The CSI Character Everyone Forgets Wolfgang Puck Played

Over the course of its 15-season primetime run, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" fronted a near-endless stream of special guest stars. But diehard fans of the hit procedural might be the first to tell you that few of those guest stars had quite as much fun with their roles as Mr. Wolfgang Puck. And if you've seen the culinary maestro's lone appearance on "CSI," you know it's hard to argue that point of view.

Puck, of course, became the toast of Tinseltown after moving to Los Angeles in the early 1970s, with his famed Sunset Strip restaurant Spago becoming a prime spot for the Hollywood elite to dine and be seen. It also served as the flagship for his first culinary franchise, with several more Spago branches following. With Spago making him a foodie star in Los Angeles, Puck became a bit of a celebrity chef himself. Not surprisingly, when he turned up on "CSI" in 2013, he was actually playing a celebrity chef. Indeed, he was actually playing himself.

Well, he was playing a character named Wolfgang Puck, at least, though one would hope the megalomaniacal version of himself you see on "CSI" is a far cry from his actual personality. Nonetheless, the episode in question came during Season 14 and found Puck playing the fiery host of a television cooking competition series where a former contestant ultimately becomes the main course. And yes, Puck is clearly enjoying his time hamming it up as the host of the fictional "Elite Chef."

If you've been following Wolfgang Puck over the years, you know "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" is far from the first time he's hammed it up with the Hollywood set. In fact, Puck has made great sport of appearing in film and television programs over the years — doing so almost exclusively as some fictionalized version of himself.

Puck made his first small-screen cameo in 1987 during a Season 4 episode of "Who's the Boss?." A few years later, Puck turned up on "Blossom," playing celebrity chef to Mayim Bialik's titular character as she ponders a future where she's a full-blown rock star. The star-studded episode also features cameos from Tori Spelling, Neil Patrick Harris, and Dick Clark. In 1992, Puck joined Timothy Dalton, Dennis Farina, and Beverly D'Angelo in a werewolf-centric episode of "Tales from the Crypt." And his reaction to one character requesting a cheeseburger as opposed to the opulent dishes on his restaurant's menu is well worthy of a good old-fashioned chef's kiss. 

Puck has continued to book film and television cameos over the years, going on to score a spot in a 1996 episode of "Ellen," and making a pair of appearances on "Frasier" between 2000 and 2002 before serving up tasty vittles to Cletus on "The Simpsons."  In 2005, Puck made a rare big-screen cameo in Nicolas Cage's underrated drama "The Weather Man," and later voiced a top chef in Smurf Village for 2011's animated treat "The Smurfs." Puck has appeared on-screen less frequently since his 2013 "90210" spot, but he remains one of Hollywood's legit cameo masters.