Tom Sizemore

Biography

Tom Sizemore (Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr., November 29, 1961 – March 3, 2023) was an American actor born in Detroit, Michigan, to a lawyer and philosophy professor father and a mother who worked for the city's ombudsman department. He attended Wayne State University and earned a Master's degree in theater from Temple University in 1986 before moving to New York City to pursue acting. His first break came when Oliver Stone cast him in Born on the Fourth of July (1989), and he quickly became known as a tough-guy character actor sought out by major directors including Michael Mann, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and Steven Spielberg. He received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Miniseries for Witness Protection (1999) and voiced mobster Sonny Forelli in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002). His career was derailed by long-standing substance abuse, multiple arrests, and a 2003 domestic violence conviction against Heidi Fleiss. He died on March 3, 2023, at age 61, after suffering a brain aneurysm on February 18; he is survived by his twin sons Jayden and Jagger. His notable film credits include Born on the Fourth of July (1989) (Tom Cruise, Cary Elwes), Lock Up (1989) (John Cusack, James Woods), Blue Steel (1990) (Jamie Lee Curtis, Jeff Fahey), True Romance (1993) (Val Kilmer, Patricia Arquette), Natural Born Killers (1994) (Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis), Wyatt Earp (1994) (Kevin Costner, William Petersen), Heat (1995) (Al Pacino, Robert De Niro), The Relic (1997) (Penelope Ann Miller, Matthew Modine), Saving Private Ryan (1998) (Tom Hanks, Matt Damon), Enemy of the State (1998) (Will Smith, Gene Hackman), Bringing Out the Dead (1999) (Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette), Black Hawk Down (2001) (Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor), Pearl Harbor (2001) (Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett), Red Planet (2000) (Val Kilmer, Carice van Houten), Dreamcatcher (2003) (Jennifer Connelly, Tim Robbins), and The Marine (2006) (John Cena, Jean-Claude Van Damme). On television he starred in Robbery Homicide Division (2002–2003) and appeared in Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) (Kyle MacLachlan, Laura Dern).