Tom Sizemore, ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ ‘Heat’ and ‘Natural Born Killers’ Actor, Dies at 61
The Detroit native, who had lots of legal troubles and addiction issues, also stood out in 'The Relic,' 'Strange Days' and 'Black Hawk Down.'
He was not on the list.
Tom Sizemore, who faced legal troubles and drug addiction amid a career that saw him star as Sgt. Mike Horvath in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan and portray cops, crooks and psychopaths with the best of them, died Friday. He was 61.
Sizemore died at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, his rep Charles Lago announced. The actor had suffered a stroke and brain aneurysm at his Los Angeles home in the early hours of Feb. 18, and with doctors saying there was “no further hope,” family members made an end-of-life decision.
“I am deeply saddened by the loss of my big brother Tom,” Paul Sizemore said in a statement. “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. I am devastated he is gone and will miss him always”
The Detroit-born actor with a tough-guy sheen also played a serial-killer expert in Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers (1994); Michael Cheritto, a member of Robert De Niro’s gang, in the classic Michael Mann heist film Heat (1995); the Chicago cop Vincent D’Agosta in Peter Hyams’ The Relic (1997); and private investigator Max Peltier in Strange Days (1995), one of three films he made for director Kathryn Bigelow.
Sizemore’s résumé included lots of other notable films, Laurence Kasdan’s Wyatt Earp (1994), Carl Franklin’s Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down (2001) and Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor (2001) among them.
In 2003, Sizemore was accused of molesting an 11-year-old actress while filming Born Killers in Utah. He would deny those allegations when they were initially made public by The Hollywood Reporter in 2017, calling them false and “so disturbing that I feel compelled to go against my legal team’s advice and speak out.”
He was eventually allowed to return to the film for reshoots months later in Malibu, with THR reporting that the city district attorney declined to file formal charges “due to witness and evidence problems.” Following the allegations, producers confirmed to THR that Sizemore had been dropped from the horror film The Doors.
In 2018, those allegations would resurface after a lawsuit seeking $3 million in damages against Sizemore over the alleged abuse was filed by the then-26-year-old actress who accused him of sexually assaulting her as a child on the Born Killers’ set. A rep for Sizemore again denied the accusations, and in 2020, a Utah judge would dismiss the suit.
Within his 2017 denial, Sizemore admitted that he had “battled substance abuse and related demons for years,” with several stays in rehab and drug possession charges in 2019 and 2007, which resulted in a 16-month prison sentence that was reduced to nine months. (He spent time in solitary confinement in Chino State Prison.)
Sizemore appeared in 2010-11 on Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew and its spinoff Sober House with his onetime partner, “Hollywood Madam” Heidi Fleiss, whom Sizemore had been convicted in 2003 of physically abusing and harassing.
Following the ’03 conviction, the actor was arrested on suspected battery in 2009 and 2011 and in July 2016 pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges of domestic abuse for assaulting his girlfriend. That would result in 36 months of summary probation and two protective orders associated with the charges.
Sizemore detailed much of this in his 2016 memoir, By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There, along with his attempt to die by suicide.
The older of two sons, Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. was born in Detroit on Nov. 29, 1961, and raised early on in Corktown, near Tiger Stadium. His father, Thomas Sr., was a corporate lawyer and his mother, Judith, worked for the city.
He said his dad and uncle took him to see the De Niro-starring Taxi Driver when he was 14, and the film convinced him to pursue acting as a career.
“There was something about the alienation and beauty of actors like Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando and James Dean that captivated me,” he wrote in his memoir. “Still, it was more than reverence that I had for them; I somehow already identified with them and saw myself being at their level … My life had always felt heightened to a degree.”
Sizemore graduated from Utica High School, then earned a degree in theater from Wayne State University, where his father taught classes, and a master’s in performance art from Temple University.
Sizemore came to Los Angeles and landed small parts in the 1989 films Born on the Fourth of July — his first film with Stone — Lock Up, Rude Awakening and Penn & Teller Get Killed.
After recurring as a romantic interest of Dana Delany’s character on ABC’s China Beach in 1989-90 and appearing for Bigelow in Blue Steel (1990) and Point Break (1991), Sizemore portrayed a gay serial killer in Where Sleeping Dogs Lie (1992) and cops in Tony Scott‘s True Romance (1993) and Natural Born Killers (1994), both written by Quentin Tarantino.
