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Tom Sizemore has died after being taken off life support, his manager Charles Lago confirmed to Variety on Friday. The 61-year-old actor suffered a brain aneurysm on February 18.
“It is with great sadness and sorrow that I have to announce that actor Thomas Edward Sizemore (“Tom Sizemore”) passed away peacefully today at St. Joseph’s Hospital Burbank at the age of 61,” Lago said in a statement. “His brother Paul and twins Jayden and Jagger (17) were by his side.”
Lago previously said on February 27 that “doctors have informed his family that there is no further hope and have recommended an end-of-life decision.”
On February 18, Sizemore collapsed at his Los Angeles home and was rushed to the hospital by paramedics. Doctors there determined that he had suffered a brain aneurysm as a result of a stroke. Sizemore has since been in critical condition and was in a coma in intensive care.
“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 impacted my life more than anyone I know. He was talented, loving, generous and could endlessly entertain you with his wit and storytelling ability. I am devastated that he is gone and I will always miss him.”
Sizemore was born in Detroit on November 29, 1961 and moved to New York City in the ’80s to pursue acting. One of his first successes came in 1989 with an appearance in Oliver Stone’s Best Picture nomination Born on the Fourth of July.
Known for playing the tough guy, he rose to fame in the 1990s with films like Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, Passenger 57, True Romance, and Natural Born Killers. His big break came in Steven Spielberg’s 1998 war film Saving Private Ryan, in which he played Technical Sergeant Mike Horvath. “Saving Private Ryan” was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Along with his co-stars, including Tom Hanks and Matt Damon, Sizemore received a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. During his career, Sizemore has worked with directors such as Michael Mann, Martin Scorsese, Peter Hyams, Carl Franklin, Oliver Stone, Ridley Scott and Michael Bay.
Sizemore was also a convicted abuser. In 2003 he was convicted of domestic violence against his then-girlfriend, and in 2017 Sizemore did not contest two domestic violence charges after being arrested a few months earlier on suspicion of assaulting his partner.
In 2005, Sizemore was sentenced to several months in prison after he was caught trying to falsify a urine test. He was arrested for possession of methamphetamine in 2007 and for possession of “various illegal narcotics” in 2019. Sizemore has opened up about his struggles with substance abuse and is featured in Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew” and “Dr. Phil” to discuss his legal troubles.
In 1998, the actor shared that his ‘Heat’ and ‘Witness to the Mob’ co-star Robert De Niro personally helped help Sizemore enter a drug rehabilitation program. In 2013, the actor published a memoir titled By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There, which details his career and personal battle with addiction.
Sizemore is survived by his two children, Jagger and Jayden. There will be a private cremation service for Sizemore’s family, with a larger celebration of life planned in a few weeks.