Tom Sizemore

Thomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. (born September 29, 1961)^[1] is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his supporting roles in films such as Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991), Passenger 57 (1992), True Romance (1993), Natural Born Killers (1994), Strange Days (1995), Heat (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Red Planet (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001), Pearl Harbor (2001), and for voicing Sonny Forelli in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Early life

Sizemore was born in Detroit, Michigan. His mother, Judith (née Schannault), was a member of the city of Detroit ombudsman staff, and his father, Thomas Edward Sizemore, Sr., now retired, was a lawyer and philosophy professor.^[2][3]

Sizemore has stated that his maternal grandfather was of French and Native American ancestry.^[4] He has three brothers, Charlie, Aaron and Paul. Paul Sizemore is also an actor.^[5] He attended Michigan State University for one year, as well as Wayne State University. He earned a Master's degree in theatre from Temple University in 1986. He subsequently moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.

Acting career

One of Sizemore's earliest film appearances was in Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July in 1989. Other early roles included Lock Up (1989), Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991), Point Break, True Romance, Heart and Souls (1993), Natural Born Killers (1994), and Strange Days (1995). Sizemore starred in the independent drama film Love Is Like That (1993) with actress and model Pamela Gidley. He had a supporting role in Kevin Costner's Wyatt Earp as Bat Masterson.

A succession of well-received supporting parts followed, perhaps the most well known being his portrayal of Michael Cheritto as an armed robber in the heist film Heat (1995). His first major leading role was as Vincent D'Agosta in 1997's The Relic. Sizemore had a recurring role on the television series China Beach (1988 to 1991) as an enlisted man named Vinnie who was in love with Dana Delany's character. Sizemore continued to play leading and character parts in many films, notably Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), and Witness Protection (1999).

In the early 2000s, he appeared in actions films such as Pearl Harbor (2001), starring Ben Affleck, and Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down (2002). He had a voice part as Sonny Forelli in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. In 2001, Sizemore starred in Ticker, an action film directed by Albert Pyun, with Steven Seagal and Dennis Hopper. In 2002, Sizemore starred in the well-reviewed but short-lived television drama series Robbery Homicide Division. It was cancelled mid-way through its first season. He played an undercover cop in the film Swindle opposite Sherilyn Fenn. In 2004, he starred in Paparazzi.

In 2006, he starred in The Genius Club, playing a terrorist who taunts seven geniuses into solving the world's problems in one night. Also that year, he had a leading role in the action/thriller film Splinter with Edward James Olmos. In 2007, the television network VH1 aired a six episode reality TV series called Shooting Sizemore, which depicted the life of the actor as he struggled to regain his career in the midst of a continuing battle with addiction. The series also covered an ongoing legal appeal on his conviction for an assault of former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.^[6] In this year, the actor starred in the Indie drama film Oranges with Tom Arnold and Jill Hennessy, which was directed by Syrian director and producer Joseph Merhi.

Recently, Sizemore has worked in films that include Red and American Son, both of which were screened at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. In 2008, Sizemore starred in The Last Lullaby, The Flyboys with Stephen Baldwin, action film Stiletto with Tom Berenger and Michael Biehn, drama film Toxic with Costas Mandylor, and the Canadian drama A Broken Life with Ving Rhames.

In 2009, he appeared in the comedy film Super Capers. In addition, Sizemore appeared in five episodes of the TV series Crash with Dennis Hopper. In 2010, Sizemore starred in the indie horror film C.L.A.S.S. which is written by Sheldon Robins, and co-starred with Kyra Sedgwick and Vincent D'Onofrio in drama/comedy film Chlorine.^[7] He starred alongside martial arts actor Mark Dacascos in the action movie Shadows in Paradise. He appeared in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Sizemore appeared alongside the Insane Clown Posse in the comedy film Big Money Rustlas and the drama 513 with Michael Madsen. Sizemore has roles in the upcoming films, the Age of Reason, Suing the Devil and White Knight.

His most commercially successful project to date has been the 1998 action film Saving Private Ryan, which brought in $217,000,000 at the box office.^[8]

Music

Sizemore fronted the Hollywood rock band Day 8. Formed in 2002, the band recorded a four-song EP produced and recorded by Bradley Dujmovic and former Snot/Soulfly guitarist Mike Doling. Originally called "The Bystanders", the group included guitarist and co-writer Rod Castro, Alan Muffterson, Tyrone Tomke and Michael Taylor.

Personal life

Sizemore married actress Maeve Quinlan in 1996, but divorced in 1999 because of issues associated with his drug problems. In 2010, Sizemore appeared as a patient/castmember on VH1's third season of Celebrity Rehab.^[9]

In July 2005, Sizemore became a father when Janelle McIntire gave birth to twins.^[10] On October 19, 2005, Vivid Entertainment released The Tom Sizemore Sex Scandal, a sex tape featuring Sizemore and multiple women.^[11] In the video, Sizemore claimed to have had sex with Paris Hilton, an allegation that she later denied, claiming it was a ploy by Sizemore to increase sales.^[12]

Substance abuse and legal problems

Sizemore, who had battled drug addiction since he was 15,^[13] was convicted in 2003 of assault and battery against his girlfriend, the former "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss.^[14] Sizemore was then sentenced to 7 months in jail and four months in drug treatment for repeatedly failing drug tests while on probation on March 25, 2005.^[15] Sizemore was caught attempting to fake the urine test using a Whizzinator.^[16][17][18] Fleiss' restraining order against him had lapsed by the time they appeared together in the third season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2010.^[19]

On May 8, 2007, while still on probation for a previous drug conviction, Sizemore was arrested outside the Four Points Sheraton hotel in Bakersfield, California for possession of methamphetamines.^[20]

Police found what appeared to be two bags under 1 gram in weight of methamphetamine and three glass pipes used for inhaling methamphetamines that were coated with drug residue inside his car. On June 25, Sizemore was sentenced to 16 months in prison. The sentence was reduced to nine months because Sizemore had already served 213 days in county jail after he was unable to post bail. On March 27, 2009, Sizemore avoided a prison sentence in the same case for an alleged probation violation.

On May 28, 2009, Sizemore was arrested in Los Angeles on an outstanding warrant for drug charges. Sizemore and a friend were questioned by police, and the outstanding $25,000 warrant for Sizemore from 2007 was discovered. Sizemore did not have any narcotics in his possession, but was arrested on the warrant; he was later released.

In early 2014, a recording emerged of Sizemore alleging that former girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley had an affair with Bill Clinton in 1998.^[21] Under threat of legal action, Sizemore admitted that the allegation was false. He elaborated that the recording was made without his knowledge during a time when he was battling substance abuse.^[22]

Sizemore had been approached to appear in the first season of the reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, but declined. He met with Drew Pinsky about appearing in the second season, sitting in Pinsky's office for two hours, as Pinsky recounted, "sweating and completely high on drugs, talking a million miles an hour, acting like he was going to do it then deciding he didn't want to." Sizemore ultimately decided to appear in the show's third season, but did not appear in the season premiere. Because Heidi Fleiss was also in treatment on the show that season, both she and Sizemore had to consent to appear together. The season premiered in January 2010, with Sizemore's arrival at the clinic chronicled in the third episode, and his reunion with Fleiss was amicable.^[19] By the season's end, Fleiss lashed out at Sizemore at their graduation ceremony, taunting him that "the thought of being with [him] would turn women gay."

Filmography

References

External links

• Tom Sizemore at the Internet Movie Database
• Tom Sizemore on Facebook
• Tom Sizemore at AllMovie