Key Takeaways
What this article is about
This article is about actor and advocate Gary Alan Sinise, born on March 17, 1955, in Blue Island, Illinois, and how he stepped back from Hollywood to care for his family after his son Mac was diagnosed with chordoma, a rare spinal cancer.
Family, illness and a hard choice
In 2018, his wife, actress Moira Harris, was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and underwent chemotherapy and radiation before being declared cancer-free. Around the same period, their son McCanna Anthony “Mac” Sinise, born on November 10, 1990, in Los Angeles, was diagnosed with chordoma, a tumor that grows along the spine and skull base.
The crisis pushed Sinise to scale back his acting work from 2019 onward so he could become, in his own phrase, an “air traffic controller” for his son’s care.
Loss, legacy and ongoing work
Mac died on January 5, 2024, at the age of 33, after years of treatment and a battle his father describes as marked by grace and courage.
Before his death, Mac completed the album project Resurrection & Revival; proceeds from the releases now support the Gary Sinise Foundation, as he requested.
Sinise continues to chair the foundation, which has built specially adapted smart homes for severely wounded veterans and provides extensive support to service members and first responders.
Why his story matters now
Sinise recently returned to national television as co-host of the National Memorial Day Concert, while also executive-producing the documentary Brothers After War and promoting Mac’s music so that his son’s voice continues to be heard.
He often speaks about the comfort he finds in being a grandfather and about choosing new projects only when they allow him to stay close to his family home in Tennessee.
Story & Details
A public life before a private storm
Long before his name was associated with veterans’ advocacy, Gary Sinise was known worldwide for roles in films such as Forrest Gump and Apollo 13 and for his lead part in the television series CSI: NY.
Born on March 17, 1955, he grew up in Illinois and co-founded the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where he became a driving force in Chicago’s theatre scene before moving into film and television.
Alongside his acting career he began visiting troops, performing with his Lt. Dan Band and raising funds for military families, efforts that eventually led him to establish the Gary Sinise Foundation in 2011.
When illness changed everything
In 2018, his family faced a series of life-altering diagnoses. Moira Harris received news of stage 3 breast cancer and started an intensive regimen that included multiple rounds of chemotherapy and 35 radiation sessions. After many months she was told she was cancer-free.
Around that time, their son Mac began experiencing persistent pain that was not easily explained. An MRI scan finally revealed chordoma, a rare and slow-growing but dangerous cancer that arises from remnants of the embryonic notochord in the bones of the spine and skull base.
Chordoma is diagnosed in only a tiny fraction of people each year, often near the base of the skull or at the sacrum, and it can be particularly challenging to treat because of its proximity to critical nerves and brain structures.
Stepping away from Hollywood for family
As Mac’s illness progressed, the demands of filming conflicted with the realities of treatment schedules, surgeries and long hospital stays. By 2019, Sinise had largely stepped away from new acting commitments in order to be fully present for his family.
During a six-month stretch in 2020, when Mac spent most of his time in hospital, Sinise stopped acting altogether. He took on the task of coordinating medical appointments, speaking with specialists, managing insurance details and handling the everyday burdens so his son would not have to.
Later, he and his wife relocated to Tennessee to be closer to their children and grandchildren, explaining that what he wanted most was ordinary time with his family.
Mac Sinise: courage, music and a too-short life
McCanna Anthony “Mac” Sinise grew up in a household that valued both performance and service. As an adult he worked for the Gary Sinise Foundation as a music manager and podcast creator while also composing and arranging his own music.
Born on November 10, 1990, in Los Angeles, he spent part of his childhood as an actor before gravitating more fully toward music production and composition.
Chordoma turned his thirties into a series of surgeries, rounds of radiation and experimental therapies. His father has described how doctors tried around two dozen different medications as they searched for options in a field where treatments are limited.
Despite the pain and the gradual loss of mobility, Mac continued to work, create and encourage others. Those close to him recall an attitude marked by grace, courage and an insistence on moving forward, even when the path narrowed.
He died on January 5, 2024, at the age of 33. Tributes remember him as a devoted son, a generous colleague and a musician whose work now carries his legacy into new lives and homes.
Resurrection & Revival: turning grief into sound
In the final years of his life, Mac poured his energy into an album project he called Resurrection & Revival. The music blends his original compositions with fresh arrangements of traditional melodies and standards, drawing on jazz, Americana and orchestral textures.
Mac asked that any proceeds from the album be directed to the Gary Sinise Foundation, binding his creative work to the cause that had shaped so much of his family’s public life.
After his death, Gary Sinise and producer Oliver Schnee worked with musicians, including members of the Lt. Dan Band, to finalize the tracks and bring both Part 1 and Part 2 of Resurrection & Revival to vinyl and digital platforms.
For Sinise, sharing this music is an act of remembrance and a way for listeners to encounter the imagination and resilience Mac carried through years of illness.
Brothers After War and a wider mission of service
Even as his family lived through illness and loss, Sinise continued to deepen his work on behalf of veterans, service members and first responders. The Gary Sinise Foundation reports that it has built dozens of specially adapted smart homes for severely wounded heroes, served large numbers of meals and sponsored many morale-building concerts and events.
As executive producer of the documentary Brothers After War, Sinise supports a film that follows director Jake Rademacher as he reconnects with soldiers and marines he served alongside while embedded during the Iraq War.
