Tom Hanks

  • Name: Tom Hanks
  • Date of Birth: July 09, 1956
  • Place of Birth: Concord, California
Mini-bio: Thomas "Tom" Jeffrey Hanks is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor, voice-over artist and movie producer who starred in family-friendly and screwball comedies before achieving notable succe...( read more)ss as a dramatic actor. As of September 24, 2006, Hanks is the highest-grossing "lead" actor of all time, with a combined gross of over $3.3 billion and an worldwide gross of nearly $6 billion. He is also co-owner of Playtone, a film production company. He met his second wife, actress Rita Wilson on the set of the movie Volunteers (1985) - they have two children and Tom has another son (Colin Hanks) and daughter by his first wife. In 1996 he made his first step behind the camera, directing as well as starring and writing the film That Thing You Do! (1996).
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Some people go to bed at night thinking, "That was a good day." I am one of those who worries and asks, "How did I screw up today?" - Tom Hanks


Tom Hanks mini-bio:tom hanks hair restoration
Hanks was born in Concord, California. His Father, Amos Mefford Hanks was a chef and a distant relation of President Abraham Lincoln`s mother, Nancy Hanks. His Mother, Portuguese American Janer Marylyn Frager was a hospital worker: the two divirced in 1960.The family's three oldest children, Sandra, (now Sandra Hanks Benoiton, a writer),Larry (now Lawrence M. Hanks, Ph.D., an entomology professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), and Tom went their father, while
the youngest, Jim, now an actor and film maker, remained with his mother in Red Bluff, California. It was here that he met his lifelong friend Joshua Adamson. Afterwards, both parents remarried. The first stepmother for Sandra, Larry, and Tom came to the marriage with five children of her own. Hanks once told Rolling Stone magazine: "Everybody in my family likes each other. But there were always about fifty people at the house. I didn't exactly feel like an outsider, but I was sort of outside it." That marriage ended in divorce after just 2 years, and Amos Hanks became a single parent, working long hours and relying on the children to fend for themselves often, an exercise in self-reliance that served the siblings well.
In school, Hanks was unpopular with students and teachers alike, telling Rolling Stone magazine: "I was a geek, a spaz. I was horribly, painfully, terribly shy. At the same time, I was the guy who'd yell out funny captions during filmstrips. But I didn't get into trouble. I was always a real good kid and pretty responsible." In 1965, Amos Hanks married Frances Wong, a San Francisco native of Chinese descent. Frances had three children, two of whom lived with Tom during his high school years. Tom acted in school plays, including South Pacific, while attending Skyline High School in Oakland, California. Hanks studied theater at Chabot College, and after two years, transferred to California State University, Sacramento. Hanks told the New York Times: "Acting classes looked like the best place for a guy who liked to make a lot of noise and be rather flamboyant. I spent a lot of time going to plays. I wouldn't take dates with me. I'd just drive to a theater, buy myself a ticket, sit in the seat, and read the program, and then get into the play completely. I spent a lot of time like that, seeing Bertolt Brecht, Tennessee Williams, Henrik Ibsen, and all that, and now look at me, acting is my job. I wouldn't have it any other way."
It was during his years studying theater that Hanks met Vincent Dowling, head of the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland. At Dowling's suggestion, Hanks became an intern at the Festival, which stretched into a three-year experience that covered everything from lighting to set design to stage management. Such a commitment required that Hanks drop out of college, but with this under his belt, a future in acting was in the cards. Hanks won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his performance as Proteus in Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona, one of the few times he played a villain.
Tom Hanks Information:
Birthname: Thomas Jeffrey Hanks

His ancestors originally came from England. The name "Hanks" can be traced back several centuries.

The asteroid "12818 tomhanks" was named after him.
Trade Mark: Playing conflicted regular guys
Height:6` (183 m)
Zodiac: Cancer
Favorite Actor: James Stewart
Notable feature(s)
Awards: Won 2 Oscars. Another 49 wins & 49 nominations.
Family: Rita Wilson (30 April 1988 - present) 2 children
Samantha Lewes (24 January 1978 - 19 March 1987) (divorced) 2 children

Related to Bill Cosby's wife Camille O. Cosby (née Camille Olivia Hanks), as both share a biological lineage to Abraham Lincoln through his mother, Nancy Hanks.

