on to have throughout his career. After a breakthrough role in "Forrest Gump" (1994), he joined the cast of CSI: NY in 2004.

"Knots Landing" was a spin-off of the long-running CBS prime-time soap "Dallas," originally airing in suburban Southern California. The show ran for 14 years, offering numerous guest stars opportunities, including Joan Van Ark, Helen Hunt, Billy Bob Thornton, Jessica Walter, Halle Berry, Gary Oldman, Pam Grier, and even Alec Baldwin, who played a televangelist who died trying to murder another character.