Tom Sizemore, the “Saving Confidential Ryan” entertainer whose splendid 1990s star wore out under the heaviness of his abusive behavior at home and medication convictions, passed on Friday at age 61.
On February 18, the actor had a brain aneurysm at his Los Angeles residence. According to his manager Charles Lago, he passed away peacefully at a hospital in Burbank, California, on Friday.
Sizemore rose to prominence thanks to his well-received roles in “Natural Born Killers” and “Heat,” both of which are now classics in the crime thriller genre. However, his career was ruined, he was homeless, and he ended up in jail for serious substance abuse, allegations of abuse, and multiple encounters with the law.
Sizemore was also accused of groping an 11-year-old Utah girl on set in 2003, just as the global #MeToo movement wave reached its peak at the end of 2017. He claimed that he would never inappropriately touch a child and described the allegations as “highly disturbing.” There were no charges filed.
Sizemore had numerous steady film and television credits despite the plethora of legal issues, but his career never recovered its former momentum. The majority of his roles in the 21st century, with the exception of “Black Hawk Down” and “Pearl Harbor,” were in low-budget, rarely seen productions in which he continued to portray the rough and tough characters for which he became famous.
I was a man who had achieved great heights from humble beginnings. In his memoir “By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There,” which was published in 2013, the Detroit-born Sizemore stated, “I’d had the multimillion-dollar house, the Porsche, and the restaurant I partially owned with Robert De Niro.” And at this point, I had nothing at all.”
A line from his role in “Saving Private Ryan,” for which he received Oscar buzz, inspired the title of the book. However, he wrote that his success made him into an “arrogant fool,” a “spoiled movie star,” and eventually a “hope-to-die addict.”
He was arrested multiple times for domestic violence. Sizemore was once married to Maeve Quinlan, an actor, and was arrested in 1997 on suspicion of beating her. In 1999, the couple got divorced while the charges were dropped.
Sizemore was found guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend Heidi Fleiss in 2003, the same year he avoided trial in a separate abuse case by pleading no contest. According to the testimony of the former Hollywood madam, he had punched her in the face at a hotel in Beverly Hills and beaten her in New York to the point where they were unable to attend the premiere of “Black Hawk Down.”
The condemning appointed authority said chronic drug use was logical an impetus yet that declaration had uncovered a man who had profound issues managing ladies. After Sizemore’s conviction, Fleiss spoke with The Associated Press and referred to him as “a zero.”
Sizemore wrote a letter of apology, saying that he had been “chastened” and that “personal demons” had taken over his life. However, he later denied that he had abused her and said that she had faked a picture of her with bruises on it.
Fleiss also filed a lawsuit against Sizemore, claiming that he caused her emotional distress by threatening to revoke her own probation. In 1994, Fleiss was found guilty of operating a high-priced call-girl ring. The terms of that lawsuit’s settlement were withheld.
In connection with the 2002 CBS show “Robbery Homicide Division,” in which Sizemore played a police detective, he was the subject of two lawsuits alleging sexual harassment in the workplace. In a different case involving domestic violence, he was detained in 2016.
Sizemore was imprisoned from August 2007 to January 2009 for failing numerous drug tests while on probation and after authorities discovered methamphetamine in his car in Bakersfield, California.
Sizemore told The Bakersfield Californian in a jailhouse interview, “God’s trying to tell me he doesn’t want me using drugs because every time I use them I get caught.”
Sizemore stated to the Associated Press in 2013 that he believed his dependency was connected to success’s perks. As he described a low point while looking in the mirror, he struggled to maintain his emotional composure: I appeared to be 100 years old. I had no connection to my children; I had nothing to talk about. I lived in a squat.
According to the Associated Press, he participated in the reality television programs “Celebrity Rehab” and its spinoff “Sober House” not only in order to receive assistance, but also to partially pay off millions of dollars’ worth of debt.
Sizemore made a lot of action, sci-fi, and horror films in his later years: He appeared in films with titles like “Impuratus,” “Night of the Tommyknockers,” and “Vampfather” alone in 2022. However, Sizemore continued to land a few substantial roles, including those in the revival of “Twin Peaks” and guest appearances on popular shows like “Entourage” and “Hawaii Five-O.” In 2016, a stuntman filed a lawsuit against Sizemore and Paramount Pictures, claiming that he was injured when the alleged intoxicated actor ran him over while filming “Shooter” for the United States. The AP discovered from state records that Sizemore “improvised at the end of the scene and drove away in his car,” even though he was only supposed to be sitting in the still vehicle. Sizemore was let go from “Shooter,” and the stuntman settled his lawsuit for undisclosed amounts.
He has roles in movies and television, and he was a part of the voice cast for the 2002 video game “Grand Theft Auto: Game called “Vice City” According to recent advertisements, he also instructed students at the LA West Acting Studio.
His 17-year-old twin sons Jayden and Jagger, as well as his brother Paul, who were all by his side when he passed away, are his surviving family members.
Sizemore wrote in his memoir, “I’ve led an interesting life, but I can’t tell you what I’d give to be the guy you didn’t know anything about.”