Frequently works with director Steven Spielberg, and is related to Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln. Ironically, he is not involved in Spielberg's film about Lincoln, despite his frequent involvement in historical projects.
Education: Attended Skyline High School, Oakland, CA, USA.
Resides in:
Favorite Christmas Movie: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
His three favourite bands/artists are Elvis Presley, Patrick Rondat and Alabama Thunderpussy.
Favorite baseball team is the Cleveland Indians. He purchased a stone in the front of Jacob's Field when it was built.
Is a fan of English Premier League soccer team Aston Villa and was presented with a shirt on a TV show with the print 'Hanks 1' on the back.
Political affiliation: Democratic

While he gives money to many Democratic politicians, Hanks usually keeps his opinions about politics to himself, though he has been open about his support for environmental causes and alternative fuels (Hanks was an owner of the electric car before it was recalled, as chronicled in the documentary Who killed the Electric Car?). Hanks, however, has made public his candidate choice in the 2008 election, when he uploaded a video to his MySpace in which he announced his endorsement of Senator Barack Obama.
Personal interests/hobbies: Enjoys collecting typewriters, purchasing over 80 of them around the globe.
Charities/Causes:
Quote: My wife keeps on telling me my worst fault is that I keep things to myself and appear relaxed. But I am really in a room in my own head and not hearing a thing anyone is saying. Tom Hanks
Trivia: According to Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard), he is a huge Trekkie and the first time the two met, Star Trek was the only thing he wanted to talk about. Hanks was actually the original choice to play Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact (1996), and desperately wanted to play the role, but had to back out due to his earlier commitment to That Thing You Do! (1996).
Did you know?

Tom received the Distinguished Public Service Award, the U. S.Navy's highest civilian honor, on Veterans Day 1999 forhis work in the movie "Saving Private Ryan" (1998).


Last update: Nov 11 2008, 10:13 AM EST by NaWia (content history | content tools) (help)
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  • tibblesmycat
    tibblesmycat
    I think that his best movies are probably Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away and Forest Gump.
    He is such a talented actor.
    posted 53 days ago
  • jbpelican
    jbpelican
    Ive not quite seen anyone who measures up to Tom Hanks in the way of dramatic acting. This is a guy who knows exactly what he is doing on screen and is so at ease with it, it almost seems second nature, which only adds to his characters beleivability. If i can ever been even half as successful as he is, then ill be completely stoked.
    posted 93 days ago
  • JadeCash
    JadeCash
    Tom Hanks is the best actor in the world.!!
    He makes me laugh and cry..
    Love all your movies, you're so incredible talentet and sweet and an incredible person! ♥♥
    posted 97 days ago
  • Matt19911
    Matt19911
    Every movie is great, keep them coming! You have to go back on the 'Fridy Night With Jonathan Ross', it was hilarious! If your from England you should know what I'm talking about, Jonathan is the funniest and best talk show host ever. He get's the best out of everybody, and all the best go on there including Tom, Will Smith, Forest Whitaker etc. It's great. But back to Tom, one of the best actors!
    posted 107 days ago
  • mikefoot6
    mikefoot6
    Love Saving private Ryan, thought you were fan dabby dosy in it.
    posted 112 days ago
  • j360chd
    j360chd
    merry christmas
    More Flixster Comments Graphics

    Celebrity News | Celebrity Pictures | Celebrity Videos
    posted 129 days ago
  • lexaloulou9
    lexaloulou9
    tom hanks you rock i really love your work you make me cry in forest gump one of the best movies made.

    love lexaloulou
    posted 135 days ago
  • Wicked26
    Wicked26
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM HANKS!!!!-ps.loved you in 'the davinci code"
    you look good for 52.!
    posted 136 days ago
  • leggomytivo
    leggomytivo
    Love all his movies! Tom, always cried in the end of Saving Private Ryan. Earn it.
    posted 137 days ago
  • TheMightyCelestial
    TheMightyCelestial
    4 A League Of Their Pwn - Its ironic that, a game associated with male players, a film that focuses on the woman's 1st pro entry in2 the sport, would B the 1 that, IMO, captures the feeling which best reflects of why this sport's truly an American pasttime. That the purpose of a game is, no matter how the political world events may be turbulently transpiring, we all can just escape for a little while, catch a ballgame & hopefully return into the real world with our spirits a little higher & our perspectives a little bit clearer. B'cuz, as we all know by now, there is no crying in baseball.

    3 Saving Private Ryan - Spielberg. Hanks. An epic world war ll pic. U do the math.

    2 Forrest Gump - Box of chocolates = Life.

    1 Road To Perdition - A quality film that focuses on a rare subject in the mob genre: the relationship of a gangster with his kid(s). Just this 1 aspect of the mob lifestyle's enuff 2 open a new set of ideas 4 future plotlines involvin those in the world of organized crime.
    posted 159 days ago
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