CSI star Robert David Hall wanted to be Neil Young, or at least a more musically gifted version of himself. But a head-on collision with an 18-wheeler forced the amputation of both his legs and started a chain of events that, surprisingly, led him to acting. All it took was someone saying he “can’t be an actor now.” 

He’s since become one of the most prominent actors with a disability working today, having appeared in box-office hits Class Action and Starship Troopers, with television roles on West Wing, Beverly Hills 90210, L.A. Law, The Practice and Life Goes On. Hall’s work as national chairman of the Screen Actors Guild’s Performers with Disabilities Caucus has helped fellow actors find a voice in an otherwise unsympathetic casting industry. He’s been lauded by the United Nations and California state leaders for his awareness efforts. And he recently fulfilled a dream 50 years in the making by releasing his debut album, Things They Don’t Teach You in School. 

Fans of the 10-year-running CBS crime drama know Hall as Dr. Al Robbins, the Las Vegas chief medical examiner who intelligently banters about blues music with his colleagues and occasionally croons while working in the morgue. It turns out there’s a story behind his voice. Hall spent his 20s thrashing out ’60s surf music for several bands in California. On a whim, he took an acting class at UCLA that later inspired him to seek a different kind of stage. (MORE)