We wrote about the career and personal life of actor Tom Hanks, one of the highest-paid actors of all time, who became famous for his roles in comedy and family films as well as his success in drama films and crowned his performances with two Oscar Awards.
His full name is Thomas Jeffrey Hanks, he was born on July 9, 1956, in Concord, California. He was born to a Portuguese mother, hospital worker Janet Frager Marylyn, and to an English father, itinerant cook Amos "Bud" Hanks. Tom, whose parents divorced in 1960, stayed with their father, along with his brothers, a writer named Sandra and a professor named Larry. Tom's brother, Jim, an actor and filmmaker, stayed with his mother. Tom, who changed houses frequently with his family in his childhood, lived in 10 different houses when he was 10 years old.
Educated at Skyline High School in Oakland, California, Hanks acted in several school plays, including the musical "South Pacific." Hanks studied theater at Chabot College in California, then attended California State University, Sacramento. Hanks, who met Vincent Dowling during his theater education, became an intern at the festival upon Dowling's suggestion. Working in all aspects of theater, Hanks gained three years of experience and dropped out of college.
In 1978, Hanks won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his role as Proteus in Shakespeare's "The Two Gentlemen of Verona." In 2010, he was listed among the "Top 10 University Dropouts" by Time magazine. The following year, Hanks moved to New York, where he made his film debut with the slasher "He Knows You're Alone" (1980). He then starred in the television movie "Labyrinths and Monsters" based on the novel of the same name.
Later, Hanks played the character of Kip Wilson, who co-starred in the pilot of the TV sitcom "Bosom Buddies." Hanks, who moved to Los Angeles after receiving the role, received high marks for his performance despite the poor ratings. In 1984, he starred in the fantasy romantic comedy "Splash" directed by Ron Howard. The film was a surprise success at the box office and was critically acclaimed. Also in the same year, he became one of the leading roles in the sex comedy movie "The Bachelorette Party" and became a huge hit.
In 1986, he co-starred with Jackie Gleason in the comedy-drama film "Nothing in Common" (1986), directed by Garry Marshall. In addition to the admiration of the performances of the actress, it was also successful at the box office. In the same year, he followed up with the comedy "The Money Pit", directed by Richard Benjamin and co-starring with Shelley Long. In 1987, he co-starred with Dan Aykroyd in the fellow cop comedy "Dragnet" directed by Tom Mankiewicz. The film was a moderate success, after which Hanks' reputation in the film industry soared.
The following year, he took part in the fantasy comedy movie "Big"(1988) as the lead actor. His success in this movie made Hanks a major Hollywood talent in the industry, both as a box office winner and as an actor. For his performance, he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. This success was followed by the comedy-drama film "Punchline", written and directed by David Seltzer and co-starring with Sally Field.
Later, the black comedy movie "The 'Burbs"(1989), the fellow cop comedy "Turner & Hooch"(1989), the black comedy movie "Joe Versus the Volcano"(1990) and the black comedy movie "The Bonfire of the Vanities" "(1990) also took part. All of the films resulted in moderate success. In 1992, he appeared in the sports comedy-drama film A League of Their Own, with Geena Davis and Madonna in the role of a former baseball legend transforming into a manager. The film was met with both box office and critical success.
The following year, he co-starred with Meg Ryan in the romantic comedy-drama film "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993), directed by Nora Ephron. After its release, the film received positive reviews and became one of the highest-grossing films of 1993 with its gross. Later, he appeared in the legal drama film "Philadelphia" directed by Jonathan Demme. For the role, Hanks, who lost 35 pounds (16 kg) and thinned his hair, won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance. In addition, the film became the 9th highest-grossing film of 1993.
He continued this career success with his starring role in the epic comedy-drama movie "Forrest Gump" (1994), directed by Robert Zemeckis. The movie, which was released on July 6, 1994, garnered great critical success in every field. It also made it the second highest-grossing film of 1994. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, making him the second actor to win consecutive Best Actor Oscars.
