Actor Gary Sinise, who recently starred in “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” but is perhaps best known for his role as Lt. Dan Taylor in the Oscar-winning film “Forrest Gump,” was named Monday the grand marshal of the 2018 Rose Parade.
Tournament of Roses President Lance Tibbet hailed Sinise for his years of work in support of veterans, saying it made him the perfect choice to lead a parade with the theme of “Making a Difference.” Sinise has long supported the U.S. military through the Gary Sinise Foundation, which offers support to military families.
“Gary’s humanitarian work with our defenders, veterans, first responders and their families over the years embodies our theme to the fullest,” Tibbet said. “As members of a community, a country and a planet, we all have the ability, power and responsibility to help one another and as Gary likes to say, we can always do a little more.”
As grand marshal, Sinise will lead the 129th Rose Parade on Jan. 1 and take part in festivities at the 104th Rose Bowl Game.
The 62-year-old actor’s best-known television role was starring as New York Police Department Detective Mac Taylor in the 2004-13 CBS police procedural “CSI: NY.”
Sinise has received two Emmy nominations in his career, both for portrayals of elected officials. He received the Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie in 1998 for TNT’s “George Wallace,” two years after being nominated in the category for HBO’s “Truman.”
Sinise’s other television credits include the 1994 ABC miniseries “The Stand”; the 1989 and 2003 “Hallmark Hall of Fame” productions “My Name is Bill W.” and “Fallen Angel”; and Showtime’s 1999 adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “That Championship Season.”
Sinise received a best supporting actor Oscar nomination in 1995 for his portrayal of Army platoon leader Lt. Dan Taylor in “Forrest Gump.” Sinise later appeared in two other films with “Forrest Gump” star Tom Hanks, “Apollo 13” and “The Green Mile.”
Sinise’s other film credits include “Ransom”; “Snake Eyes”; “The Forgotten”; “The Human Stain”; “Imposter”; “It’s the Rage”; “Reindeer Games”; “Mission to Mars”; “A Midnight Clear”; “Jack the Bear”; “The Quick and the Dead”; “The Big Bounce” and “Albino Alligator.”
Sinise was born March 17, 1955, in the Chicago suburb of Blue Island, Illinois. His acting career began on the stage when he was 18 and co-founded the famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago with friends Jeff Perry, now a cast member on the ABC drama “Scandal,” and Terry Kinney, whose career as an actor and director includes a Tony nomination in 1990 for best featured actor in a play for “The Grapes of Wrath.” Sinise starred in that play and received a Tony nomination for best featured actor in a play.
Sinise was the company’s artistic director for seven years and has starred in more than a dozen of its productions including the 2001 revival of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” which brought him a best actor in a play Tony nomination under Kinney’s direction.
–City News Service