Tom Sizemore, 'Saving Private Ryan' and "Heat' Actor, Dies at 61

American actor, Tom Sizemore who played the famous 1991 Marlboro man, has reportedly passed away.

The actor from such films as Saving Private Ryan, Heat, Pearl Harbor, and Black Hawk Down, has died at the age of 61 after suffering from a brain aneurysm.

His manager, Charles Lago, confirmed that he died on Friday, in a hospital in Burbank, California.

According to Lago, his twin sons Jayden and Jagger and his brother, Paul, were by his side when he died. He said Sizemore’s sons were devastated and asked that their privacy be respected.

His brother, Paul Sizemore, said: “I am deeply saddened by the loss of my big brother Tom. He was larger than life. He has influenced my life more than anyone I know.

“He was talented, loving, giving and could keep you entertained endlessly with his wit and storytelling ability.”

Known for his tough-guy roles, Sizemore got his first break when director Oliver Stone cast him in a bit role as Vet #1 in the 1989 anti-war film “Born on the Fourth of July.”

Tom Sizemore was born in Detroit, Michigan, on November 29, 1961, and began his career in acting when he moved to New York City in the '80s. Some of his first credits, according to IMDB, include Gideon Oliver, Lock Up, Rude Awakening, Penn & Teller Get Killed, and Born on the Fourth of July.

His star power continued to rise in the '90s with such films as Heat, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, Passenger 57, True Romance, and Natural Born Killers, and arguably his biggest role came in 1998 when he was cast as Sergeant Mike Horvath in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan.

According to IMDB, he would appear in a total of 229 projects, and even ventured into the world of video games when he lent his voice to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City's Sonny Forelli.

With fame came troubles, he struggled with drug addiction and different run-ins with the law.

Sizemore had some legal and substance abuse troubles over the years, and he was convicted in 2003 of domestic violence against his girlfriend at the time and again in 2017 for allegedly assaulting his partner.

He was sentenced to jail for a few months in 2003 after getting caught faking a urine test and had trouble with drugs and the law a few more times. He was public with his struggles with drugs, and he shared that his Heat co-worker Robert De Niro helped him enter a drug rehab progam in 1998.

Sizemore is survived by his two children, Jagger and Jayden.

In 2013, the Hollywood star chronicled his turbulent life in the memoir, “By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There.”

March 04, 2023