Tom Sizemore, the actor known for his roles in Saving Private Ryan, Heat, and True Romance, has died at the age of 61. His death comes after suffering a brain aneurysm in February that put him in the Intensive Care Unit, ultimately succumbing to the condition. Doctors informed Sizemore’s family at the end of February that his recovery was unlikely and they’d have to make a decision on end of life soon. Sizemore’s manager confirmed the actor’s passing to PEOPLE, following up on his statement from earlier in the week.
Sizemore has been a staple of crime and war films since the late ’80s, with roles in Point Break, Natural Born Killers, True Romance, Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down, Heat and many others. His roles in Saving Private Ryan stands out due to his opportunity to read the titular line in the film itself.
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“Some day we might look back on this and decide that saving Private Ryan was the one decent thing we were able to pull out of this godawful s-tty mess,” he says in the film. He also had some memorable roles on television/streaming, including an appearance on Cobra Kai, a memorable role on Twin Peaks: The Return on Showtime, and he earned a Golden Globe nomination for his role in Witness Protection back in 2000.
Away from his storied career, Sizemore has been known for his struggles with addiction and other legal issues. In 2003 he was convicted on domestic violence charges related to former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss. He had his own reality series stemming from the period called Shooting Sizemore and also appeared on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.
Sizemore talked about his struggles in an interview with Larry King on CNN in 2010. ” I’m an addict. I can’t describe it to you. If I did it, I couldn’t get out of bed, but I got no pleasure from it and it was destroying my career, and I started to think I destroyed my career. I’m an actor. I’ve been acting for 30 years, and I wasn’t doing it anymore. I didn’t have any money, and so I got, you know, I got real close to hopeless,” Sizemore told King. Sizemore had struggles since that interview, including another rehab stint in 2013 that was sparked by an “interrogation” by Robert De Niro, who also personally checked Sizemore into rehab at the time.
