Gary Sinise's 41-Year Marriage With Wife Moira Was Called Off Before 'Sparks Flew Again'

Jul 28, 2022

In Hollywood, not all relationships last for a long time, but some couples show the world that when you find the right person, the love can last a lifetime. Some examples of long and enduring partnerships that continue to only become stronger through the years are Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, Tom Selleck and Jillie Mack, and Denzel and Pauletta Washington. Another great example that can be added to this list is the marriage between Moira Harris and Gary Sinise.

Most people remember Sinise from his role as Lt. Dan in the hit movie "Forrest Gump." However, Sinise has achieved much more than the movies he has starred in and continues to make an impact on hundreds of lives every year through his work at his foundation. Moreover, he has also worked in theater as well as in television series. He has won several accolades and awards for his movies, and most impressively, he has won various national honors for his humanitarian work with veterans. He continues to be recognized for his dedication to the United States troops even today.

Sinise has also published a book, "Grateful American," which details his life and experiences as he reflects on blessings, gratitude and giving back to his community. This is not a typical memoir that celebrities write, but Sinise is no typical celebrity. Even though his life has been lived honorably, he has been through difficulties and challenges that he has overcome with the support of his family. We are taking a look at the life of this celebrated actor, the joys and struggles he has faced, and the secret to his long marriage.

Read on to learn more about Gary Sinise and his wife, Moira Harris. 

Sinise was born in Blue Island, Illinois, to parents Robert L. Sinise and Mylles Sinise. When he was in high school, The Washington Post reported that he had been an indifferent student who played in a rock band and frequented the "Glass Hallway" in his school, a place notorious for being the hangout of the "longhairs, slackers and stoners." In his book "Grateful American: A Journey from Self to Service," he wrote that the drama department head at Highland Park High School, Barbara Patterson, said three words that changed the course of his life: "Come and audition." 

At the time, Patterson was putting on the play "West Side Story" and thought that Sinise would make a good gang member. "I found this new place that felt like home," the actor told The Washington Post. This small event completely transformed Sinise's life so much so that he co-founded the Tony-award-winning Steppenwolf Theatre Company. It began as a small project in a Highland Park church basement, but today it stands as a celebrated, multi-million dollar building in Chicago's Lincoln Park. 

He was only 18 years old when he brought the Steppenwolf to life and has made a very successful career through acting. Alongside his friends Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry, Sinise founded the theater company and has used it to not only propel himself forward in the entertainment world but also several other notable stars. Actors such as Gary Cole, Ethan Hawke, John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf and Martha Plimpton are just some of the well-known stars who have showcased their skills and talents on the Steppenwolf stage.

As he pursued a career as an actor, he began to get recognized for his work. His first merit was an Obie Award in 1982 for his direction of the Steppenwolf production "True West." His true breakthrough, however, came with his role as Lt. Dan in the acclaimed 1994 movie "Forrest Gump." Not only did this role earn him an Oscar nomination and put him on the map in Hollywood, but it also steered his life into a purpose that he has made into his life's work ever since. 

In the movie, Sinise's role as the bitter veteran who was disillusioned with his life after having to go through a double amputation while on active duty was powerful. His portrayal of the character eventually coming to terms with his disability and thriving later on in the movie has remained with audiences for decades. His role resonated with veterans across America, which opened Sinise's eyes to the difficulties that veterans continue to face once they come back home. Speaking about his experience, Sinise told Saturday Evening Post: "Prior to doing the movie, I had been involved with Vietnam veterans groups, so I wanted to play that part very badly. But afterwards, vets reached out to me, and it just snowballed." 

He began the Lt. Dan Band in 2004, which he co-founded with musician Kimo Williams. He has since played hundreds of shows in front of active-duty troops and veterans, both in the United States and abroad. He also started the Gary Sinise Foundation in 2011, which has raised millions of dollars every year to create programs for military veterans and members on active duty to find communities and help with rehabilitation. Moreover, the foundation also provides smart homes for wounded veterans. 

According to the foundation's website, "... each home is mortgage-free and fully customized to the unique needs of the hero and their loved ones." Sinise also spoke about this initiative and reiterated that smart homes were created with each individual in mind and molded according to unique needs. "We figure out the best way to make life easier with things like kitchens that can be operated with a smartphone and cabinets that drop down to wheelchair height at the push of a button," he added. 

Sinise has also experienced what the pain of losing someone who is a veteran feels like, reported TIME Magazine. He watched his brother-in-law, a Vietnam veteran who served as an Army medic, die of cancer, which affected him deeply. He also has members from his family who served. “My dad served in the navy in the early 1950s during the Korean War, and then his two older brothers are both World War II veterans,” he told Route Magazine. He has continued to feel his purpose and duty towards veterans very deeply and writes in his book that he was thanked for his "hard work" after his role as Lt. Dan in 1994. 

"Hard work?!" he wrote, along with co-writer Marcus Brotherton. "Compared to what the people in this ballroom have gone through, my job isn't close to hard work. All I do is find my mark, say my lines. Hard work is being far from home and up to your elbows in dust, crawling along the ground while the enemy shoots at you." He also urges people to reach out to veterans and just talk to them, adding that you don't need a charitable foundation and millions of dollars to make a difference.

