Tom Sizemore


Actor
Tom Sizemore

About

Also Known As
Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr.
Birth Place
Detroit, Michigan, USA
Born
November 29, 1961

Biography

A charismatic and intense character player who achieved a degree of fame and infamy, actor Tom Sizemore reached Hollywood fame in the 1990s thanks to a number of dynamic performances that promised a long, fruitful career, only to find his personal and professional life derailed by a long struggle with addiction. After making his film and television debuts in the late 1980s, Sizemore came...

Family & Companions

Maeve Quinlan
Wife
Actor. Former professional tennis player; married on September 1, 1996; she reportedly filed for divorce on November 19, 1999; joined cast of the CBS daytime serial "The Bold and the Beautiful" in 1999.
Heidi Fleiss
Companion
Reportedly became romantically involved in 2001; no longer together as of 2002.

Notes

"I think I'm ready to be 'The Guy,' but I'm not in any real hurry. I've got some ideas, but I just go day-to-day and read scripts they send me about 'The Guy' or the close friend of 'The Guy'. At least as the suporting lead character, the onus isn't on you. There's a lot of pressure being 'The Guy'. It's not as glamorous and easy as it looks."---Sizemore on his contentment with playing supporting roles quoted in THE DAILY NEWS, October 5, 1993.

Michael Mann: What actor was the biggest influence on you growing up?Tom Sizemore: Nicholson, Hoffman, Pacino, and De Niro were the big four, but De Niro, by far, was the biggest influence. I idolized him. I saw 'Taxi Driver' [1976] as a thirteen-year-old . . . it blew me away. Then, when I was sixteen, I saw 'The Deer Hunter' [1978] on opening night in Detroit . . . De Niro's performance in that movie solidified my desire to have that kind of power. I knew enough about acting to know he couldn't be the character like the one he played if he didn't have some of that in him. He was the kind of guy you wanted to have as your best friend. . . . Now, having got to know Bob as a man, I know he does possess a lot of those qualities. He's been an incredibly good friend to me.---From INTERVIEW, January 1997.

Biography

A charismatic and intense character player who achieved a degree of fame and infamy, actor Tom Sizemore reached Hollywood fame in the 1990s thanks to a number of dynamic performances that promised a long, fruitful career, only to find his personal and professional life derailed by a long struggle with addiction. After making his film and television debuts in the late 1980s, Sizemore came into prominence during the following decade with memorable performances in "True Romance" (1993), "Wyatt Earp" (1994) and "Natural Born Killers" (1994). He had a life changing experience following his gritty turn in "Heat" (1995), when star Robert De Niro staged an intervention and propelled the actor down the road of sobriety for a time. During this period, he enjoyed a particularly fertile part of his career with strong turns as John Gotti in the miniseries "Witness to the Mob" (NBC, 1998) and as a loyal soldier in Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" (1998). However, Sizemore's life and career plummeted off the cliff after a series of legal entanglements involving domestic abuse and possession of illegal drugs that kept the actor on probation for a better part of the decade. Adding insult to injury, he endured the humility of a sex tape being leaked onto the internet, while complaining that he failed to see a penny for his work. By the time he joined the cast of "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" (VH1, 2008-12), Sizemore's life was a mess, leaving many to ponder what might have been, had he been able to corral his personal demons.

Born on Sept. 29, 1964 in Detroit, MI, Sizemore was raised by his father, Thomas, a lawyer and psychology professor, and his mother, Judith, who worked for an urban ombudsman. After attending Michigan State University for a year, he earned his bachelor of fine arts in theater from Wayne State University. Sizemore went on to earn his master's in theater from Temple University, before moving to New York City in order to start his acting career. He amassed onstage credits in regional and off-Broadway productions before making his feature debut as a glib con who befriends Sylvester Stallone in the slammer in "Lock Up" (1989). He was next tapped by director Oliver Stone to play an angry wheelchair-bound vet opposite star Tom Cruise in "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989). Sizemore made career strides on the small screen as well, appearing as a guest star in the pilot episode of the short-lived drama, "Gideon Oliver" (ABC, 1989), before landing a recurring role as Sgt. Vinnie Ventresca, aka The Dog Man, the love interest of Colleen McMurphy (Dana Delany) on "China Beach" (ABC, 1988-1991).

