Early life

Sinise was born in Blue Island, Illinois, the son of Millie and Robert L. Sinise, who was a film editor. He attended Highland Park High School in Highland Park, Illinois, and continued his education at Illinois State University, in Normal, 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 honed his acting and directing skills and worked on more than thirty of the company's productions.

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. Sinise has appeared in many films including: Forrest Gump, Of Mice and Men (which he also directed), Apollo 13, Reindeer Games,Snake Eyes, Mission to Mars, The Stand, Impostor and The Green Mile. He also narrated the audio books for John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley and Of Mice and Men.

In 2004, he began his first regular television series, in the crime drama CSI: New York, in which he plays Detective Mac Taylor. Several episodes have allowed Sinise to demonstrate his musical prowess, including a Season 2 episode where Mac Taylor plays the bass guitar in a jazz club with musicians Kimo and Carol Williams and Danny Gottlieb, members of the Lt. Dan Band, which Sinise and Kimo Williams co-founded in 2003. The band is named for Sinise's character in Forrest Gump.

Apart from his television and movie work, Sinise is the host in the video for the Epcot ride Mission: SPACE, at Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL and the current model for Baume&Mercier watches.He also co-founded Operation Iraqi Children.

Personal life

Sinise 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.
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