Gary Sinise
Born: March 17, 1955
Birthplace: Blue Island, Illinois
Instrument(s): Bass
Famous For...: Currently stars in CBS's CSI: New York as Detective Mac Taylor. He also plays bass in the Lt. Dan Band, named for his character in the popular film Forrest Gump.
Notable Achievements: Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Lieutenant Dan Taylor in Forrest Gump; won a Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries for his role in Truman; won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for the television film George Wallace.
Gary Sinise is an actor and director, currently starring in CBS's CSI: New York as Detective Mac Taylor. He also plays bass in the Lt. Dan Ban, named for the character he portrayed in the film Forrest Gump.
Sinise was born in Blue Island, Illinois, attended high school in Highland Park, Illinois, and continued his education at Illinois State University. In 1974, Sinise and two friends, Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry, founded the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where he developed his acting and directing skills and worked many of the company's productions.
Throughout the years, he earned awards for his roles as director and actor, starting in 1982 with Steppenwolf's production of True West, for which he earned an Obie Award in 1983. Since then, Sinise has appeared in many films, including Of Mice and Men (which he also directed), Apollo 13, Reindeer Games, Snake Eyes, Ransom, Mission to Mars, The Stand, Impostor and The Green Mile.
In 2004, he joined the cast of CSI: New York, and also has been credited as a producer and writer of some episodes. Sinise has showcased his musical talents on the show, including an episode where he plays 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.
Apart from his television and movie work, Sinise narrated the Discovery Channel's miniseries When We Left Earth, serves as the Executive Producer—along with David Scantling—of the Iraq War documentary Brothers at War, narrated a biography for Navy SEAL and Medal of Honor recipient Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor, co-founded Operation Iraqi Children, and was awarded the Presidential Citizen Medal by George W. Bush for his humanitarian contributions to Iraqi school children and his involvement in the USO. In 2009, Sinise co-narrated the National Memorial Day Concert on the Mall in Washington, D.C. with Joe Mantegna.
