Why Morgan Brody From CSI Looks So Familiar
The daughter of Clark County Sheriff Conrad Ecklie (Marc Vann), "CSI" character Morgan Brody first appears late in Season 11 as part of the LAPD CSI team. However, Morgan assists the Vegas unit when they visit Los Angeles trying to find the serial killer Nate Haskell (Bill Irwin), even disobeying her supervisor to do so. This eventually gets her fired, but Morgan ends up getting a position with the Las Vegas Crime Lab, joining the cast in Season 12. Despite Brody's strained relationship with her father, the young investigator proves to be an asset to the team thanks to her bravery, empathy, and determination.
Morgan Brody was last seen in the "CSI" finale, "Immortality," but the actress who plays her, Elisabeth Harnois, has been working since the age of three (via TV Guide). She's appeared in Disney Channel films, crime dramas, and teen comedies, but these are the roles even unschooled pop culture viewers will recognize on sight. Here's where you may have seen the actress who plays Morgan Brody before.
Elisabeth Harnois was the First Daughter in My Date With the President's Daughter
Elisabeth Harnois told Runway Magazine that her parents encouraged her love of performance even as a toddler: "I feel so lucky that my parents allowed me to explore that side of myself so early in life." She quickly appeared in two films at the age of 5, the 1985 Disney film "One Magic Christmas" and the thriller "Where Are the Children?" However, it wasn't until she appeared in the 1992 Disney Channel series "Adventures in Wonderland" as Alice that Harnois "began to really understand what being an actor meant... that's when it evolved from a fun hobby to a real profession that challenged me."
The young actress guest starred on a number of classic '90s shows, including "Fresh Prince" and "Boy Meets World," but a role many millennials will recognize her from is the 1998 Disney TV movie "My Date with the President's Daughter." Harnois played Hallie, the scion of President George Richmond (Dabney Coleman), who sneaks out for an outing with average teen Duncan Fletcher (Will Friedle). "My Date with the President's Daughter" is no masterpiece, but according to Jezebel, the actress is still delighted that so many people fondly remember her pink mini dress from the film.
She was in six episodes of One Tree Hill
Harnois continued doing guest spots on shows like "Charmed" but didn't have any film or TV credits between 2002 and 2004 (via IMDb). She did come back with new credits in 2005, however, including roles in dark comedies "Strangers with Candy" and "Pretty Persuasion." Elisabeth also starred in the 2005 Fox mystery "Point Pleasant" as Christina, a young girl who slowly discovers that she is the daughter of Satan. The show received some positive notice but was ultimately canceled thanks to low ratings (via The Digital Fix).
Arguably, her most notable role prior to "CSI" was her arc in Season 4 of "One Tree Hill" as Shelley Simon. A student at Tree Hill High, Shelley was the founder of the Clean Teens abstinence group at the school after pregnancy and heartbreak left her devastated. She does date Mouth McFadden (Lee Norris) after feeling constrained by the Clean Teen concept, but ends up breaking up with him because she wanted to stick to her values. Ultimately in her last Season 4 appearance, Shelley is revealed to have dropped the group and is simply working on herself.
Elisabeth Harnois has been in several Lifetime and Christmas TV films
After "CSI" ended in 2015, Elisabeth Harnois has mainly stuck to working on television films. According to IMDb, these have included Lifetime shockers like 2017's "My Baby Is Gone!" and "Twisted," where her character Kara has to deal with the return of her boyfriend's evil, outspoken girlfriend Isabelle (Kimberly Sue-Murray).
She's also worked on several Christmas romances made for television as well, like "Christmas Cupid's Arrow" and "The Christmas Contract." Harnois even starred as the lead of the 2019 global romance film "Christmas in Vienna" alongside Christian Oliver.
It doesn't appear that Harnois has been in any new film or television productions since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but she's still active online and seems to have a level head based on interviews. She told Runway in 2011 that "my folks raised me with a very clear sense of how quickly things can change... and that because of the fleeting nature of this business I should always have a pretty damned good idea of who I am as a person outside of it."