Playing Det. Jack Scagnetti in Natural Born Killers marked a turning point, he noted in an April interview.
“My first day shooting with Tommy Lee Jones,” he recalled, “Oliver Stone came over to me and said, ‘Before we start today, I want to let you know that I’m making a table and I got three good legs and I need another leg, and you’re that leg. You’re not going to wobble, are you?’
“It didn’t instill a lot of confidence in me. I said, ‘I don’’’t have any intention to wobble.’ That was my introduction to the uncompromising way to make movies.”
Soon after finishing Heat, he said De Niro staged an
intervention over Sizemore’s heroin use and arranged for him to enter rehab, he
told The Independent in 1998.
“I watched this guy [De Niro] in the dark when I was 14 and wondered who he was. And here he is,” he recalled. “I’m in his car and he’s driving me to the airport, he’s telling me that the gig is up, he’s telling me I’m a wonderful actor, that he’s not gonna let me die. ‘I love you,’ he told me, ‘like you’re my son.’ I didn’t wanna go. But I couldn’t say no to him.”
He became a leading man for the first time in the horror film The Relic, then sparkled as the heroic Horvath opposite Tom Hanks in the Oscar best picture nominee Saving Private Ryan (1998).
He reunited with Tony Scott with an uncredited role in Enemy of the State (1998), then worked on Play It to the Bone (1999), Red Planet (2001) and Stephen King’s Dreamcatcher (2003).
Sizemore continued to get work, albeit on fewer high-profile projects, as his personal problems intensified. He appeared on episodes of The Red Road, Hawaii Five-0, CSI: Miami, Law & Order: SVU, Cobra Kai, Twin Peaks, Entourage, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Shooter and Lucifer and provided voice-overs for such games as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and 24: The Game.
Sizemore also wrote a 2007 episode of Head Case and appeared as himself on two installments of the Starz series, which centered on Alexandra Wentworth’s Dr. Elizabeth Goode, a therapist to Hollywood stars.
He has a whopping 230 acting credits on IMDb, plus another 33 credits in projects that have yet to be released.
Sizemore was married to Maeve Quinlan from 1996-99. Survivors include his children, twins Jayden and Jagger (born in 2005), with Janelle McIntire.
“Tom Sizemore has been called many things,” reads the back cover of his memoir. “Brilliant. Brutal. Fiercely talented. Angry. Drug addicted. In reality, he’s all of them.”
A celebration of life event will be held in the coming weeks.
Film
Year Title Role Notes
1989 Lock Up Dallas
Rude Awakening Ian
Penn & Teller Get Killed 2nd Mugger
Born on the Fourth of July Vet #1
1990 A Matter of Degrees Zeno Stefanos
Blue Steel Wool Cap
1991 Flight of the Intruder "Boxman"
Guilty by Suspicion Ray Karlin
Point Break DEA Agent Deets Uncredited
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man Chance Wilder
Where Sleeping Dogs Lie Eddie Hale
1992 Love Is Like That Lenny
Passenger 57 Sly Delvecchio
1993 Watch It Danny
Heart and Souls Milo Peck
True Romance Detective Cody Nicholson
Striking Distance Danny Detillo
1994 Wyatt Earp Bat Masterson
Natural Born Killers Detective Jack Scagnetti
1995 Strange Days Max Peltier
Devil in a Blue Dress DeWitt Albright
Heat Michael Cheritto
1997 The Relic Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta
1998 Saving Private Ryan Sergeant First Class Mike Horvath
Enemy of the State Paulie Pintero, Mob Kingpin Uncredited
1999 The Florentine Teddy
The Match "Buffalo"
Bringing Out the Dead Tom Wolls
Play It to the Bone Joe Domino
2000 Get Carter Les Fletcher Voice
Red Planet Dr. Quinn Burchenal
