Gary Sinise’s son Mac’s death leads to outpouring of celeb support

Gary Sinise revealed on Tuesday that his 33-year-old son McCanna ‘Mac’ Sinise lost his battle with a rare cancer called Chrodoma last month.

The 68-year-old actor wrote a touching tribute to Mac on his Gary Sinise Foundation website, which revealed he passed away on January 5 and was interred January 23. 

He posted the tribute on his official X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram accounts, which lead to a slew of celebrity tributes. 

Celebs such as Angie Harmon, Alyssa Milano, Chazz Palminteri, Mary McCormack, Melina Kanakaredes and more offered their condolences.

Harmon stated, ‘We are so sorry Gary. You & your family are deeply loved by so many. We are praying for all of you. Love you so very much.’

Milano wrote, ‘I’m so sorry, Gary. I’m praying for your family. And sending you love and strength.’

Palminteri added, ‘My deepest condolences, Gary… My family will pray for you and your family to stay strong… God bless my friend.’

McCormack also commented, stating, ‘I’m so sorry. Praying for your family,’ with a red heart emoji.

His CSI: NY co-star Kanakaredes added, ‘Gary, our deepest sympathies. Sending you, Moira and the girls so much love and light! May Mac’s memory be eternal.’

Actor Michael Beach added, ‘So sorry for you and the family. I love you my friend.’

The comments were all made on Sinise’s Instagram post, which has received over 28K likes in the 10 hours since it was posted.

He also posted the tribute through the Foundation’s X (formerly Twitter) page, where even more celebs chimed in.

Actress Patricia Heaton stated, ‘Friends, please reach out to my pal Gary, who recently lost his only son Mac to cancer. Mac put up a valiant fight, with the help of his devoted family and teams of dedicated doctors who did their best. This is a very special family, who give so much to the world, but now is the moment to give back some of that love.’

Sarah Palin added, ‘Beautiful family, extraordinary young man,’ while tagging Sinise and his foundation. 

James Woods added, ‘People call each other “brother,” but I don’t believe in that. If I did, however, Gary Sinise would be the man I would say it to. His loss is beyond words, but my heart is full of him today. May God bless him and his family in this terrible time.’

Actor Matthew Marsden stated, ‘Mac was one of the most wonderful human beings I ever met, from one of the best families I know. This is heartbreaking. Please pray for the Sinise family at this very difficult time.’

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee added, ‘Not a finer person on Earth than Gary Sinise & sincere condolences to him and his family.’

Fox News host Martha MacCallum added, ‘I am praying for your beautiful boy in heaven, and your wonderful family. God Bless.’

Author and commentator Andrew Klavan stated, ‘The best of men suffers the worst of tragedies. There are no words for this. God bless @garysinise and Mac and his family.’ 

Fox 11 Los Angeles anchor Elex Michaelson added, ‘This is so heartbreaking. Sending love to Gary Sinise & family after the loss of his son Mac to cancer.’ 

The Oak Ridge Boys’ Joe Bonsall added, ‘Just heard the sad news that the great Gary Sinise lost his 33 year old son Mac to a rare form of cancer … I am praying that the Holy Spirit will guide this family through this immeasurable loss … Gary is a great American.’ 

In a lengthy tribute to his son, Sinise recalled the twin tragedies of 2018, when his wife Moria was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in June, before Mac received his chordoma diagnosis in August.

While Moira would eventually go into remission after successful surgery to remove lymph nodes, followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatments, her son was less fortunate. 

Sinise shared that his son underwent surgery in September 2018 to remove a tumor on his spine, followed by a second surgery in February 2019 to combat an infection.

The family got bad news in May of that year when a follow-up scan revealed that Mac’s tumor had returned, and the cancer had spread.

Despite his worsening condition and difficult treatments, Sinise wrote that his son continued to come into the foundation’s office regularly, and after he was unable to he continued to work behind the scenes.

The actor revealed that Mac’s final project for the foundation was a podcast interview with father and son. 

Even after he stepped back to focus on his treatments and health, Mac turned to one of his passions: music.

Sinise wrote that his son could not longer play his main instruments, drums and piano, so he assumed ‘music was a thing of the past.’

Mac had studied at the University of Southern California’s Thorton School of Music, where he had begun work on an unfinished composition later titled Arctic Circles — ‘inspired by the wintery nature shows he loved watching while lying in his hospital bed’ — and he became determined to complete it before his time was up.

‘The cancer had paralyzed him from the chest down, but he still had limited use of his right arm, and fingers on his left hand,’ Sinise explained.

Mac could still select musical notes with a stylus strapped to his hand, and members of his dad’s Lt. Dan Band collaborated with him to hone the piece.

Mac’s friend from USC, the composer Oliver Schnee, also collaborated with him to make the final touches on the arrangement, before Mac paid for recording sessions.