Tom Hanks Biography

Tom Hanks was born on July 9, 1956, to Amos Mefford Hanks, an itinerant cook, and Janet Marylyn, a hospital worker, in Concord, California. His siblings are Sandra, Larry, and Jim.

His parents divorced in 1960. Tom, Sandra, and Larry were raised by his father while Jim, his youngest brother was brought up by his mother.

As a young boy, he had to cope with the continuous change in places, before his father finally settled in Oakland.

He completed high school at Skyline High School, Oakland, and graduated from the institute in 1974.

He enrolled at Chabot College in Hayward, California, but he switched to California State University, Sacramento to pursue acting.

He quit his studies in 1977, accepting an internship offer from the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Lakewood, Ohio.

In 1978, his performance as ‘Proteus’ in Shakespeare’s ‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ won him the Best Actor award at the Cleveland Critics Circle.

From 1978 to 1980, he acted in various summer productions of Shakespeare’s plays, and in winter, he worked for a theater company in Sacramento.

In 1979, he moved to New York with the dream of performing on Broadway. In 1980, he made his onscreen debut in the low-budget horror movie, ‘He Knows You're Alone’.

The same year, he got a chance to perform in the television sitcom ‘Bosom Buddies’ which earned him critical acclaim.

In 1982, his guest appearance on the TV episode of ‘Happy Days’, impressed co-actor Ron Howard who invited him to star in the supporting role in ‘Splash’, a comic film in 1984, which became a great hit.

His performance as a 13-year-old boy trapped in the body of a 35-year-old man in Penny Marshall’s ‘Big’ (1988), was lauded and he soon began appearing in blockbuster hits.

His notable performance in ‘Punchline’ which was released in 1988, won him a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award.

His major breakthrough came in 1993 when he played the role of an attorney with AIDS in Jonathan Demme’s film, ‘Philadelphia’. He reduced 37 pounds for the film and his performance won him an Oscar and an MTV Movie Award.

In 1994, he played the lead role in the movie ‘Forrest Gump’, an epic romantic-comedy-drama, based on the eponymous novel by Winston Groom. He won the Academy Award for his role in the movie.

In 1998, he teamed up with Steven Spielberg for the first time and performed a challenging role in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ which got him his fourth nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

In 2001, he caught the attention of the public when he was cast in ‘Band of Brothers, an HBO mini-series, and ‘A Tribute to Heroes’.

In 2004, he appeared in a number of films including the Coen Brothers' ‘The Ladykillers’, Spielberg’s ‘The Terminal’ and Robert Zemeckis’ ‘The Polar Express’.

In 2006, he teamed up with Ron Howard and played the role of Robert Langdon in the film, ‘The Da Vinci Code’, an adaptation of Dan Brown’s novel of the same name.

He co-produced ‘The Great Buck Howard’ (2008), where his son Colin Hanks co-starred with him.

In 2009, he played the role of the famed Robert Langdon once again in ‘Angels and Demons’, a sequel to ‘The Da Vinci Code’ that catapulted him to fame.

He was the executive producer of the 2012 film ‘Game Change’ which is about the 2008 presidential campaign. He next starred in films like ‘Captain Phillips’ (2013), ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ (2013), ‘Bridge of Spies’ (2015), ‘Ithaca’ (2015), and ‘A Hologram for the King’ (2016).

In 2016, he portrayed Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger in the American biographical drama film ‘Sully’ directed by Clint Eastwood. The film was based on the 2009 events surrounding US Airways Flight 1549 and received positive reviews from critics. It was also a major commercial success, grossing over $240.8 million on a budget of $60 million. That same year, Hanks also reprised his role as ‘Professor Robert Langdon’ in the Ron Howard-directed American action mystery thriller film ‘Inferno.’ The film was inspired by the eponymous 2013 novel by Dan Brown.

He was next seen in films such as ‘The Circle’ (2017), ‘The Post’ (2017), ‘Toy Story 4’ (2019), ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’ (2019), ‘Greyhound’ (2020), ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’ (2020), ‘News of the World’ (2020), ‘Finch’ (2021), ‘Elvis’ (2022), ‘Pinocchio’ (2022), and ‘A Man Called Otto’ (2022).

He played the role of ‘Stanley Zak’ in the 2023 American comedy-drama film ‘Asteroid City’ written and directed by Wes Anderson. The film had its premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival and received mostly positive reviews from critics.

The 1999 animated film, ‘Toy Story 2’, where Hanks lent his voice for the character, Woody, the leader of the cowboy dolls, became a box-office hit making a record-breaking box-office sale of $80.8 million.

‘Apollo 13’ a film that deals with the lunar mission, released in 2002, in the IMAX format became a huge success, earning $500 million at the box office.

‘The Da Vinci Code’ filmed in 2006, based on the best-seller written by Dan Brown, earned over $750 million at the box office.

He won two Academy Awards consecutively in 1994, and 1995, for his outstanding performance in the films ‘Philadelphia’ and ‘Forrest Gump’.

In 2002, he was the recipient of the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award, presented by Steven Spielberg. He became the youngest recipient of this prestigious honor.

He was inducted into the United States Army Rangers Hall of Fame in 2006.

In 1978, he married Samantha Lewes, an actress and producer. They were divorced in 1987. The couple has two children, Colin and Elizabeth.

He married Rita Wilson in 1988, an actress with whom he worked in the film ‘Volunteers’. The couple has two sons, Chester and Truman.

An asteroid “12818 tomhanks” is named after him.

Tom Hanks is known for his love of typewriters.