2001 Pearl Harbor Sergeant Earl Sistern
Ticker Detective Ray Nettles
Black Hawk Down Colonel Danny McKnight
2002 Big Trouble "Snake" Dupree
Swindle Seth George
Welcome to America Zach
2003 Pauly Shore Is Dead Himself
Dreamcatcher Lieutenant Owen Underhill
2004 Paparazzi Rex Harper
2005 The Nickel Children Freedo
Born Killers Dad
No Rules Kain Diamond
2006 Zyzzyx Road Joey
Ring Around the Rosie Pierce Video
Shut Up and Shoot! Himself
Splinter Detective Cunningham
The Genius Club Armand
2007 White Air Steve
Bottom Feeder Vince Stoker
Oranges Burt
Protecting the King Ronnie
Furnace Frank Miller
A Broken Life Max
2008 American Son Dale
The Flyboys Angelo Esposito
Red Michael McCormack
The Acquirer Arthur
The Last Lullaby Price
Stiletto "Large" Bills
Toxic Van Sant
2009 Commute God
Super Capers Roger Cheatem
The Grind Chuck
Angels and Fire Mack Fogg Short
21 and a Wake-Up Jack Breedlau
Double Duty Craig
2010 Big Money Rustlas Himself
Shadows in Paradise Colonel Bunker
The Auctioneers Abel
Corrado Paolo Spinello
2011 Good God Bad Dog Ezra Mann Short
Black Gold Detective Brandano
Cellmates Leroy Lowe
Cross Detective Nitti Video
Contractor's Routine Art Professor
Suing the Devil Tony "The Hip" Anzaldo
The Speak Doyle
El Cartel de los Sapos DEA Agent Sam Mathews
The Saints of Mt. Christopher Richard Satler
2012 Slumber Party Slaughter Tom Kingsford
El bosc Pickett
Visible Scars Mike Gillis
Pieces Jim Short
2013 Madoff: Made Off with America Vito
Company of Heroes Lieutenant Dean Ransom Video
Five Hour Friends Timothy Bonner
Meth Head Sonny
Chlorine Ernie
Paranormal Movie Himself
Before I Sleep Randy
Crosshairs Jimmy Marcos
Remnants General Vincent Tate
The Charlatan Cop Short
Five Thirteen Glen
Fake Dog Shit The Bum Short
2014 Auteur Himself
SEAL Team 8: Behind Enemy Lines Ricks Video
The Drunk Bruce Frye
Flashes Detective Mark Hume
Through the Eye Frank Rossi
Murder 101 FBI Agent Ridley
Private Number Jeff
Bordering on Bad Behavior Bob
Where I Come From Tom Short
Reach Me Frank
The Age of Reason Robert
2015 24 Hours Damian White
The Intruders Howard Markby
Laugh Killer Laugh Orphanage Headmaster
Terms & Conditions "El Viejo"
6 Ways to Die Mike Jones
Night of the Living Dead: Darkest Dawn Chief McClelland Voice
If I Tell You I Have to Kill You Dr. Richard Baum
Collar Chief Hamilton Markham
2016 Clandestine Assemblyman Dean Bada
Durant's Never Closes Jack Durant
Swap Kyle Norris
Halloweed Vincent Modine
Crossing Point Pedro
Wolf Mother Jon
Hunting Season Nick
Traded Lew Crawford / Lavoie
The Bronx Bull Tony
Beyond Valkyrie: Dawn of the 4th Reich Master Sergeant O'Malley
USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage Chief Petty Officer McWhorter
Better Criminal Sergeant Mike Martin
Calico Skies Phoenix
2017 Secrets of Deception Eddie Green
Cross Wars Detective Frank Nitti
Joe's War Captain Vickers
Atomica Darius Zek
Misirlou Colonel Rich "Big Rich"
The Immortal Wars "Bloodshed"
The Assault Detective Gary Broza
Bad Frank Mickey Duro
College Ball -
Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House FBI Agent Bill Sullivan
The Slider Nurse
A Chance in the World John Sykes
I Believe Don Carlo
Blood Circus Detective Jake Dawson
Radical CIA Agent McKitrick
Beautiful Flowers High Priest Short
2018 The Second Coming of Christ Larry
The Litch Giovanni Moretti
Unkillable Mr. Gilliam
The Martyr Maker CIA Agent Terry Davis
Black Wake Detective Michaels
Speed Kills Dwayne Franklin
Dead Ringer Boyd Dennison
Prepper's Grove -
Nazi Overlord Colonel Forrester
Exit 14 Roy
The Debt Richie Short
Ole Bryce Dr. Bryce
2019 Wish Man Sergeant Mason
Myra "Coco" Lewandowski
Hell to Pay Sabbath Short
Hell Girl Jebidiha
The Pining Father William
