Tom Hanks Biography all about Tom

Tom Hanks Biography

Fast Facts

Born July 9th in Concord, CA

Height: 5'11"

Hobbies: golf, surfing, hockey

Hanks made his debut onscreen in the low-budget slasher movie He Knows You're Alone (1979)

Hanks finally became a recognizable face to the movie-going public when he starred opposite Darryl Hannah in the surprise hit Splash! (1984)

He was actually third choice for the movie "Big"...Harrison Ford and Robert DeNiro were asked before he was approached.

In 1997 he was ranked by Empire Magazine as 17th out of "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time".

Tom Hanks is married to actress, Rita Wilson, with whom he appeared in Volunteers (1985).

Tom Hanks: The Luckiest Man In The World

A&E's Tom Hanks Biography Video

Tom Hanks Biography

"If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great."
Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks is one of America's favorite actors because of his down-to-earth attitude and authenticity. He has a child-like spirit that is alive and well and is portrayed in fun movies like "Big", "Toy Story 1 and 2", Forrest Gump and his latest accomplishment "Polar Bear Express".

He had to actually grow up quickly since his parents divorced when he was only five years of age and was required to cope with various life changes over the next few years. His father Amos, was a cook who moved his family often and married often. He says that by the time he was ten years old he had had "three step-mothers, five grammar schools and ten houses".

The family finally settled in Oakland, California, where he attended Skyline High School. It was here he began performing in plays. After graduating in 1974 he attended Chabot College in Hayward, California, and it was here he decided to pursue acting as a career after reading and watching a performance of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh. He transferred to the theatre program at Cal State in Sacramento. He dropped out of school when he was 20 to actively follow his dream of acting as a career.

In 1977, Hanks was selected to act in Shakespeare productions in the summer session of the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Lakewood, Ohio. Over the next three years, Hanks spent his summers taking part in various Shakespeare plays, and working backstage at a community theater company in Sacramento in the winter. He won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in 1978, for his portrayal of Proteus in The Two Gentleman of Verona.

In 1978, Hanks went to expand his horizons in New York; while there he met and married actress-producer Samantha Lewes, whom he later divorced. He has two children from this marriage, Colin and Elizabeth. In New York he was cast in the television sitcom Bosom Buddies, as one of two advertising executives who dress in drag in order to rent an apartment in an all-female building. This show only lasted a couple of seasons but it was enough to give him the exposure he needed.

In 1985, he met Rita Wilson while making the movie "Volunteers" and married her on April 30, 1988. He has two children from this union, Chester and Truman.

His first big career success was starring in The Splash opposite Darryl Hannah. In 1989 he won a Golden Globe Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Award, and an Oscar nomination for his performance in "Big", an adorable story about a little boy who ends up in a grown man's body.

In 1993,Tom Hanks emerged with two huge hits: Sleepless in Seattle, a romantic comedy written by Nora Ephron and Philadelphia, co-starring Denzel Washington. The latter film attained him an Oscar for Best Actor because of his courageous portrayal of a lawyer terminated from his high-paying firm due to the fact that he has AIDS.

He followed up on that tremendous year with the release of Forrest Gump (1994), the engaging story of an unlikely hero's path through late twentieth-century American history. The film was a huge box office success, winning Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director (Robert Zemeckis). For his part, Hanks brought home his second straight Best Actor statuette, becoming the first person in 50 years to accomplish that amazing feat.

Other blockbusters include Apollo 13, a Ron Howard film based on the abortive lunar landing mission of the Apollo 13 spacecraft in 1970;Saving Private Ryan, a World War II drama directed by Steven Spielberg and filmed with gruesome accuracy; Toy Story and Toy Story 2 ( in which he created the voice of Woody, the cowboy at the center of the story ); The Green Mile; You've Got Mail with Meg Ryan; Cast Away....in which he drastically altered his appearance to realistically portray a man stranded on a deserted island.

Tom is very well-respected in Hollywood and has been compared to such 'Silver Screen Greats' as Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, and Gary Cooper. The man has class and has conducted himself accordingly throughout his career in the public eye.

I would like to acknowledge A&E's Biography website for the information gathered above.

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