Friday, March 3, 2023

Tom Sizemore obit

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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