Actor Tom Sizemore, best known for his work in films such as Saving Private Ryan, True Romance and Black Hawk Down, has died at the age of 61 from the effects of a brain aneurysm.
Sizemore died Friday at a Burbank hospital, according to his manager Charles Lago. The actor was rushed to the intensive care unit at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank on Feb. 18, where he was in critical condition and in a coma.
Earlier this week, Lago released a statement on behalf of the “Heat” actor’s family: “Doctors have informed his family that there is no hope and have recommended an end-of-life decision.”
Lago said in a statement that Sizemore “fell peacefully in his sleep … at St. Joseph’s Hospital Burbank.” His brother Paul and twin sons Jayden and Jagger were by his side.”
In 1998, Sizemore co-starred with Tom Hanks and Matt Damon in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning World War II drama Saving Private Ryan. Sizemore has Capt. Miller’s (Hank’s) right-hand man, Sergeant Mike Horvath, a loyal and brave soldier who provides the film’s cover line and keeps memorabilia from every military tour he has participated in.
Sizemore accepted Horvath’s career-changing role on a whim. He was about to film Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line in Australia when Spielberg called him and asked, “Do you want to go to Australia with Terry Malick or do you want to come to the UK and to Ireland with me and Tom. Strict?
“I told him I wanted to go to the UK and Ireland,” he said in 2018.
“It was a groundbreaking experience for me because it was like being invited behind the curtain of Oz. Steven and his team worked on a completely different level than I’ve ever seen,” he added, “the scope of his vision, the attention to detail exceeded anything I could have ever dreamed of.”
Born Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. on November 29, 1961, he grew up in Detroit. His father was a lawyer and professor, and his mother was the city’s ombudsman.
“I was a tough kid,” Sizemore recalled in 1995. “I don’t hit people anymore.”
Eventually, Sizemore’s family moved to the suburbs until his father divorced and the children returned to Detroit with their mother. At age 16, Sizemore wanted to “get on with his life.”
“I knew I wanted to be an actor,” he told The Times in 1995. “I wanted to get out of Detroit.”
After attending Wayne State University, Sizemore earned a master’s degree in theater from Temple University and moved to New York City to pursue acting. His first break came when Oliver Stone cast him for a small part in Born on the Fourth of July.
Sizemore played heavy roles in films such as Natural Born Killers, Wyatt Earp, and Heat in the 1990s, and later had a recurring role on the television series China Beach. In 2000, he received a Golden Globe nomination for his starring role as a former gangster on the run in the TV movie Witness Protection. He also starred in the high-profile military drama Black Hawk Down.
In addition to his film and television work, Sizemore also dabbled in theater. In 2011, he gave a private reading of his one-man show I Am Not Sam at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, which explored his multiracial identity. During the performance, he took over the voice of his black grandfather, who warned him never to reveal his multiracial heritage if he wants to make it in Hollywood.
“I hate this stuff,” Sizemore said as people gathered to congratulate him after the lecture. “I am leaving soon.”
Sizemore has amassed over 200 acting credits in films, video games, theater and television. His last role was as a doctor in the comedy series Barbee Rehab in 2022.
Throughout his career, Sizemore has often been in the news for his run-ins with law enforcement. In 2003, he was found guilty of molesting his girlfriend Heidi Fleiss and served 17 months in prison.
At his trial, Sizemore’s lawyers denied Fleiss’s allegations and accused her of blackmailing him. He was convicted of domestic violence, criminal threats and harassing phone calls.
He was also arrested once on suspicion of assaulting another girlfriend in downtown LA and twice on suspicion of assaulting a former husband. In addition, he was previously arrested on suspicion of transporting or selling a controlled substance, and in 2006 pleaded no objection to methamphetamine use outside a Bakersfield motel.
Sizemore has been open about his struggles with drug addiction — once even volunteering to detox on national television by taking part in a season of VH1 reality series Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew” joined in.
Appearing on Larry King Live in 2010, Sizemore told the late TV presenter that he became addicted to cocaine after first using the drug with “a famous actor” while his Hollywood dreams came true. He also struggled with addiction after heroin and crystal meth.
“If I hadn’t, I couldn’t have done anything. I couldn’t get out of bed,” Sizemore told King. “But I didn’t like it and it ruined my career. … I’m an actor. I’ve been performing for 30 years and haven’t done it again. I had no money. … I was pretty hopeless.
In 2011, Sizemore announced that he would be writing a book about his “substance abuse” experiences. In 2013 he published his memoir By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There.
“The fact that I’ve been sober for over two years now – and I’m still performing as well as before – proves that people can overcome obstacles, even when they know they can’t,” Sizemore said prior to the release of the report. book.
Sizemore is survived by his 17-year-old twin sons, Jagger and Jayden.
Source: LA Times