Tom Sizemore
Tom Sizemore is a versatile actor who has acting in many major motion pictures since the late 1980s. Born in 1961, Sizemore is known for his intense character portrayals. He has had notable roles in popular movies such as Passenger 57, True Romance, Heat, Enemy of the State, Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down, and Paparazzi, to name just a few.
I personally thought that Sizemore was perfect in Heat, Enemy of the State, and Paparazzi. He played villains in all three and made his characters very believable and very unlikable. Sizemore is arguably one of the underrated actors of his generation.
Sizemore also fronts the Hollywood rock band Day 8. The band, formed in 2002, has recorded a 4-song EP. Several of the band's practically unlistenable songs can be heard on the band's MySpace page.
Sizemore has achieved enviable professional and monetary success through his acting roles and should be, metaphorically speaking, living on Cloud 9. Sizemore, however, apparently has had difficulty living under the spotlight, has succumbed to various addictions, and is dealing with serious anger management issues and an unsightly body that appears to become fatter and more disgusting every I see a new picture of him.
Sizemore was convicted in 2003 of assault and battery against his girlfriend, the former "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss. Fleiss' testimony in the case was rather shocking and Sizemore was sentenced to 17 months in jail and four months in drug treatment in March 2005 for repeatedly failing drug tests while on probation.
Sizemore has also had other well-publicized run-ins with the law. In 2005, he tried to manipulate his required drug tests by using a fake penis sewn into his boxer shorts and filled with a clean urine sample kept warm by a heating pack. The temperature of the urine sample proved too cool to have come from his body, and he was asked to remove his pants. Sizemore had been caught once before trying to use a similar device, sold over the Internet under the brand name the “Whizzinator”, and had failed drug tests on at least five occasions. Sizemore subsequently failed two drug tests on the days following the fake penis incident, showing he had methamphetamines in his system.
On May 8, 2007, while still on probation for a previous drug conviction, Sizemore was again arrested outside the Four Points Sheraton hotel in Bakersfield, California. Police found what appeared to be two bags of methamphetamines and three meth pipes in his 2004 Ford Mustang. Police were called after parole and dealer Jason Salcido challenged a hotel employee to a fight after being refused check-in. Police found a meth pipe on Salcido and found Sizemore waiting in his car outside the hotel. On June 25, Sizemore was sentenced to 16 months in prison. Sizemore's sentence was cut in half, to 8 months, two days later, on June 27.
Sizemore is also one of many washed up stars (see e.g., Dustin Diamond) to have a sex tape released to the public. On August 18, 2005, about eight hours of a celebrity sex tape starring Sizemore was published on the Internet. The material has since become available on DVD. In seeking to recover money from sales of the tape, Sizemore claimed that his battles with the law have decimated his personal fortune, leaving him homeless and with a mere $8 to his name.
Sizemore has also recently appeared in his own reality TV series on VH1, Shooting Sizemore. In the series Sizemore shows the world just how washed-up he has become as he battles his legal issues, drug addictions, and weight gain. For this and reasons discussed above, Tom Sizemore is one washed-up celebrity!
FYI, in researching Sizemore, I discovered this picture of him holding hands with Val Kilmer at a movie premier. I always thought that Sizemore was as straight as an arrow, but now I'm not so sure, as this photo raises doubts about Sizemore's hetero street cred.