The documentary explores how veterans cope with trauma, loss and identity as they transition from war to civilian life, highlighting the bonds that remain long after the battlefield. Festival recognition and awards have underlined its impact as a piece of storytelling and advocacy.
Sinise has spoken about a gap between many civilians and those who serve, and projects like Brothers After War are part of his effort to close that distance by placing real stories and real faces at the center of public attention.
Concerts, grandchildren and a carefully chosen future
Even while avoiding long-running acting commitments, Sinise remains a familiar presence in national remembrance ceremonies. In 2025 he returned as co-host of the National Memorial Day Concert, a long-standing PBS program that combines music, documentary segments and dramatic readings to honor service members and their families.
He appears in tributes connected to major anniversaries, including those related to the Vietnam War and other significant moments in U.S. military history. Viewers see him not only as an actor but as a trusted host who bridges entertainment and commemoration.
Away from national stages, he talks warmly about being a grandfather and about the grounding effect of ordinary days with his daughters and grandchildren in Tennessee. He has said that any future acting work would need to fit around his responsibilities at home and at the foundation, rather than the other way around.
Conclusions
Love as the central decision
In the story of Gary Sinise over the last decade, career decisions orbit a simple choice: to stand beside a seriously ill wife and son and to redefine success as presence rather than visibility. He stepped back from the spotlight not because he ran out of roles, but because family needed him more.
Grief carried forward as service
The death of Mac left a void that no concert, documentary or fundraising campaign can fill. Yet through Resurrection & Revival, through public conversations about chordoma and through the ongoing work of the Gary Sinise Foundation, that loss has been reshaped into service for others who face war, illness and grief. The music raises funds; the foundation builds homes; the stories encourage those who feel alone.
A quieter, enduring kind of fame
Today, Sinise’s name appears less often in film credits and more often in the context of concerts, documentaries and charitable programs. It is a quieter fame, built on caregiving, advocacy and remembrance. In every adapted home, every tribute concert and every note of Mac’s music, there is a thread of continuity: a family choosing, again and again, to answer pain with presence and service.
Sources
People feature on Gary Sinise’s decision to leave Hollywood and his family’s health journey
https://people.com/gary-sinise-leaving-hollywood-losing-son-to-cancer-exclusive-11733744
Gary Sinise Foundation tribute to Mac Sinise and information on album proceeds
https://www.garysinisefoundation.org/mac-tribute
Biographical and career details on Gary Sinise
https://www.britannica.com/facts/Gary-Sinise
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Sinise
Background on chordoma and its treatment challenges
https://www.chordomafoundation.org/understanding-chordoma/
https://www.cancer.gov/pediatric-adult-rare-tumor/rare-tumors/rare-bone-tumors/chordoma
Medical overview of chordoma
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chordoma/symptoms-causes/syc-20580258
Discography and distribution details for Resurrection & Revival
https://store.garysinisefoundation.org/products/mac-sinise-resurrection-revival-on-vinyl-part-1-part-2
Overview of the Gary Sinise Foundation and its programs
https://www.garysinisefoundation.org/mission
Official site for Brothers After War
https://brothersafterwar.com/
Coverage of Brothers After War and Sinise’s comments on veterans
https://www.vfw.org/media-and-events/latest-releases/archives/2025/2/brothers-after-war-to-debut-nationwide-february-28
https://www.military.com/off-duty/movies/2025/02/26/why-gary-sinise-wants-every-us-service-member-and-veteran-see-brothers-after-war.html
Official site for the National Memorial Day Concert
https://www.pbs.org/national-memorial-day-concert/
YouTube recording of the National Memorial Day Concert from an official PBS channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhWIfKsaeFs
Appendix
Chordoma
Chordoma is a rare type of bone cancer that arises from remnants of the notochord, usually along the spine or at the base of the skull. It tends to grow slowly but can be locally aggressive because it develops close to vital nerves and brain structures, and it affects only a very small number of people each year.
Gary Sinise
Gary Alan Sinise is an American actor, director and humanitarian born on March 17, 1955, in Blue Island, Illinois. He is widely known for his roles in Forrest Gump, Apollo 13 and CSI: NY and for his long-standing commitment to honoring and supporting military personnel, veterans and first responders.
Gary Sinise Foundation
The Gary Sinise Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 2011 to support service members, veterans, first responders and their families. Its programs include building specially adapted smart homes, offering community events and concerts and providing educational and wellness initiatives aimed at easing the burdens of those who serve.
Mac Sinise
McCanna Anthony “Mac” Sinise, born on November 10, 1990, in Los Angeles, California, was a musician, composer and member of the Gary Sinise Foundation team. He managed music-related projects, hosted a podcast and created original compositions, including the two-part album Resurrection & Revival. He lived for several years with chordoma and died on January 5, 2024, at the age of 33.
National Memorial Day Concert
The National Memorial Day Concert is an annual public television program broadcast from Washington, D.C. It features musical performances, documentary segments and dramatic readings that honor the service and sacrifice of members of the United States armed forces, veterans and their families. Gary Sinise has served for many years as one of its principal hosts.
Resurrection & Revival
Resurrection & Revival is a two-part music project created by Mac Sinise and completed with the help of producer Oliver Schnee and other collaborators. The albums mix original pieces with new arrangements of traditional songs, and proceeds from sales are directed to the Gary Sinise Foundation, fulfilling Mac’s wish that his art should continue to support causes he cared about.
My Diary - Leonardo Cardillo 