Actor Tom Sizemore's life over the last three turbulent years has played out like a bad B-movie: convicted batterer of his ex-girlfriend, "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss; repeat drug offender; and even star of his own sex video on the Internet.
But on Thursday, the co-star of such hit films as "Saving Private Ryan" and "Black Hawk Down," whose career has spiraled out of control because of his legal and drug issues, showed up at the Los Angeles Airport Courthouse for a probation violation hearing in an entirely different role: beaming father of newborn twin sons.
The boys, Jagger and Jaedon, were born July 23 to Sizemore's ex-girlfriend, Janelle McIntire.
Outside court, Sizemore cradled the babies in his burly arms, kissing them on the forehead as news cameras recorded the moment.
Sizemore had another reason to be smiling. Minutes earlier, a judge had given the actor a legal reprieve.
Instead of sending him to state prison for up to three years, which she seemed inclined to do earlier this summer after Sizemore admitted violating numerous drug tests while on probation for methamphetamine possession, Superior Court Judge Paula Adele Mabrey instead ordered the actor to return to a live-in drug rehabilitation center in Pasadena for 30 days and allowed him to leave the facility to pursue acting jobs.
"I just want to stay healthy one day at a time and get back to work and take care of my family," said Sizemore, 43, as the babies yawned in their stroller near his feet. He added that having children "feels great" and was the "best thing that ever happened to me."
After reviewing a detailed medical report on Sizemore's stay at Las Encinas Hospital, Mabrey expressed hope that the actor had his life back on track.
"The next month should prove to us that you're going to stay sober -- clean and sober -- and work at the same time," Mabrey told him. He will be allowed to leave the center accompanied by a "sober companion" but must check back in each night and undergo periodic drug testing.
"I just want to get back to work," Sizemore said as he left the courtroom, accompanied by family and friends. "I know I have a difficult road ahead of me but I think I can meet that challenge.... I'm very proud to be a father and I just want to put this very difficult time behind me. I feel what doesn't kill you, in fact, makes you a stronger person."