The following year, he reunited with Ron Howard for his role as astronaut and commander Jim Lovell in the space documentary film "Apollo 13" directed by Ron Howard. Critics generally applauded the film and the performances of the actors, earning both nine Academy Award nominations. It was also able to achieve great success at the box office against its production budget. That same year, Hanks appeared in Disney/Pixar's CGI animated hit comedy "Toy Story," voicing Sheriff Woody. Upon its release, the film became the second highest-grossing film of 1995 and received critical acclaim.
Hanks made his directorial debut with the comedy "That Thing You Do!"(1996) and appeared as a music producer. It received moderate success and generally positive reviews. Hanks and producer Gary Goetzman founded Playtone, a record and film production company. He then executive produced, co-wrote and co-directed the HBO docudrama TV series "From the Earth to the Moon". The 12-episode series was nominated for seventeen Emmy Awards and won three. In addition, he won the Golden Lure Award. In the same year, he appeared as one of the leading roles in the epic war movie "Saving Private Ryan" directed by Steven Spielberg. It has earned praise and respect from both critics and audiences. The movie has been declared as one of the best war movies ever made. Additionally, it was the second highest-grossing film of 1998 at the box office.
That year, he reunited with Meg Ryan in the romantic comedy "You've Got Mail," a remake of a movie. Aside from mixed reviews, it did well at the box office. In 1999, Hanks starred in the fantasy drama film "The Green Mile", an adaptation of the Stephen King novel. The film gained a reputation as one of the most emotionally touching films of all time and was a commercial success. Later in the year, he returned in the same role in the sequel "Toy Story 2". The film received wide acclaim and topped lists of the greatest animated films ever made. It was also the third highest-grossing film of 1999.
In 2000, Hanks appeared in the drama film "Cast Away" directed by Robert Zemeckis. He earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and an Academy Award nomination for his performance. The film became the third highest-grossing film of 2000 and received generally positive reviews. The following year, he directed and produced the war drama mini-series "Band of Brothers" based on the book of the same name.
He then played an anti-hero role as a hitman on the run with his son in the crime drama "Road to Perdition" directed by Sam Mendes and based on the comic book of the same name. It was received both critically and positively at the box office. That same year, he starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the biographical crime drama film "Catch Me If You Can" directed by Steven Spielberg. The film was a critical and commercial success. Hanks also achieved success by becoming the youngest person to win the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award on June 12, 2002.
In 2004, he appeared in the black comedy crime thriller "The Ladykillers" directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Aside from mixed reviews, it earned double the financial gain at the box office for its production budget. He then starred with Catherine Zeta-Jones in the comedy-drama film "The Terminal" directed by Steven Spielberg. The film received generally positive reviews as well as being commercially successful. That same year, he co-starred in the animated Christmas adventure movie "The Polar Express", based on the children's picture book of the same name and directed by Robert Zemeckis.
Hanks next starred with Audrey Tautou in the mystery thriller "The Da Vinci Code" (2006), based on a novel and directed by Ron Howard. Released on May 19, 2006, the film became the second highest-grossing film of 2006 with its worldwide gross. Despite this, it garnered generally negative reviews from critics. In the same year, he was named to the top of the list of "most trusted celebrities" by Forbes magazine.
In 2007, Hanks played Democratic Texas Congressman Charles Wilson in the biographical comedy-drama film "Charlie Wilson's War" directed by Mike Nichols. The movie, which was released on December 21, 2007, featured Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman along with Hanks. He received a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance. The following year, he appeared with Colin Hanks and John Malkovich in the comedy-drama film "The Great Buck Howard" (2008), directed by Sean McGinly.
