Tom Hanks

Lore & Background

Hanks was born at Mount Diablo Hospital in Concord, California. His mother, Janet Marylyn, was a hospital worker; his father, Amos 'Bud' Hanks, was an itinerant cook. His parents divorced in 1960, and Hanks moved frequently as a child, living in ten different houses by age ten. He studied theater at Chabot College and later at California State University, Sacramento, but dropped out after an internship at the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. During that time, he won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his 1978 performance as Proteus in Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Reader's Guide

Hanks rose to fame with leading roles in comedies such as Splash (1984), The Money Pit (1986), Big (1988), and A League of Their Own (1992). He won two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor for Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994). He has collaborated extensively with Steven Spielberg on five films and three World War II-themed miniseries. His filmography includes major dramas like Apollo 13, The Green Mile, Cast Away, and Captain Phillips, as well as the voice of Sheriff Woody in the Toy Story franchise. Hanks also directed and acted in That Thing You Do! (1996) and Larry Crowne (2011). His television work includes the sitcom Bosom Buddies and hosting Saturday Night Live ten times. He made his Broadway debut in Lucky Guy (2013), earning a Tony Award nomination. Hanks' significance lies in his sustained popularity across genres and his recognition as an American cultural icon, with numerous lifetime achievement honors.

Did You Know?

• Hanks is a distant cousin of Nancy Hanks and her son President Abraham Lincoln, as well as children's host Fred Rogers.
• He won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his 1978 performance as Proteus in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
• Hanks made his film debut in the low-budget slasher film He Knows You're Alone (1980).
• He has hosted Saturday Night Live ten times.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American film actor, director, voice-over artist, writer and film producer. He is of English, German and Portuguese descent." — Tom Hanks "Thank you. I'm standing here in lieu of my fellow nominees who are just as deserving, if not more so of this moment." — Tom Hanks "I'm standing here because of an army of people who over the course of a back-breaking schedule that was set by Bob Zemeckis worked much harder than I did and who had much more at risk if our efforts were not successful." — Tom Hanks "I'm empowered to stand here thanks to the ensemble of actors, men and women, who I shared the screen with and who in ways they will never understand made me a better actor." — Tom Hanks