Lieutenant Dan. Mac Taylor. Ken Mattingly. How ever you know him best, you know Gary Sinise. Hailing from the Chicago area, he was bitten by the acting bug early on, and has made a very good name for himself on TV, in films, and at the theatre. At age 18, he and two friends founded Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, a thriving and acclaimed troupe Gary returns to regularly, in between all his Hollywood gigs. He’s won an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and two SAG awards, and been nominated for three Tony awards and an Oscar—not to mention countless others. He’s an actor, a director, and even a musician, who plays electric bass in his own band. He’s also a philanthropist and a humanitarian, and was awarded the Presidential Citizen Medal, the second highest honor an American can receive. He’s had some very memorable roles on the big screen, including Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump (1994), George Milton in Of Mice and Men (1992) (a film he also directed), Ken Mattingly in Apollo 13 (1995), Det. Jimmy Shaker in Ransom (1996), Burt Hammersmith in The Green Mile (1999), and Gabriel in Reindeer Games (2000). Gary also played Spencer Olham in Imposter(2001), getting naked in the shower while the opening credits rolled; it’s only a waist up shot, but it’s worth a peek. Or two. Or three. Of course, the actor hasn’t only conquered the big screen, he’s all over the little screen, too. He’s was Stu Redman in the mini-series The Stand (1994), Harry S. Truman in the TV movie Truman (1995), Mac Taylor on CSI: NY from 2004-2013, Jack Garrett in Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders from 2016-2017, and Robert Ellman in 13 Reasons Why in 2020. But really, there are so many more reasons to love Gary.
