David Rambo shares a ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ secret

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October’s a busy month for David Rambo.

His portrait of Ann Landers, ‘The Lady With All the Answers,’ is opening at the Pasadena Playhouse next Friday (read about his lifelong fascination with the advice columnist in Sunday’s Arts & Music story). ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,’ the ultra-hot TV series for which Rambo is a writer-producer, just launched its ninth season.

Rambo is especially proud of one upcoming episode, ‘Young Man With a Horn,’ which took him two years to research. ‘It examines the thirst for fame and success in Las Vegas in two time periods: today’s reality-show talent competitions, and in the waning days of Jim Crow Vegas in the 1950s,’ he says.

One thing Rambo loves about ‘CSI’ is the chance to work with guest stars like Faye Dunaway. The cast for ‘Young Man With a Horn,’ scheduled to air Nov. 27, includes Tippi Hedren, Robert Guillaume, Ralph Waite and Hollywood producer George Schlatter, whose credits range from ‘Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In’ to a TV pilot in which Rambo appeared when he was a young actor.

For the L.A.-based Rambo, this month’s biggest event is his wedding to Ted Heyck, his partner of more than three decades. ‘I started writing plays late and got into television late,’ says Rambo, 53. ‘And now Ted and I can finally get married. Life has a way of working out in the end.’

--Karen Wada