Robert David Hall

I pretty much spent my twenties as a musician and taking acting classes. I loved it. I was at UCLA getting As and Bs in English and creative writing, basically trying to stay out of the Army. All I really wanted to do was play music.

The first time I almost died was surfing: I got hit on the head with a board. I went under and started swimming until I hit the bottom of the ocean. I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm going the wrong way. Do I have enough air to get back up?' If you're a surfer, you know the feeling.

My father made me take three years of Latin in high school.

My son works as a production assistant in television.

I love my dad and respect him and miss him, but I never hung around my father that much because my dad was a lawyer and engineer, and he really didn't understand what I was about. I was supposed to go to law school at UCLA - I was admitted - and instead of going to law school, I went on the road with a band.

There are a few chances in life where you get to take a different road. I think it's important to stay creative, look at the moment, and look at the future.

If you support diversity and think shows should give a portrayal of what America truly looks like, then performers with disabilities must be included in that equation...People have been very good at being politically correct.

There are 58 million people with some kind of disability in America, so it's the largest minority, really, in America, and it lags behind in education and economics and jobs, so outside of 'CSI' and outside of my music, I serve on a couple of boards, and I'm trying to be a part of the movement that changes this.

'CSI's been a great blessing for me. It's been a platform that's allowed me to go around the country and the world, really, and speak on issues of disability, but I've never - I'm a professional actor, so I studied for years; I do theater. I never want to disrespect what got me here.

Respectfully, the civil rights movement for people with disabilities is modeled on the African American civil rights movement. I'm old enough to remember 1964. I was a junior in high school.

I do everything I can to be the best actor I can be, the best musician I can be. I try to take risks; I try not to let fear run my life.

Music was the first art form I ever had.

A drunk truck driver ran over me. I was in a Volkswagen. It was horrible. It sounds like a cliche, but anything that doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I give a lot of credit to my dad, who was a very strong guy.

I have a lot of musician friends. I worked in radio as a music director, and I know everybody hears about the George Straits and the Garth Brooks and the Kenny Chesneys and all that, but for every major star, there are thousands who didn't quite make it.