Sizemore's spontaneity and robust humor allowed him to develop an intense, fast-talking persona for many of his characters - typically cops or cons on the fringe - that raised his performances above a more clichéd direction other actors of lesser talent may have taken. In the early 1990s, he began landing roles that allowed him to turn in several memorable performances. After a supporting role as a bank executive involved in drug dealing in "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" (1991), he starred opposite Sharon Stone and Dylan McDermott in the crime thriller "Where Sleeping Dogs Lie" (1991). In "Passenger 57" (1992), Sizemore played an airport manager who aids an anti-terrorism expert (Wesley Snipes) in trying to save hostages aboard a hijacked airliner. He stood out among a cast that included Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken and Gary Oldman in "True Romance" (1993), playing a wisecracking cop alongside his more staid partner (Chris Penn), who tries to get a socially awkward comic book store clerk (Christian Slater) and his ex-hooker girlfriend (Patricia Arquette) to bust a big Hollywood producer (Saul Rubinek) with a suitcase full of cocaine. In "Hearts and Souls" (1993), Sizemore had a more substantial supporting role as the amiable, but tough guardian angel of Robert Downey, Jr.

Sizemore also registered as a stolid Bat Masterson allied with Kevin Costner's "Wyatt Earp" (1994) and expanded his rep playing an obsessive and deranged detective on the trail of a murderous couple (Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis) for a reteaming with director Oliver Stone in "Natural Born Killers" (1994). He remained busy the following year with "Devil in a Blue Dress" (1995), which found him playing an enigmatic fixer who draws P.I. Easy Rawlings (Denzel Washington) into a dangerous case. After playing a sleazy private investigator opposite Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett in "Strange Days" (1995), Sizemore was part of a hard-hitting armed robbery crew led by a career thief (Robert De Niro), who meet their match when an unflinching LAPD detective (Al Pacino) tries taking them down in Michael Mann's excellent "Heat" (1995). Following the completion of "Heat," Sizemore's longtime addiction to drugs became public knowledge after De Niro staged an intervention that resulted in Sizemore entering a rehabilitation clinic. Later, Sizemore publicly credited De Niro for helping him overcome a drug habit, which in hindsight, proved to be only temporary. In the meantime, he managed to land the lead as a slightly cynical cop investigating a mysterious murder at a Chicago museum in "The Relic" (1997).

After packing on a few pounds, Sizemore offered a chilling portrayal of reputed mobster John Gotti in the miniseries "Witness to the Mob" (NBC, 1998), which was executive produced by De Niro. Later that year, he had one of his biggest breakthroughs playing Sergeant Hovarth, the loyal right-hand man of Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) in Steven Spielberg's roundly acclaimed World War II epic, "Saving Private Ryan" (1998). The actor received exceptional notice for his multifaceted performance in the violent, yet spellbinding account of the rescue of the titular missing soldier (Matt Damon) from behind enemy lines. Sizemore next joined forces with Martin Scorsese for a scene-stealing performance as a wild ambulance driver opposite Nicolas Cage in "Bringing Out the Dead" (1999). He received additional acclaim and notice for his gripping turn in the original drama "Witness Protection" (HBO, 1999) as a gangster- turned-government witness whose family begins to disintegrate under the pressure of their new lives. Sizemore earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Miniseries. Keeping a steadily high profile, he was featured with the lead supporting role as a fight promoter in Ron Shelton's "Play It to the Bone" (1999), a boxing film pitting two fighter friends (Woody Harrelson and Antonio Banderas) against each other in the ring.

