WASHINGTON–Lt. Dan shared his story with credit unions here. And it turns out, life can be like a box of chocolates—you never know what you’re going to get.
In the case of Gary Sinise, who rose to fame after playing Lt. Dan in the movie Forrest Gump and who has since played numerous other well-known roles, he pulled from that box a career he would have never imagined when he was young, and it has led to an extraordinary life of helping veterans, first responders and others.
‘You Look Like Gang Members’
Sinise, who noted Forrest Gump will turn 30 this year, shared how he struggled as a student from kindergarten through high school in Chicago, his only real interests being music and playing the guitar. He said he was failing most of his classes, and was slouching against a wall in high school with other long-haired fellow musicians when the drama teacher suddenly arrived, said the school was going to present West Side Story, which involves two gangs, the Sharks and the Jets.
“She said, ‘You look like gang members, come audition’,” Sinise related.
When he noticed the girls who were also auditioning, Sinise said he gave acting a try, and made the cast.
‘A Wonderful Community’
“This struggling kid discovered this wonderful community. I loved being in the play. The rest of my high school year all I wanted to do was plays, and play in the band,” he said.
Sinise never went to college, and instead formed a small theater company with some friends when they had no money and only a small place to put on shows. And while he’s best known for Forrest Gump and other movie roles, he might just as well be known for what that theater company became: the well-known Steppenwolf Theater Co. in Chicago, which just opened a multi-million-dollar complex and which this year turns 50.
But it was getting the part in Forrest Gump—a role he said he very much wanted due to all the Vietnam veterans in his family—that forever changed his life.
“Nobody knew who I was, and then I’m in the biggest film of 1994,” he related. “I went from anonymous actor to recognized actor. I had to get used to that.”
Another Life Change
Three decades later Sinise continues to be known as “Lt. Dan,” which is the name of his band. The role would lead to other roles as well as directing jobs and more.
But his life changed again on Sept. 11, 2001, the day of the terrorist attacks on the United States.
“It changed the course of my life,” Sinise told credit unions. “Freedom must be protected. Each day our defenders make sacrifices.”
He said his life is one of a “journey from self from service. And I don’t mean selfish, I mean self. I was focused on acting and the theater company and after that tragic day I turned toward service work. I was called to a new action, a way I could serve and help our nation by supporting and defending those who defend all of us.”
More Than $300 Million Raised
Sinise has since done more than 100 USO tours and given 550 concerts and raised more than $300 million through the Gary Sinise Foundation. It has built more than 90 homes for injured veterans and offers multiple other services.
“My goal is to provide a way for our fellow citizens to do a little more for our defenders,” he said.