"I know that not everybody can get on an airplane and go over to a hospital in Germany or travel to war zones or do all the things that I'm doing," he said. "(But) if everybody in every neighborhood, in every community, in every city, in every town and in every state took a little bit of responsibility to reach out to the military families and say, 'What do you need? What can I do to help you?', the problems that veterans have (would be) minimized." 

Over the years, Sinise has received numerous humanitarian accolades and merits for his work with veterans. He has even received the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest honor the president can bestow on a civilian, for his continued efforts for his country. However, Sinise feels he is still far from done with his work. He aims to extend the impact of his foundation over the next few years. 

"The more I did, the more I felt I could do and the more I wanted to do," he told the Washington Post. "God pointed me in this direction and said you've had a lot of success; do some good with it."

Throughout his career, Sinise has also made sure to keep his family a priority in his life. The actor has been married to his wife, Moira Harris, for more than 40 years, and the couple shares three children together. Talking to Saturday Evening Post, Sinise said that he takes his children when he goes out to help veterans and includes them in activities.

"I've exposed my kids to a lot. I've taken them to the hospitals with me. I've taken them to the military bases. I've taken them to the charity events where they get to see our wounded and think about what their families are going through. And they've met the children of our fallen heroes," he said. "... It makes them think a little bit bigger about things.”

He elaborated that even though he is a movie star, his kids remain grounded because he has embraced his role as a father. "I'm just Dad. That's it. They've rarely watched me on TV. They're always telling me the actors they love, and I'll say, 'Do you ever watch my show?' They'll go, 'We see you every day, Dad.'"

Two of Sinise's children are following in his footsteps and going into creative pursuits. One of his daughters was cast in a play at the Steppenwolf in 2013, which Sinise's wife was also a part of, while at the time, his son was a drummer and going to music school. He even joined Sinise on stage to do shows with him! His other daughter was pursuing a degree in education.

While his fame has helped him in a lot of ways, such as making an impact on veterans and changing the course of his life's path, it also proved to be difficult to maneuver when it came to his family. The question of privacy always comes up when it comes to a famous person and the rest of their family. The paparazzi can often be relentless and, as a result, unbearable for the family.

"Of course, I had the challenge of adapting to fame in the early days. When I went from obscurity to being recognizable, I was wondering 'What's going on here?'" 

 

"Forrest Gump came out, and all of a sudden I was in a big movie and things were starting to change. My kids were also young, and I was trying to focus on taking care of my kids, and we went through our difficult times," he said.

However, the challenges did not deter Sinise and his wife. They celebrated 40 years of marriage in 2021. Harris also pursued a career in film but retired in 2003, which she briefly came out of in 2013 to be part of a play at the Steppenwolf. In his book, Sinise opened up about Harris' struggles with alcoholism. "I was not going to include it in the book unless she was supportive of that," he told The Washington Post. The news outlet reported that "Harris told her husband that she hoped this difficult chapter might help somebody going through a similar situation."

Sinise said about his wife: "My wife is hilarious. She's kept me laughing for all those years. What keeps relationships alive and fresh is when you entertain each other." He credits this sense of humor as the secret to the longevity of their marriage. He emphasized the importance of humor in the relationship in an interview reported by The BL in 2019. Speaking about what has kept his marriage strong for so long, Sinise said:

"A sense of humor. My wife's a loving, funny, Irish-spirited person, and I'm still surprised at some of the things she says. She makes me laugh every day."

It's no surprise that these two have been happy for four decades now, and hopefully, many more years of marriage to come. 

While Sinise and his wife clearly have a loving relationship that has lasted the test of time, they once almost didn’t go through with their long-term commitment to one another. In his book “Grateful American,” Sinise wrote about how he and Harris were afraid of taking the next step into marriage. The actor had a tough phone conversation with Harris just a few days before the wedding. During that talk, Harris admitted that she wasn’t “going to do it,” meaning she wasn’t going to get married. Sinise explained:

“We were both young. We’d been through our good times and some difficult times, and looking back I’m not surprised at her reluctance to get married. Deep down, I think we both had some fear about making lifelong vows.”

He continued: “I hung up and told my parents the wedding was off. I didn’t say much more than that, and let my parents deal with the mess of cancellations and everything else.”

Sinise and Harris went their separate ways for quite some time, not really speaking to each other during their break. In the summer of 1979, Sinise went out for a role and didn’t get it, and almost completely gave up on Hollywood completely. He met with Harris for what seemed like a goodbye meal, until “sparks flew again.” Sinise said that from that point on, the pair “formally rekindled” their relationship, and the rest, as they say, is history.

It seemed like fate kept bringing these two together as they have now happily celebrated 41 years of a successful marriage.

What do you think of Sinise's life story? Did you know about his efforts toward veterans? What do you think of his beautiful wife? Tell us your thoughts, and be sure to tell your friends and family about Lt. Dan's life today!