Search icon

Movies & TV

04th Mar 2023

Heat and Saving Private Ryan star Tom Sizemore dies in sleep weeks after brain aneurysm

Steve Hopkins

Sizemore collapsed at his LA home on 18 February.

Heat and Saving Private Ryan star Tom Sizemore has died in his sleep in hospital weeks after collapsing and suffering a brain aneurysm. He was 61.

His manager Charles Lago confirmed the news, telling US outlets: “I am very saddened by the loss of not only a client but a great friend and mentor of almost 15 years.

“Tom was one of the most sincere, kind and generous human beings I have had the pleasure of knowing. His courage and determination through adversity was always an inspiration to me.

“The past couple of years were great for him and he was getting his life back to a great place. He loved his sons and his family. I will miss my friend Tom Sizemore greatly.”

Sizemore’s death comes just days after his family was told to prepare for end-of-life decisions. This was on account of the actor’s condition failing to improve after he collapsed at his Los Angeles home on 18 February and became unconscious.

Lago earlier said his client had suffered a brain aneurism “that occurred as a result of a stroke”.

“Since that day, Tom has remained in critical condition, in a coma and in intensive care,” the manager said at the time.

Sizemore was best known for playing the professional thief Michael Cheritto in the crime drama Heat and World War II soldier Mike Horvath in Steven Spielberg’s epic Saving Private Ryan. He was also a frequent collaborator with Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow, appearing in her movies Blue Steel, Point Break and Strange Days.

Other major movies Sizemore had roles in included Black Hawk Down, Bringing Out the Dead, Devil in a Blue Dress, Dreamcatcher, Enemy of the State, Natural Born Killers, Passenger 57, Red Planet, The Relic, True Romance and Wyatt Earp. He also had a part in the third season of the acclaimed mystery series Twin Peaks in 2017.

Tributes have poured in for Sizemore following his passing, some of which can be seen below.

LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge