1980s Caruso's first movie appearance was in the 1980 film
Getting Wasted as Danny. He credits his role as Topper Daniels, "the cadet who nearly drowned", in
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) as what got him noticed. In
First Blood (1982), the first installment of the
Rambo franchise, Caruso played Deputy Mitch Rogers, the youngest and only sympathetic member of Sheriff Teasle's (
Brian Dennehy) department, who protests the abuse of
John Rambo (
Sylvester Stallone) but is unable to prevent it and is later wounded by Rambo during the forest pursuit. Caruso spent the remainder of the decade in supporting roles in films including
Blue City (1986),
China Girl (1987) and
Twins (1988). On television, Caruso had a recurring role as Tommy Mann, leader of the street gang The Shamrocks, in seven episodes of the
NBC police drama series
Hill Street Blues (1981–83). He portrayed
U.S. Olympian James Brendan Connolly in the 1984
miniseries,
The First Olympics: Athens 1896, and also appeared in two episodes of the series
Crime Story. Caruso featured in the
music video for the song "
Voyage, voyage" by the French singer
Desireless, released in 1986.
1990s Caruso had supporting roles as a police officer in the crime films
King of New York (1990) and
Mad Dog and Glory (1993). While filming 1991's
Hudson Hawk, he employed
method acting, refusing to talk to anyone on set because his character, Kit-Kat, was mute, having had his tongue bitten off. In 1993, Caruso landed his first major role as
Detective John Kelly in the
police procedural series
NYPD Blue, for which he won a
Golden Globe Award.
TV Guide named Caruso as one of the six new stars to watch in the 1993–1994 season. He made news by leaving the highly
rated show the following year (only four episodes into the second season) after failing to obtain the raise he wanted. Caruso's decision to leave the series would later be listed in a 2010 issue of
TV Guide as #6 on a list of TV's 10 biggest "blunders". Caruso was unable to establish himself as a leading man in films. His appearances in the 1995 thrillers
Kiss of Death and
Jade were met with a negative reception from critics, with both films receiving mixed reviews and poor box-office takings, and Caruso was nominated for the
Golden Raspberry Award for Worst New Star for these two roles. In 1997, Caruso returned to television as a
New York City-based federal prosecutor in the short-lived
CBS law drama series
Michael Hayes, which aired for one season.
2000s and CSI: Miami Caruso returned to film with a supporting role as
Russell Crowe's mercenary associate in
Proof of Life (2000). In 2001, Caruso had a lead role in the cult
psychological horror film
Session 9, directed by
Brad Anderson.
Dave Kehr, writing in
The New York Times, praises his performance, stating that "it is good to see David Caruso back in action, with a little more technique and a little less ego." in November 2004 In 2002, Caruso returned to television in his first successful role since
NYPD Blue, starring as police
Lieutenant Horatio Caine in the
CSI spin-off series
CSI: Miami. Caruso was the first actor in the franchise to appear as the same character on three of the five
CSI programs. He was known for frequently using one-liners at the beginning of each episode. Many of these include Caruso putting on his trademark sunglasses mid-sentence, then walking off-screen just as the main theme starts. On an episode of the
Late Show with David Letterman that aired on March 8, 2007, actor and comedian
Jim Carrey professed to being a fan of the show and went on to do an impersonation of Caruso, asking for an "intense close-up" from the camera, speaking in a raspy voice and putting on sunglasses. Caruso later said in an interview with
CBS that he was impressed with the impersonation. In 2012,
CSI: Miami was cancelled after 10 seasons due to a decline in ratings and the climbing cost of production. Caruso was the only actor to appear in all 232 episodes of the series.
After acting After
CSI: Miami, Caruso quietly retired from acting and became involved in the art business. Caruso is founder of DavidCarusoTelevision.tv and LexiconDigital.tv. He is co-owner of Steam on Sunset, a clothing store in South Miami. ==Personal life==