Beloved CSI: NY Star Gary Sinise Vanished From The Spotlight. Where Is He Now?

Gary Sinise is a face most people over the age of 20 will recognize from a number of his iconic roles. Whether it's his long run on the TV show "CSI: NY" or any of his memorable films like "Forrest Gump," "Apollo 13," "Of Mice and Men," and "The Green Mile," there's likely at least one project they know the talented actor from. Throughout his acting career, he has also earned a slew of awards, including an Emmy and a Golden Globe. 

But after 2020, when Gary appeared in the Netflix show "13 Reasons Why" and the movies "I Still Believe" and "Joe Bell," he seemed to disappear from the entertainment industry. So, what exactly happened? Unfortunately, the main reason he stepped back from acting was that, in the late 2010s, his family members received two major health diagnoses. In summer 2018, his wife, Moira Sinise, was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Then, only weeks later, the couple's 27-year-old son, McCanna "Mac" Anthony Sinise, was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer called chordoma. While Gary initially continued acting for a time, it was his son's eight-month-long stay in a hospital in 2020 that led him to finally pause his career. 

In an interview with People in 2025, Gary said, "That's when I stopped acting. I started putting everything I had into trying to find a miracle for Mac." Talking about his mindset during this time, he added, "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." Mac underwent multiple spinal surgeries and had more treatments, but the cancer continued to decimate his health. Mac died on January 5, 2024. 

Both Gary Sinise's wife, Moira Sinise, and his son, Mac Sinise, received cancer diagnoses around the same time, but while Mac's cancer returned after the initial tumor was removed, Moira responded well to treatment. She eventually went into remission, and her cancer has not returned. Through the cancer treatments and after, Gary has kept busy with charity work and other meaningful projects. Years before the family health struggles, in 2011, he founded the nonprofit the Gary Sinise Foundation. Inspired by his "Forrest Gump" role as Lt. Dan Taylor, the organization's mission is "honoring our defenders, veterans, first responders, their families, and those in need ... by creating and supporting unique programs designed to entertain, educate, inspire, strengthen, and build communities."

Gary has continued his work with the organization through all of this, and Mac even took part in some projects with the nonprofit before his death. While that work is ongoing, Gary also started an important and personal project with Mac. In 2023, Mac, a musician, brought out a piece of music he wrote in college called "Arctic Circles." With the help of some old friends and musical talents, Mac was able to finish and record the piece, and this led him to start putting together an album called "Resurrection & Revival." The album was released after Mac's death, and since then, Gary has compiled more of his son's original music into other albums as well.

Meanwhile, Gary and Moira moved to Nashville and spend a lot of their time with their daughters, Sophie Sinise and Ella Sinise, and their grandkids. "It's just the most wonderful thing," the "CSI: NY" cast member told People in an interview. "Since losing Mac, I hold my daughters a lot tighter. You think about the things that are really important."