Film & TV
Tom Sizemore
1961–2023 · actor
Detroit-born, Wayne State-trained character actor of Heat, True Romance and Saving Private Ryan.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Burbank, California
aged 61- Birth name
- Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr.
- Detroit years
- 1961–1983
- Field
- Film & TV
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Tom Sizemore was born in Detroit into a family tied to the city's public and academic life: his mother worked on the staff of the Detroit ombudsman, and his father was a lawyer and philosophy professor. He studied theater at Wayne State University near downtown Detroit and graduated in 1983, then earned a master's degree at Temple University in Philadelphia and tried his luck in New York. Supporting roles in Born on the Fourth of July and Blue Steel led to hard-edged parts in True Romance, Natural Born Killers and Heat, and to his most successful film, Saving Private Ryan (1998), in which he played Sergeant Horvath. His later career was overshadowed by drug addiction and legal troubles, including a 2003 domestic-violence conviction, which he discussed openly on reality television. He died in Burbank in 2023 after a brain aneurysm.
Highlights
- Sergeant Mike Horvath in Saving Private Ryan (1998)
- Roles in Heat (1995), True Romance (1993) and Natural Born Killers (1994)
- Golden Globe nomination for Witness Protection (1999)
- Bachelor's degree in theater from Wayne State University (1983)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1979–1983
Wayne State University
Sizemore earned his bachelor's degree in theater here in 1983.