‘Saving Private Ryan’ Actor Tom Sizemore in Critical Condition After Brain Aneurysm
Tom Sizemore, an actor known for roles in action films like Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down, is in critical condition after suffering a brain aneurysm, according to his spokesperson.
Charles Lago, Sizemore’s rep, told CNN on Sunday, February 19, that Sizemore’s case is “wait and see situation”
“His family is aware and waiting for updates.” Lago added. “There is no further update at this time.”
The 61-year-old — whose TV credits include arcs on Twin Peaks and Shooter in 2017 — got his start in Hollywood in the late 1980s, appearing in a small part in the 1989 war biopic Born on the Fourth of July, for example. He also recurred on the TV series China Beach around the same time, with his Sergeant Vinnie Ventresca romancing Dana Delany’s Army nurse Colleen McMurphy on the ABC show.
In the 1990s, Sizemore took roles in the films Point Break, Passenger 57, True Romance, and Heat, and played Sergeant Horvath in the 1998 blockbuster Saving Private Ryan.
Colombia Pictures/Everett Collection
He later appeared in two other war films, 2001’s Pearl Harbor and the same year’s Black Hawk Down, before hitting legal trouble in his personal life.
In 2003, Sizemore was convicted on domestic violence charges related to his relationship with ex-girlfriend Heidi Fleiss, per CNN. Sizemore also has a long history of substance abuse issues, as The Hollywood Reporter noted in 2019 when he was arrested for misdemeanor drug possession. In a 2010 Larry King Live interview, Sizemore said he had used cocaine, crystal meth, heroin.
And for years, Sizemore battled allegations from actress Kiersten Pyke, who alleged in 2017 that the actor molested her during the production of their 2005 film Born Killers, when she was 11 years old, according to USA Today. Police investigated the alleged 2003 incident, but prosecutors declined to file charges against Sizemore, who denied Pyke’s accusations. In 2020, a Utah judge dismissed Pyke’s civil lawsuit against the actor.
