Who was Gary Sinise’s son Mac Sinise and what happened to him? Tragedy explored as actor talks Hollywood exit

Actor Gary Sinise has opened up about exiting Hollywood after the tragic death of his son, Mac Sinise, who suffered from a rare bone cancer and passed away in 2024.

Sinise stopped acting in 2019 to care for his son during his illness and has since chosen to focus on family life in Tennessee. According to an interview with People magazine, he aims to keep his son’s memory alive through music. Being a grandfather and focusing on family life in Tennessee also keeps him busy currently.

He recalled:

“He kept wanting to stay. He didn't want to go. But I know Mac was at peace at the end. He dealt with it with grace and courage.”

According to his IMDb profile page, Mac Sinise was born on November 10, 1990, in California, U.S. and his birth name was McCanna Anthony Sinise. He was an actor and music composer, known for Mission to Mars (2000), Luna & Lars (2015) and Impostor (2001). Mac was 33 when he passed away in January 2024 due to Spinal Cancer Chordoma.

Here is what else we know about Mac Sinise’s long battle with cancer.

When was Mac Sinise diagnosed with his cancer? Exploring his health struggles

On August 8, 2018, Mac Sinise was diagnosed with a rare cancer called Chordoma. In June, his mother was also diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, although she later went into remission.

Speaking to People magazine, the Forrest Gump actor Gary Sinise recalled how he felt on seeing his son's MRI scan.

“It looked like a monster grabbing my son’s spine.”

He revealed that his wife went through eight chemo treatments and 35 radiation treatments, and was declared cancer-free. However, Mac’s condition worsened. He underwent surgery in 2018 to remove a tumor that was discovered, but his cancer returned in May 2019 and started spreading. He underwent a third spine surgery in November 2019.

In January 2020, he underwent his fourth spine surgery, and this was the time he decided to step back from his role as an Assistant Manager of Education and Outreach at the Gary Sinise Foundation.

Sinise told People that when Mac was in hospital for six of the first eight months in 2020, he decided to stop acting.

“That’s when I stopped acting,” the actor said, adding: “I started putting everything I had into trying to find a miracle for Mac.”

He shared:

"I didn’t want Mac to be thinking of the next treatment or to worry. So I thought about cancer all the time. You’re trying to take the pain away. A few times I felt like I couldn’t do enough, or I didn’t know what to do. Then you say a little prayer, get back up and go back into the fight.”

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Mac Sinise was a graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music and had been interested in drumming since the age of nine. While in school, he continued drumming and studied songwriting and composition. Despite being paralyzed from chest down due to cancer, he continued to work on music, recording for an album which was titled Resurrection & Revival.

According to the New York Post, Gary Sinise is married to Moira Harris since 1981. They share two daughters, Sophie and Ella and five grandchildren.

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