Drugs, Rehab & Stealing Cars! ‘Forrest Gump’ Star Gary Sinise’s Dark Past Exposed
Feb. 12 2019, Published 7:10 p.m. ET
Long before Gary Sinise’s acting career took off with the role of Lieutenant Dan Taylor in the 1994 hit Forrest Gump, the legendary actor was a bad boy with a long history of drug use and run-ins with cops, RadarOnline.com can report. In his new book, Grateful American: A Journey From Self To Service, on shelves Tuesday, the actor revealed his crazy childhood growing up in Illinois, which involved bad grades, stealing cars and dabbling with drugs as a teenager. Click through the gallery to read exclusive details about Sinise’s party days.
Sinise, now 64, revealed in his new memoir that he tried alcohol for the first time before he even reached high school. In eighth grade, the actor snuck into his parents’ bar and drank whiskey, vodka, vermouth, gin and wine! He later was “grounded for a week.”
The CSI NY star also recalled turning to heavier substances in his teenage years. At ages 13 and 14, Sinise said snorting cleaning supplies became all the rage. “Kids sprayed oven cleaner into plastic bags and sniffed it, so of course I figured I needed to try,” adding that snorting spot remover gave him a “crazy buzz.”
Sinise admitted he “went crazy” for a couple of his high school years. At age 14, the actor was pulled over for stealing his friend’s father’s car and giving police a fake license. He got off the hook but, of course, was grounded again, he wrote.
Sinise also admitted to selling marijuana to an undercover cop at a high school party. He fled town and ultimately confessed to investigators. “I never sold pot again,” he admitted, noting he once away got away with the crime without an arrest.
Sinise has been married to actress Moira Harris for 37 years. The film icon, however, revealed the painful truth of his wife’s alcoholism. In 1995, he admitted Harris’ addiction became “scarier and scarier.”
Sinise recalled Harris hiding alcohol from him and seeking help from a psychologist to understand how to deal with his struggling wife. “I’d get rid of all the booze in the house, but then I’d open a top cabinet and find a bottle tucked far away in the back,” he wrote.
The loving husband made the painful decisions to check his wife into rehab – twice. After a three-month rehab stint in 1997, Sinise applauded his wife for not touching “a drop of alcohol” since.
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The legendary actor admitted that his marriage is still strong decades later. He also has transformed his life from playing a lieutenant in a smash film to creating the Gary Sinise Foundation, in which he dedicates his time to honoring veterans.
What do you think of the Forrest Gump actor’s shocking past of drug use and cop run-ins? Sound off in the comments!
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