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

Tom Sizemore, the actor from such films as Saving Private Ryan, Heat, Pearl Harbor, and Black Hawk Down, has died at the age of 61.

As reported by Variety, Sizemore collapsed back on February 18 and, after he arrived at the hospital, doctors confirmed he suffered a brain aneurysm as the result of a stroke. He was in a coma and in critical condition, and the decision was made to take him off life support after his rep Charles Lago said that “doctors informed his family that there is no further hope and have recommended end of life decision.”

“It is with great sadness and sorrow I have to announce that actor Thomas Edward Sizemore (‘Tom Sizemore’) aged 61 passed away peacefully in his sleep today at St Joseph’s Hospital Burbank,” Lago said in a statement. “His brother Paul and twin boys Jayden and Jagger (17) were at his side.”

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of my big brother Tom,” his brother 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.”

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.

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.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.