Continuing a busy career, Sizemore co-starred with Val Kilmer in the sci-fi thriller "Red Planet" (2000) while also appearing in the Scotland-set soccer drama "The Match" (2000). He followed up with two high-profile, top-grossing films that should have been a high point for his career, but instead marked the beginning of a long string of troubles born from his previous battles with drug addiction. In "Pearl Harbor" (2001), he was Sgt. Earl Sistern, while in "Black Hawk Down" (2001), he delivered a powerful performance as a Lt. Col. commanding the 3rd Ranger Battalion in the disastrous 1993 Battle of Mogadishu. He next landed a lead role as a LAPD captain in the CBS drama series "Robbery Homicide Division" in 2002 and co-starred with Morgan Freeman in the supernatural thriller feature "Dreamcatcher" (2003), playing a refreshingly heroic and untroubled role. Despite his steady workload in big movies, Sizemore had long battled personal demons that finally grabbed hold of him, turning the once prominent character actor into a cautionary tale of how one could squander fame and fortune through substance abuse.

Sizemore had previously battled drug abuse and alcoholism while being accused by ex-wife, actress Maeve Quinlan, of spousal abuse in 1997. He made fresh headlines in 2003 when he was convicted of assault and battery for abusing his former fiancée, the infamous Hollywood madam, Heidi Fleiss. He was also convicted on several other counts, including harassment. Sizemore was required to enter a drug rehabilitation program during his trial, while being sentenced to six months in jail and three years probation. Adding insult to injury, he was sued for sexual harassment by a former personal assistant. In 2005, the actor was sentenced to 17 months in prison and four months in rehab for violating his parole conditions in March of that year. He was back in court again for allegedly trying to bypass a drug test with a fake prosthetic, not reporting to his probation officer, missing counseling sessions and not advising authorities of his new address. In early 2006, Sizemore violated his probation a second time by testing positive for drugs and getting expelled from a drug treatment program for fighting. He was sentenced to three years' probation and 90 days in lock-down rehab.

While bouncing around from court to jail and back again, Sizemore kept feeding his habit by starring in a number of direct-to-DVD thrillers that the same actor would have scoffed at only a few years prior. With titles like "Furnace" (2006), "Zyzzyx Road" (2006) - which suffered the ignominy of earning just $30 at the box office - and "Stilletto" (2008), Sizemore's best days seemed far behind. He suffered perhaps his greatest humiliation in 2005 when over eight hours of Sizemore having sex with various women leaked over the Internet. But instead of disparaging the tape, a broke Sizemore complained that he earned no money from its release while his two children were still on welfare. Meanwhile, he was arrested once again in 2007 for possession of methamphetamines while at a hotel in Bakersfield, CA, which led to a nine-month prison sentence he managed to avoid. Two years later, he was arrested for an outstanding warrant, but was later released.

Trying to get both his life and career back on track, Sizemore appeared in an episode of "CSI: Miami" (CBS, 2002-12) while landing a five- episode arc as a detective on the unfortunately short-lived "Crash" (Starz, 2008-09), starring Dennis Hopper. Following a guest starring appearance on "Southland" (NBC/TNT, 2009-13), he joined the cast of "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" (VH1, 2008-12), where he ironically talked about his addictions sitting across from Heidi Fleiss. He later joined Fleiss, former NBA star Dennis Rodman and rock singer Seth Binzer for "Celebrity Rehab Presents Sober House" (VH1, 2009-2010). Sizemore was caught trying to smuggle a crack pipe into the house during the first episode, while his proximity to Fleiss exacerbated conflict between the two (both signed consent forms prior to "Celebrity Rehab"). Meanwhile, Sizemore had a number of low-budget movies released, including "Chlorine" (2010), "C.L.A.S.S." (2010) and "White Knight" (2011).

