Biography
Gary Alan Sinise (; born March 17, 1955) is an American retired actor. He has won a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three Actor Awards, and has been nominated for an Academy Award. He has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Sinise has also received awards and honors for his extensive humanitarian work and involvement with charitable organizations, notably the Gary Sinise Foundation, of which he is the founder and chairman of the board of directors. He also founded the Lt. Dan Band (named after his character in Forrest Gump), which plays at U.S. military bases around the world.
Sinise's career started on stage with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company (which he co-founded) in 1983 when he directed and starred in a production of Sam Shepard's True West for which he earned an Obie Award. Sinise directed Orphans by Lyle Kessler on Broadway in 1985. Also in 1985, he earned the Regional Theatre Tony Award alongside the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. He also received Tony Award nominations for his performances in The Grapes of Wrath (1988) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (2001).
