Actor Gary Sinise’s son, McCanna “Mac” Sinise, has died of cancer at age 33.
The “Forrest Gump” star, 68, revealed the heartbreaking news on the Gary Sinise Foundation website alongside a lengthy tribute.
Gary shared that his son died on Jan. 5, 2024, following a five-and-a-half-year battle with a rare form of cancer called chordoma.
“Like any family experiencing such a loss, we are heartbroken and have been managing as best we can. As parents, it is so difficult losing a child. My heart goes out to all who have suffered a similar loss, and to anyone who has lost a loved one,” the Emmy Award winner wrote.
“We’ve all experienced it in some way. Over the years I have met so many families of our fallen heroes,” he continued referencing his foundation’s work with veterans. “It’s heartbreaking, and it’s just damn hard.”
The “CSI: NY” actor revealed that Mac was first diagnosed with cancer in August 2018, just months after Gary’s wife, Moira Harris, was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.
Gary called the double diagnosis “a real punch in the gut” and immediately went online to learn about chordoma, calling it a “one in a million cancer” that originates in the spine and affects “on average, only 300 people in the U.S. per year.”
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Both mother and son underwent treatment and Moira, 69, went into remission.
Mac had surgeries in 2018 and the following year, only to learn that the cancer had returned and was spreading. After undergoing several more surgeries, Mac was confined to a wheelchair.
Aside from working at his father’s foundation, Mac was a talented drummer. He often joined Gary on tour with the Lt. Dan Band but when chordoma made drumming impossible, he taught himself to play the harmonica.
One of Mac’s last endeavors was completing his album, “Mac Sinise: Resurrection and Revival.”
“The week the album went to press, Mac lost his battle with cancer,” his father noted.
Gary shared that while his family’s “hearts ache at missing” his son, “we are comforted in knowing that Mac is no longer struggling…He fought an uphill battle against a cancer that has no cure, but he never quit trying.”
The actor called Mac “truly a light for all of us” and “an incredible inspiration.”
“Thank you, Mac. You did it. Resurrection & Revival will live on,” he concluded, acknowledging his son’s album. “And so will you. In our hearts forever. We were blessed to have you in our lives as son, brother, and friend…and we will miss you and love you for eternity. -Gary Sinise Proud father of Mac Sinise.”
Mac is survived by his parents, two sisters, Sophie, 35, and Ella, 32, and their children.
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