On May 15, 2009, he starred in the action mystery thriller film adaptation of the sequel "Angels & Demons", based on the novel of the same name. Despite mixed reviews, it made a huge financial profit. The following year, he reprized the same role in its sequel "Toy Story 3". The film became the highest-grossing film of 2010 with its box office gross. It also became the first animated movie to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
In 2011, he co-starred and directed the romantic comedy movie "Larry Crowne" with Julia Roberts. The film received poor reviews and doubled its production budget. In the same year, he played the leading role in the drama "Extremely Loud and Incredably Close", which was adapted from the novel of the same name. The film received both mixed reviews and moderate box office success. In 2012, he voiced the character of Cleveland Carr in a web series he created called "Electric City". That year, he starred in the science fiction film "Cloud Atlas" directed by the Wachowskis, based on the novel of the same name.
The following year, Hanks took the lead role in "Captain Phillips," a biographical action thriller directed by Paul Greengrass and based on a book. The film was critically acclaimed and had positive results at the box office. Also that year, he landed the role of Walt Disney with Emma Thompson in "Saving Mr.Banks," directed by John Lee Hancock. It was received both critically and positively at the box office. That same year, Hanks made his Broadway debut in the play "Lucky Guy" directed by Nora Ephron. He received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play for his performance.
In 2014, Hanks' short story "Alan Bean Plus Four" was published in The New Yorker and was met with bad reviews. The following year, he played attorney James B. Donovan in the historical drama film "Bridge of Spies" directed by Steven Spielberg. Released in October 2015, the film received box office success and positive reviews. He then starred as Alan Clay in the comedy-drama film "A Hologram for the King" based on the novel of the same name.
Later that year, Hanks took a lead role as airline captain Chesley Sullenberger in Clint Eastwood's biographical drama "Sully." He then reprized the role of Robert Langdon in the action mystery thriller "Inferno" (2016), a sequel directed by Ron Howard. Both films received negative reviews from critics and earned positive financial gains at the box office. The following year, he co-starred with Emma Watson in the sci-fi drama film "The Circle" based on the novel of the same name. It was able to achieve mixed reviews and moderate commercial success.
In 2019, he reprized his voice role as Sheriff Woody in the sequel "Toy Story 4". The film became the eighth highest-grossing film of 2019 and the highest-grossing film in the series. In the same year, he played the role of Fred Rogers in the biopic "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" directed by Marielle Heller. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for the first time for his performance. The film, which was released on November 22, 2019, was praised in every sense and was a moderate box office.
In 2020, Hanks took the lead role in the war movie "Greyhound", directed by Aaron Schneider and based on a novel. Also that year, he co-starred with Helena Zengel in the western drama movie "News of the World" directed by Paul Greengrass, based on the novel of the same name. Both films garnered positive reviews from critics.
In 2021, Hanks starred in "Finch," a post-apocalyptic survival movie directed by Miguel Sapochnik. In 2022, Hanks played Elvis Presley's sole manager, Tom Parker, in the biographical drama film "Elvis" directed by Baz Luhrmann. Released in June 2022, the film garnered polarized responses and a successful financial return. The following year, he played Geppetto in the animated musical fantasy film "Pinocchio" directed by Robert Zemeckis. The film received generally negative reviews from critics and earned six Golden Raspberry Award nominations.
It has been announced that Hanks will star in the science fiction movie "Asteroid City" starring Wes Anderson with Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Adrien Brody. It is expected to be released on June 23, 2023. Hanks is also scheduled to star in "In the Garden of Beasts," an adaptation of director Joe Wright's 2011 non-fiction book about American diplomat William Dodd. In February 2022, it was reported that Hanks will star in the film adaptation of "Here," a comic book directed by Robert Zemeckis.
Personal life
In 1978, Hanks married actress Samantha Lewes. The couple has a son, an actor named Colin, and a daughter, Elizabeth. The couple decided to divorce in 1987. In 1981, Hanks met actress Rita Wilson. The couple married in 1988 and they have two sons.
In October 2013, Hanks announced that he has Type 2 diabetes. Also, Hanks is a fan of the Oakland Athletics baseball team and the Raiders soccer team. Additionally, he is a fan of the football club named Aston Villa. An advocate of environmentalism, Hanks was involved in many campaigns. He was listed by Forbes magazine as "the ten most powerful celebrities in the world".