Detroit-born Wayne State-trained actor Tom Sizemore Passes

[Lowell]

I really liked Detroit-born, grew-up-in-Corktown Tom Sizemore's acting. He died Friday at age 61 after after suffering a brain aneurysm caused by a stroke.

His unforgettable role as Sgt. Horvath in Saving Private Ryan was particularly memorable. He had a great ability to create characters of depth and humanity.

Sadly he was haunted by difficulties that both fueled his acting and his personal life struggles that led to drug addiction, violence and prison time.

On the screen, Sizemore was known for giving powerful performances that brought complicated or deeply disturbed characters to life. He appeared in a string of prominent movies that included 1993's “True Romance,” 1994's “Natural Born Killers,” 1995's “Heat” and “Devil In A Blue Dress,” and 2001's “Black Hawk Down.”

One of his most critically acclaimed roles was in director Steven Spielberg's 1998 World War II-themed epic “Saving Private Ryan.” He portrayed the weary, no-nonsense Sgt. Mike Horvath who accompanies Tom Hanks' Capt. John Miller behind enemy lines to find a soldier whose three brothers have died in combat.

In a key scene, Horvath talks to Miller about whether Pvt. Ryan should be removed from the battlefield. Says Sizemore: “Someday we might look back on this and decide that saving Private Ryan was the one decent thing we were able to pull out of this whole godawful, shitty mess. Like you said, Captain, maybe we do that, we all earn the right to go home.”

And now he's gone home.

Full article at Freep.com.

[Kathleen]

In my brother's graduating class...Bishop Gallagher Class of 1979

He told my brother to remember his name..that he was going to be a famous actor!

Sad that he couldn't beat those demons of his! And that his life ended in such an unforeseen way.

[Danny]

Detroit will miss you Sizemore. You were the greatest actor ever from the Wayne State U.

[IrishSpartan]

In my brother's graduating class...Bishop Gallagher Class of 1979

He told my brother to remember his name..that he was going to be a famous actor!

Sad that he couldn't beat those demons of his! And that his life ended in such an unforeseen way.

I believe he was a transfer from Austin after they closed. Although when he was growing up he mentioned in an interview the family lived on Hamburg, which depending where they were would have made him closer to De La Salle when they were still on Conner across the street from the airport.

[royce]

Anyone know if he was an athlete? We, Harper Woods Notre Dame, were their local rivals in sports.

[Pat001]

I re-watched Pulp Fiction on cable the other day. After hearing about Sizemore's death it occurred to me that he could have been absolutely brilliant had he been cast as Vincent, Jules, Butch, Captain Koons or Marcellus Wallace.

[MikeM]

Detroit Free Press
December 10, 1982:

[Lowell]

Anyone know if he was an athlete? We, Harper Woods Notre Dame, were their local rivals in sports.

From the article linked above…
“Sizemore's family lived in Corktown when he was a child and moved to Shelby Township around the time he was in eighth grade. As a teenager, he wrote, he was “on the honor roll and was quarterback on the football team.”

That’s not clear if he played at Gallagher.

[royce]

Thx, Lowell.

[Zacha341]

So sad. He was one of my favorite actors... with a long filmography:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001744/