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The GI Film Festival is pleased to announce that Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Gary Sinise will return to the GI Film Festival in 2010.  Sinise will be a special guest for an advanced screening of the new documentary Lt. Dan Band: For the Common Good directed by filmmaker and veteran of the 82^nd Airborne, Jonathan Flora.  Sinise will also screen a short documentary he produced about his Uncle Jack, who served as navigator on a B17 Flying Fortress during WWII.  Both films are scheduled to screen during the festival’s annual Wounded Warrior Appreciation Night, a special tribute to wounded warriors from Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospitals, Thursday, May 14, 2010 at the Carnegie Institution for Science.

Well-known for his unwavering commitment to our men and women in uniform, Gary Sinise is a former recipient of the GI Film Festival’s “GI Spirit Award,” which is presented to an entertainer who embodies the spirit of an American GI in their creative and philanthropic work.  Sinise received the award during the inaugural GI Film Festival in 2007.  The 2010 recipient is actor Ricky Schroder.

About Gary Sinise:

Gary Sinise’s portrayal of Lt. Dan in the Oscar winning film “FORREST GUMP” made him a mainstream movie star, and earned him nominations for an Academy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.   He received the Best Supporting Actor Award from the National Board of Review and the Commander’s Award from the Disabled American Veterans.  He then went on to take starring roles in the acclaimed “APOLLO 13” opposite Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon; the thriller “RANSOM” with Mel Gibson and Rene Russo; and in Brian DePalma’s psychological thriller “SNAKE EYES.”

Currently, Sinise is starring as Det. Mack “Mac” Taylor in CBS’s hugely successful “CSI: NEW YORK,” produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Anthony Zuiker.  He was recently seen in the Fox News documentary, “ON THE ROAD IN IRAQ WITH OUR TROOPS AND GARY SINISE,” which highlighted Gary’s 4^th USO Tour to the country, as well as his numerous humanitarian efforts. He was last seen on the big screen in Columbia Pictures’ “THE FORGOTTEN” with Julianne Moore, and “THE HUMAN STAIN” for director Robert Benton and Miramax films, opposite Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman and Ed Harris.  He also provided the voice of Shaw in Sony’s animated feature “OPEN SEASON.” Gary is the executive producer of “BROTHERS AT WAR,” which opened in 2009.  This film provides a rare look at the bonds and service of our soldiers on the frontlines, and the profound effects their service has on the loved ones they leave behind. Sinise recently narrated the Chicago Cubs documentary “WE BELIEVE” as well as History’s 10 part docudrama “WWII IN HD”.

In 2008 Gary received the Presidential Citizens Medal, which is the second highest civilian honor awarded to citizens for exemplary deeds performed in service of the nation.  Gary is only the second actor in history to receive it, the other Elizabeth Taylor, and only 100 people have received this honor in history.

As a result of Sinise’s first two trips to Iraq, he started “Operation Iraqi Children” with subsequent author Laura Hillenbrand.  Through this charitable organization, and with the support of corporate sponsors, schools in the United States can visit operationiraqichildren.org, and learn how to organize their own school drive to collect and send much needed classroom supplies to the children of Iraq.  “Operation Iraqi Children” also established the OIC/Katrina Relief Fund for people who wish to support sending school supplies and other children’s needs to those affected by hurricane Katrina.

Since 2003 Gary has traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan many times in support of the troops.  In his travels abroad he also performs with his Lieutenant Dan Band for the USO and for other military and veterans causes.  His travels include Germany, Italy, Singapore, Diego Garcia, South Korea, Guantanamo Bay, Kuwait, The United Arab Emerites, England, as well as tours around the United States.  Mr. Sinise also serves as the spokesperson for the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial Foundation, which is building a memorial for America’s 3 million living disabled military veterans.

At the age of 18, the Chicago native co-founded The Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago (along with Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry), where he served as Artistic Director for seven years.  He has since starred in over a dozen productions at the renowned theatre including the role of Tom Joad in “THE GRAPES OF WRATH,” for which he garnered a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award; as well as “TRUE WEST,” “BALM IN GILEAD,” “STREAMERS” and “THE CARETAKER.”  He received a Joseph Jefferson Award for Marsha Norman’s “GETTING OUT” at Chicago’s Wisdom Theatre.  He starred as Stanley Kowalski in “A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE,” and Randle Patrick McMurphy in “ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST” at Steppenwolf, the Barbican Theatre in London, and then Broadway in April 2001.

In 1982, Mr. Sinise directed the landmark production of Sam Shepard’s “TRUE WEST” at Steppenwolf and on Broadway, where he won an Obie Award.  In 1996, he also directed Sam Shepard’s “BURIED CHILD” which kicked off Steppenwolf’s 20th Anniversary and continued with a successful run on Broadway where it was nominated for five Tony’s, including one for Sinise for best director.  His other directing credits include “ORPHANS,” “TRACERS,”"FRANK’S WILD YEARS“, “THE MISS FIRECRAKER CONTEST,” “WAITING FOR PARADE,” “ACTION,” “ROAD TO NIRVANA” and “LANDSCAPE OF THE BODY“.  In 1985, he received a Joseph Jefferson Award for his direction of Lyle Kessler’s “ORPHANS,” which also played off-Broadway and in London with Albert Finney.

Sinise has also made his mark as a feature film director with “OF MICE AND MEN,” which he co-produced and co-starred in with John Malkovich, and “MILES FROM HOME” starring Richard Gere, Kevin Anderson, Helen Hunt and John Malkovich.  Both were screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

On television, he starred in “PATH TO WAR” directed by John Frankenheimer on HBO, Showtime’s adaptation of Jason Miller’s Pulitzer Prize winning play “THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON” directed by Paul Sorvino, award-winning performances in “TRUMAN” (Golden Globe, CableACE and Screen Actors Guild) and John Frankenheimer’s “GEORGE WALLACE” (Screen Actors Guild, Emmy and CableACE), as well as “MY NAME IS BILL W” with James Woods and Stephen King’s “THE STAND,” and on CBS/Hallmark’s “FALLEN ANGEL.”

His other film credits include Gary Fleder’s sci-fi thriller “IMPOSTER,” “IT’S THE RAGE,” John Frankenheimer’s “REINDEER GAMES,” Brian DePalma’s “MISSIONS TO MARS,” Frank Darabont’s  “THE GREEN MILE,” “A MIDNIGHT CLEAR,” Kevin Spacey’s directorial debut “ALBINO ALLIGATOR,” “JACK THE BEAR“, “THE QUICK AND THE DEAD” and “THE BIG BOUNCE.”

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