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

Atomica (2017)
Felt (2017)
Exit 14 (2016)
Crossing Point (2016)
Wolf Mother (2016)
U.S.S. Indianapolis: Men of Courage (2016)
Weaponized (2016)
Beyond Valkyrie: Dawn of the 4th Reich (2016)
The Bronx Bull (2015)
Assassin's Game (2015)
Kickback (2015)
Laugh Killer Laugh (2015)
6 Ways to Die (2015)
Private Number (2015)
Reach Me (2014)
Dark Haul (2014)
24 Hours (2014)
Company of Heroes (2013)
513 Degrees (2013)
Cellmates (2012)
Chlorine (2010)
Super Capers (2009)
Stiletto (2009)
The Last Lullaby (2009)
A Broken Life (2008)
The Furnace (2008)
Red (2008)
American Son (2008)
Toxic (2008)
Splinter (2007)
Bottom Feeder (2007)
The Genius Club (2007)
Fear Itself (2006)
Zyzzyx Rd. (2006)
Paparazzi (2004)
Pauly Shore is Dead (2004)
Dreamcatcher (2003)
Black Hawk Down (2002)
[Ranger Lt. Col. Danny] McKnight
Big Trouble (2002)
The Match (2001)
Ticker (2001)
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Red Planet (2000)
Doctor Quinn Burchenal
Witness Protection (1999)
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Play it to the Bone (1999)
The Florentine (1999)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
The Relic (1997)
Lt Vince D'Agosta
Strange Days (1995)
Max Peltier
Heat (1995)
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
Wyatt Earp (1994)
Natural Born Killers (1994)
Striking Distance (1993)
Heart and Souls (1993)
Watch It (1993)
True Romance (1993)
An American Story (1992)
Passenger 57 (1992)
Sly Delvecchio
Bad Love (1992)
Lenny
Flight of the Intruder (1991)
Boxman
Where Sleeping Dogs Lie (1991)
Eddie Hale
Guilty By Suspicion (1991)
Harley Davidson And The Marlboro Man (1991)
A Matter of Degrees (1990)
Zeno
Sleep Well, Professor Oliver (1989)
Paul Slocum
Rude Awakening (1989)
Penn & Teller Get Killed (1989)
Blue Steel (1989)
Born On The Fourth Of July (1989)
Lock Up (1989)

Cast (Special)

The Road to Justice: The Stories Behind "Sins of the Father" (2002)
The Great American History Quiz: America at War (2001)
The Great American History Quiz: 50 States (2001)

Cast (TV Mini-Series)

Hustle: The Pete Rose Story (2004)
Sins Of The Father (2002)
Witness to the Mob (1998)

Life Events

1989

Made feature acting debut in "Lock Up"

1989

Was cast in a recurring role on the ABC series "China Beach"

1989

Made TV debut in <i>Sleep Well, Professor Oliver,</i> a segment of ABC's limited episode series "Gideon Oliver"

1991

Appeared in the Don Johnson/Mickey Rourke buddy vehicle, "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man"

1991

Co-starred with Dylan McDermott in the psychodrama, "Where Sleeping Dogs Lie"

1991

Was featured in the Vietnam War film "Flight of the Intruder"

1992

Was featured in the hijack suspense film, "Passenger 57"

1992

Acted in the CBS WWII-era presentation "An American Story"

1993

Had first major feature supporting role in "Heart and Souls"

1993

Appeared in the Quentin Tarantino penned "True Romance"

1994

Portrayed Bat Masterson in "Wyatt Earp"

1994

Had a memorable role in Oliver Stone's controversial "Natural Born Killers"

1995

Played a supporting role in "Heat" opposite Robert De Niro and Al Pacino

1997

Had leading role as a detective in the supernatural thriller, "The Relic"

1998

Portrayed reputed gangland leader John Gotti in the NBC miniseries "Witness to the Mob"; executive produced by De Niro

1998

Co-starred in the Steven Spielberg-directed WWII drama "Saving Private Ryan"

1999

Played leading role of a gangster who enters into "Witness Protection" on the HBO original drama

