CSI’s Miracle Man
Robert David Hall, who plays the delightfully ghoulish Dr. Al Robbins on CSI, recently gave an interview where he detailed the tragic accident that he refused to let crush his spirit.
After a horrendous car crash in 1978, Hall lost both his legs and received severe burns on more than 60% of his body.
Doctors believed he would die, but Hall fought back and is now a central character on a #1-rated television show. It’s truly an inspiring interview of what human nature is capable of:
‘‘What I thought ended things was really a beginning,’’ says Hall (friends call him David) over a salad in a Cuban-Pacific restaurant here. ‘‘It threw enough of an obstacle in my way that I had to work harder than I would have to overcome it. The day I was injured I worked from 5:30 to 9 on a radio station in Orange County. Then I was an advertising copywriter for a firm in Costa Mesa. I did occasional voice-overs, we call them ‘dollar a holler’ spots because they didn’t pay much then. I would do a couple of radio commercials and make 100 bucks, which was great. Once a week I took an acting class, but acting was not uppermost. I’d spent most of my 20s playing guitar in bands. The radio thing happened by chance.’’
To hear Hall talk, most everything happened by chance, though he was prepared when it did.
Landing the role on ‘‘CSI’’ was another giggle of fate. ‘‘If I had to go in the front door I might not have made it,’’ says Hall, whose trim gray beard sets off his blue eyes. ‘‘The original character breakdown was for a woman. And I think they wanted someone from an ethnic background. The first woman they had was a wonderful actress, but just didn’t care for the part or didn’t enjoy the 10-syllable medical words or whatever. So they hired somebody else for a one-shot, and that didn’t work out.’’
He was finally hired for one scene on the show that grew. ‘‘Me being an actor who’s just knocked his head against the wall for years, I thought, ‘Oh, this is nice. I’m getting a little recurring part on this show that’ll probably never last. Ended up doing 15 one-shots. But about the middle of the first season the show took off like a rocket to Mars and it’s never looked back. The beginning of the second season they made me a regular.’’
In his struggling days - though he was no Mel Gibson - there was an action figure made of his character Lt. Recondo, which he voiced on the cartoon ‘‘G.I. Joe’’ ‘‘Lt. Recondo,’’ he smiles, ‘‘was based on my high school track coach.
Though he walks with a slight limp and a cane today, Hall, 58, is proud that his disability has nothing to do with the role he plays on ‘‘CSI.’’
‘‘It’s about your ability,’’ he says, ‘‘not your disability.’’
Related Stories
POSTED IN: CSI: Vegas, News, Robert David Hall
0 opinions for CSI’s Miracle Man
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: