Tom Sizemore: his death formalized, there was "no more hope"

The death of Tom Sizemore was announced this Saturday, March 4, 2023. Aged 61, Tom Sizemore had played many supporting roles in Hollywood, notably in “Saving Private Ryan”.

[Updated March 4, 2023 3:07 PM] Doctors’ message earlier this week left little hope and Tom Sizemore’s death was announced on Saturday March 4, 2023 by the American actor’s family. Tom Sizemore, best known for his role as Sergeant Horwath in Saving Private Ryan, “passed away peacefully in his sleep at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Burbank” located in California, explains a press release published by his relatives this Saturday before specifying that the actor, aged 61, was supported by “his brother Paul and his children Jayden and Jagger” present at his side.

Victim of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm on February 18, Tom Sizemore had since been plunged into a coma. “Doctors have informed his family that there is no longer any hope,” his manager said in a statement sent to the American press on February 28, 2023. “Doctors have recommended an end-of-life decision”, also explained this press release. The 61-year-old actor was best known to the general public for his “tough guy” roles, which he played in many cult films of the 1990s. His filmography includes classics, such as Saving Private Ryan, Born Killers, Heat or Pearl Harbor. The American press recalls that he had been arrested several times in the 2000s for possession of narcotics and domestic violence on his companions.

Born on November 29, 1961 in Detroit, Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr, known as Tom Sizemore to the general public, grew up with his father, a lawyer and professor of philosophy, and his mother, a civil servant. In 1986 he graduated from Temple University, majoring in drama. After settling in New York, he began his career in the late 1980s.

Tom Sizemore’s filmography is made up of great Hollywood classics. He first debuted on television in 1988 in the China Beach series, before landing his first big-screen role the following year in High Security opposite Sylvester Stallone. He is also seen as a veteran in Oliver Stone’s Born on the 4th of July. It is especially in the roles of “tough guy” that he made a name and a face in Hollywood: he embodies soldiers (Saving Private Ryan, Pearl Harbor, The Fall of the Black Falcon), policemen (Point Break) or mobsters (Heat, Blue Steel). After a slump at the end of the 2000s, we find him in 2017 in David Lynch’s mini-series Twin Peaks.

Tom Sizemore also made a notable appearance in Michael Mann’s film Heat, in which he co-starred not only with Robert De Niro, but also with Al Pacino and Val Kilmer. He plays one of Neil McCauley’s (De Niro) accomplices, the mobster Michael Cheritto. Originally, this character was to be played by Michael Madsen, before the role finally returned to him.

While Tom Hanks (Captain Miller) and Matt Damon (2nd Class Ryan) star primarily in Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster Saving Private Ryan, Tom Sizemore also plays an important role in the script, that of stalwart Sergeant Horwath right arm of the character played by Tom Hanks. He assists Captain Miller throughout the film, from the beaches of Omaha Beach to Ramelle’s bee’s nest where he tries to defend a bridge while protecting Private Ryan. The character of Tom Sizemore loses his life there, a few minutes before his captain.

Lately, Tom Sizemore made more headlines for his legal troubles. He was notably arrested during the 2000s on several occasions for possession of drugs and suffers from addiction. He declared in 2012 to be sober. He was also charged with domestic violence.