Gary Sinise

Gary Alan Sinise (/səˈniːs/; born March 17, 1955) is an American actor, director, and musician. Among other awards, he has won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and has been nominated for an Academy Award.

Sinise is known for several memorable roles. These include George Milton in Of Mice and Men, Lt. Dan Taylor in Forrest Gump (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), Harry S. Truman in Truman (for which he won a Golden Globe), Ken Mattingly in Apollo 13, Detective Jimmy Shaker in Ransom, and George C. Wallace in the television film George Wallace (for which he won an Emmy). He is also known for starring as Detective Mac Taylor in the CBS series CSI: NY from 2004 to 2013.

On October 22, 2015, Sinise was presented with the Sylvanus Thayer Award at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

Early life

Sinise was born in Blue Island, Illinois, son of Robert L. Sinise, a film editor, and his wife Mylles (Alsip) Sinise. His paternal grandfather was of Italian descent, Sinise's great-grandfather Vito Sinisi having immigrated from Ripacandida. Sinise briefly attended Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and later graduated from Highland Park High School in Highland Park, Illinois. followed by Illinois State University. In 1974, Sinise and two friends, Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry, founded the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Since then, Steppenwolf has showcased the talents of notable actors such as Joan Allen, Kevin Anderson, Gary Cole, Ethan Hawke, Glenne Headly, John Mahoney, John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf, Martha Plimpton, Jim True-Frost and most recently William Petersen. Sinise honed his acting and directing skills at Steppenwolf, and received a Joseph Jefferson Award for his direction of Lyle Kessler's play Orphans. That took him from Chicago to New York City, and then to London's West End, where he worked on more than thirty of the company's productions.