Killing Me - Short
7 Deadly Sins Richard Gates
I Am Not for Sale: The Fight to End Human Trafficking Doctor
John Wynn's Mirror Mirror Callahan Wilson
Abstruse Max London
Cross 3 Detective Frank Nitti
2020 Adam "Lucky"
The Runners Pastor Dave Twiss
Monster Hunters Colonel Mayweather
Nowheresville Preacher
Apocalypse of Ice Reggie
C.L.E.A.N. Mr. Wilkens, The Manager
Hell Hole Roscoe
2021 When Devils Play Don Gennaro Short
Narco Sub DEA Agent-In-Charge Craig Ford
Central Park Dark Thomas Winters
Alien Conquest General Reed
Monstrous: Interview with a Killer Gabriel Light
The Trouble Bob Carter
Megalodon Rising Commander Moore
Hustle Down Cully
2022 Vampfather Dr. Oomious
Damon's Revenge Sheriff Walsh
The Electric Man Jace
Impuratus Detective Clayton Douglas
Project Skyquake Hank
Bullet Train Down Scott Madison
Night of the Tommyknockers Marshal Steed
Battle for Pandora Commander Hank Lewis
Amber Road Pluto
Dine n' Dashians 3 Shh "Hitman" Short
An Hedonia, The Fallen Bossman Roy Short
The Legend of Jack and Diane Detective Parker [51]
2023 The Getter Moe "Cadillac"
Breakout Chaz Coleman
Made Vicious Victor
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1989 Gideon Oliver Paul Slocum Episode: "Sleep Well, Professor Oliver"
1989–90 China Beach Sergeant Vinnie Ventresca Recurring cast: Season 3
1990 Against the Law Rainey Fults Episode: "Contempt"
1992 An American Story Jesse Meadows Television film
1998 Witness to the Mob John Gotti Television film
1999 Witness Protection Bobby "Bats" Batton Television film
2001 The Directors Himself Episode: "The Films of Michael Mann"
2002 Reel Comedy Himself Episode: "Big Trouble"
Justice League Metamorpho Voice, episode: "Metamorphosis"
Sins of the Father Tom Cherry Television film
2002–03 Robbery Homicide Division Lieutenant Sam Cole Main cast
2004 Hustle Pete Rose Television film
2004–06 Dr. Vegas Vic Moore Main cast
2007 Shooting Sizemore Himself Main cast
Head Case Himself 2 episodes
Superstorm Katzenberg Main cast
2008 CSI: Miami Kurt Rossi Episode: "Down to the Wire"
2008–09 Crash Detective Adrian Cooper Main cast: Season 1
2009 Southland Timmy Davis Episode: "See the Woman"
2010 Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew Himself Main cast: Season 3
Celebrity Rehab Presents Sober House Himself Main cast: Season 2
Entourage Himself Episode: "Tequila Sunrise"
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Byron the Trucker Episode: "The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods"
P Lo's House Himself Television film
2011–12 Hawaii Five-0 Captain Vince Fryer Recurring cast: Season 2
2012 Perception Bobby Lonergan Episode: "Nemesis"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Lewis Hoda Episode: "Manhattan Vigil"
2013 Dr. Phil Himself Episode: "Explosive Relationships"
2014 Dark Haul Knicks Television film
2014–15 The Red Road Jack Kopus Recurring cast
2015 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Lewis Hoda Episode: "Depravity Standard"
Exit Strategy Jonathan Marks Television film
2016 Lucifer Hank Cutter Episode: "Favorite Son"
Undercover Captain Rogers Episode: "Is It Really What It Appears to Be?"
2016–17 Shooter Hugh Meachum Recurring cast: Season 1
2017 Twin Peaks Anthony Sinclair Recurring cast
2022 Barbee Rehab Dr. Tom Main cast
Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2002 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Sonny Forelli
2006 24: The Game Sid Wilson
2021 Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition Sonny Forelli Archival recordings
Remaster of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City only.
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