Tom Hanks

Vocation

Lifestyle

Notable

Traits

Family

American actor and film producer, the winner of an Oscar for Best Actor on 3/21/1994 for "Philadelphia," a second Oscar on 3/27/1995 for "Forest Gump," a film that netted six awards. He is the second actor in history to win the top prize two years in a row. His Oscar acceptance speeches have been heartfelt and touching to television audiences around the world. He belongs to the exclusive club of actors who command up to $20 million for a role. His regular guy image with hazel eyes, naturally curly brunette hair and quick wit keep Hanks on Hollywood's most popular list. His penchant for playing likable character roles has drawn comparisons to the late actor Jimmy Stewart. Hanks was the third of four kids of Amos Hanks, a chef-restaurateur and Janet (Turner) Hanks, a hospital worker. His sister Sandra was born 6/31/1951, his brother Larry in 1953 and his younger brother Jim in 1961. At five, his father returned home from work one night and scooped up Tom and his sister and brother and drove off to Reno, NV for a new life. His baby brother, Jim, was left with his mother. Within a year, his father married a woman with eight children of her own. In 1963, Amos Hanks divorced his second wife and moved his children with him to Oakland. He married a third wife, Frances Wong in 1966. By this time, Hanks had become accustom to a migratory childhood and settled into the part of the "new kid" in school. Though his family was close, Hanks longed for security to combat his loneliness. At Skyline High School in Oakland, he played soccer and ran track. He became a born-again Christian, joining a fundamentalist movement affiliated with the First Covenant Church of Oakland, gaining a sense of security from his religion during high school. He liked acting and "hammed it up" in his high school's performance of "South Pacific." After a year at Chabot Community College in Hayward, CA, Hanks entered California State University- Sacramento in 1976 as a theater major. He interned at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland the summer of 1976, when he was seriously bitten by the acting bug. He quit school in order to stay on two more years at the Festival garnering critical acclaim. In 1978, he sold his Volkswagen Beetle and went to New York with $850 in his pocket, ready to tackle the Broadway stage. Hanks landed the TV show, "Bosom Buddies" in 1980, appearing on screen in women's clothing. In 1984, he played the romantic lead opposite Daryl Hannah in Ron Howard's "Splash." He scored a major hit in Penny Marshall's "Big" in 1988. The film took in $100 million but the following pictures that Hanks did were forgettable. In great need of another career boast, he begged Penny Marshall to give him the role of the drunken, rough baseball coach in the 1991 hit, "A League of Their Own." Since that picture, Hanks' career catapulted into the Hollywood stratosphere with critical acclaim roles in "Philadelphia," 1993, "Sleepless in Seattle,"1993, "Forrest Gump," 1994, "Apollo 13," 1995 and Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" in 1998. Hanks has been a huge box-office draw in the two romantic comedies in which he paired with actress Meg Ryan. Hanks met his first wife, actress Samantha Lewes in his college years. Their son Colin was born before the couple were married in 1978 and their second child, Elizabeth, was born in 1982. Hanks believes that his real-life role as an absent husband and father ruined his first marriage which folded in 1987. He met actress Rita Wilson in 1985 while they were filming "Volunteers." They married on 3/30/1988. The couple have two kids, son Chester in 1990 and son Truman in 1996. The Hanks live in their Pacific Palisades home where the children watch limited TV and hang out with their dad. Hanks appreciates time spent with his children. An exciting afternoon for the actor is playing with his collection of 1940s typewriters. His best friend and soul mate is his wife, Rita. Her Old World extended family embraced Hanks and he is at home being a part of a close-knit family, visiting his in-laws almost every day. He is friendly with his fellow actors but prefers the company of a close circle of friends. Politically, Hanks and his wife have become one of the many Hollywood supporters of President Bill Clinton. The Hanks have been overnight guests at the Clinton White House. Since childhood, Hanks has been fascinated with the U.S. space program and as an adult, he supports space travel and dabbles in astronomy. His lifelong dream is to participate in a flight to outer space. Hanks has no interest in alcohol and marijuana was a one-time experiment in his college days. On not being close to his mother, he told her: "I love you, but I don't know you because I didn't live with you." Quick witted, a regular guy, he sums up his life with sweetness and simplicity, "Work, Family, Life....That's just it." On 21 January 2001, Hanks was awarded the Golden Globe for his picture, "Cast Away." In 2008, he supported the Obama presidential campaign. Link to Wikipedia biography