1999

Gave a scene-stealing performance as a wild ambulance driver in Martin Scorsese's "Bringing Out the Dead"

2001

Co-starred in Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down"

2001

Had featured role in the Scottish soccer film, "The Match"

2002

Starred in the CBS drama, "Robbery Homicide Division"

2002

Received rave reviews for his performance in the FX movie "Sins of the Father"

2003

Co-starred with Morgan Freeman in the thriller "Dreamcatcher"

2004

Portrayed fallen baseball legend Pete Rose in the ESPN TV-movie, "Hustle"

2004

Starred in the thriller, "Paparazzi," about a celebrity who turns the tables on a persistent photographer

2006

Played a terrorist in "The Genius Club"

2007

Was cast opposite Edward James Olmos in the indie film, "Splinter"

2007

Was featured in the VH1 reality series"Shooting Sizemore," which depicted the actor's life through struggles

2008

Co-starred with Brian Cox in "Red," an adaptation of the novel by Jack Ketchum

2008

Featured in "Stiletto" with Tom Berenger and Michael Biehn

2009

Appeared in five episodes of the TV series adaptation of the Paul Haggis film "Crash"

2010

Co-starred with Kyra Sedgwick and Vincent D'Onofrio in "Chlorine"

2010

Appeared on VH1's third season of "Celebrity Rehab"

2011

Joined the second season of "Hawaii Five-0" (CBS) in a multi-episode arc as the head of Internal Affairs

2013

Had a supporting role in the drama "Before I Sleep"

2014

Played Jack Kopus on "The Red Road"

2015

Co-starred in crime thriller "6 Ways to Die"

2016

Had a guest role on supernatural drama "Lucifer"

2016

Was cast as Hugh Meacum on "Shooter"

2017

Played a crooked insurance salesman on "Twin Peaks: The Return"

Companions

Maeve Quinlan
Wife
Actor. Former professional tennis player; married on September 1, 1996; she reportedly filed for divorce on November 19, 1999; joined cast of the CBS daytime serial "The Bold and the Beautiful" in 1999.
Heidi Fleiss
Companion
Reportedly became romantically involved in 2001; no longer together as of 2002.

Bibliography

Notes

"I think I'm ready to be 'The Guy,' but I'm not in any real hurry. I've got some ideas, but I just go day-to-day and read scripts they send me about 'The Guy' or the close friend of 'The Guy'. At least as the suporting lead character, the onus isn't on you. There's a lot of pressure being 'The Guy'. It's not as glamorous and easy as it looks."---Sizemore on his contentment with playing supporting roles quoted in THE DAILY NEWS, October 5, 1993.

Michael Mann: What actor was the biggest influence on you growing up?Tom Sizemore: Nicholson, Hoffman, Pacino, and De Niro were the big four, but De Niro, by far, was the biggest influence. I idolized him. I saw 'Taxi Driver' [1976] as a thirteen-year-old . . . it blew me away. Then, when I was sixteen, I saw 'The Deer Hunter' [1978] on opening night in Detroit . . . De Niro's performance in that movie solidified my desire to have that kind of power. I knew enough about acting to know he couldn't be the character like the one he played if he didn't have some of that in him. He was the kind of guy you wanted to have as your best friend. . . . Now, having got to know Bob as a man, I know he does possess a lot of those qualities. He's been an incredibly good friend to me.---From INTERVIEW, January 1997.

Sizemore on his role in "Saving Private Ryan": "The way Steven casts... 'Mr Spielberg'... I'll call him Steven from here on out... the way Steven casts is he writes down a list of every actor, living or dead, that he wants to play a part. Then he limits it to the ones who are available, meaning the ones who are alive. For this role, he saw a combination of Steve McQueen and young De Niro. Well, I told him, 'Those are my big guys, they're like the mentors in my acting life, we're talking the consummate movie star and the greatest screen actor ever.'"---From TIME OUT NEW YORK, July 23-30, 1998.