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'Gary Alan Sinise' (born March 17, 1955) is an Emmy and Golden Globe winning, Golden Palm and Academy Award nominated American actor and film director. In 1992, he directed the film and played the role of George Milton in the movie adaption of ''Of Mice and Men''. Sinise was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1994 for his role as Lieutenant Dan Taylor in ''Forrest Gump''. He won a Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries for his role in ''Truman''. In 1996, he played a corrupt cop in the Ron Howard dramatic hit ''Ransom''. In 1998, Sinise was awarded an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for ''George Wallace''.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life

Filmography

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Sinise was born in Blue Island, Illinois. For a time he attended Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. In 1974, Sinise and two friends, Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry, founded the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Since its founding, Steppenwolf has showcased the talents of such notable actors as Kevin Anderson, Joan Allen, Gary Cole, Glenne Headly, John Malkovich, Jim True-Frost and Laurie Metcalf. At Steppenwolf, Sinise was able to hone his acting and directing skills.

Career

In 1982, Sinise's career began to take off when he directed and starred in Steppenwolf's production of ''True West''. In 1983, he earned an Obie Award for his direction and a year later appeared with John Malkovich in the PBS' ''American Playhouse'' production of the play. In 1988, Gary directed ''Miles from Home'', a movie starring Richard Gere, about two brothers' fight against the foreclosure of the family farm. It is considered a commentary on the issue that troubled many family farms in the 1980s. It was shot entirely on location in Iowa.
Sinise has also appeared in ''Forrest Gump'', ''Of Mice and Men'', ''Apollo 13'', ''Reindeer Games'', ''Mission to Mars'', ''The Stand'' and Impostor. He has starred in two adaptations of John Steinbeck novels, ''Of Mice and Men'', which he also directed, as well as the television broadcast version of ''The Grapes of Wrath''. He also narrated the audio books for ''Travels with Charley'' and ''Of Mice and Men'' and is reportedly a great Steinbeck fan. Sinise once directed an episode of ''Thirtysomething'', where his friend Terry Kinney had a recurring role.
In 2004, he began his first regular television series, in the crime drama '', in which he plays Detective Mac Taylor. Sinise's musical prowess is demonstrated in '' season 2 episode 14, where, in the last moments of the episode, he plays the bass guitar in a jazz club with musicians Kimo and Carol Williams. Kimo Williams is a real life friend outside of television, and they belong to a band called the Lt. Dan Band, which frequently plays for the USO and other events.
He has appeared in three films with Tom Hanks: ''Forrest Gump'', ''Apollo 13'', and ''The Green Mile''.
It is rumored that he will play Dr. McCoy in ''Star Trek'', a film reimagining of ''Star Trek''. ^{[1] [2]}
He is the host in the video for the Epcot ride , at Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL.

Personal life

Since 2003, he has been involved with the Lt. Dan Band, performing for charities and non-profit organisations including the United Service Organizations and Operation Iraqi Children. The band is named for the character Sinise plays in ''Forrest Gump''; he plays bass for the band.
He has been married to actress Moira Harris since 1981 and they have three children together: Sophia Ana (b. 1988), McCanna Anthony (b. 1990), and Ella Jane (b. 1992).
In 2003, Sinise was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters by Amherst College.
Sinise has been actively supporting United States troops and has plans of going to Iraq to show his appreciation. Most recently, he has donated $35,000 in support of a veterans hospital. ^[3]

Filmography

Year	Film	Role
1984	''Family Secrets'' (TV)	Motorcyclist
	''True West'' (TV broadcast of the play)	Austin
1989	''The Final Days'' (TV)	Richard Ben-Veniste
	''My Name is Bill W.'' (TV)	Ebby, Bill's best friend
1991	''The Grapes of Wrath'' (TV broadcast of the play)	Tom Joad
1992	''Of Mice and Men''	George Milton
	''A Midnight Clear''	Vance 'Mother' Wilkins
	''The Witness'' (TV)	Young Soldier
1993	''Jack the Bear''	Norman Strick
1994	''Forrest Gump''	Lt. Dan Taylor
	''The Stand'' (TV miniseries)	Stu Redman
1995	''Truman'' (TV)	Harry S. Truman
	''Apollo 13''	Ken Mattingly
	''The Quick and the Dead''	The Marshal
1996	''Ransom''	Det. Jimmy Shaker
	''Albino Alligator''	Milo
1997	''George Wallace'' (TV)	George C. Wallace
1998	''Snake Eyes''	Commander Kevin Dunne
1999	''The Green Mile''	Burt Hammersmith
	''It's the Rage''	Morgan
	''That Championship Season'' (TV)	Tom Daley
2000	''Bruno''	Dino Battaglia
	''Mission to Mars''	Jim McConnell
	''Reindeer Games''	Gabriel Mercer
2001	''A Gentleman's Game''	Foster Pearse
2002	''Path to War''	George Wallace (uncredited)
	''Made-Up''	Duncan Tivey
	''Impostor''	Spencer Olham
2003	''Fallen Angel'' (TV)	Terry
	''The Human Stain''	Nathan Zuckerman
	(Disney Ride)	Capcom
2004	''The Forgotten''	Dr. Jack Munce
	'' (TV series)	Det. Mac Taylor
	''The Big Bounce''	Ray Ritchie
2006	''Open Season''	Shaw (voice)

References

1. http://movies.ign.com/articles/768/768337p1.html
2. http://movies.ign.com/articles/771/771425p1.html
3. http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_123064707.html

External links

★ Gary Sinise Bio at CBS - CSI: NY

★ Gary Sinise

★

★ Lt. Dan Band homepage

★ MP3 of Gary Sinise Interview with KFI Host John Ziegler - Part 1, 2, 3, 4