Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born in 1956, on the 6th of July. He was born in California, in the United States of America. He is the son of Janet Marylyn and Amos Mefford Hanks. His mother worked at a hospital, while his dad was a cook. Hanks his origin is Portuguese and English, Portuguese from his mother’s side and English from his father’s side. In 1960, after years of being married, Hanks his parents filed for a divorce. Hanks has three brothers and sisters: Sandra, Larry and Jim. Sarah, Larry and Tom lived with their dad after the divorce, while Jim stayed with their mother. Hanks went to the Skyline High School in Oakland, California. During his high school years, Hanks was an incredibly shy person, and was not part of the popular crowd. His interest in acting sparked during his teenage years as well since he appeared in several school theatres. However, he never actually got in trouble with the teachers and was known as a good kid amongst the teachers. When he was a teenager, Hanks described his religious beliefs as ‘’Bible-toting evangelical’’. Hanks his father re-married a woman named Frances Wong in 1965. With this marriage, Hanks received three stepsiblings. After graduating from Skyline High School, Hanks went to Chabot College to study theatre. After two years of studying at the Chabot College, Hanks changed schools and went to college at the California State University. During his time at the California State University, Hanks got an internship at the Great Lakes Theater in Ohio. Because of this internship, Hanks dropped out of college.
The first appearance that Hanks made in a movie was in the movie He Knows You’re Alone. Hanks moved to New York City in 1979. The next movie he appeared in was Mazes and Monsters. Hanks also appeared in Bosom Buddies, which was a television show on the television channel ABC. On Boson Buddies, he played on of the biggest roles. When Hanks got the part in Boson Buddies, he left New York City and started to live in Los Angeles. For two seasons, Boson Buddies appeared on television. In 1984, Hanks starred in the movie Splash, eventually starring as one of the lead roles in Splash. Splash was one of the first successful movies that Hanks played in. Another successful movie that Hanks played in during the time, was Bachelor Party. In 1986, Hanks played in a movie called Nothing in Common. The movie is about the relationship between a son and father. Nothing in Common was the first time that Hanks did not play in a comedy movie, but in a dramatic movie. The movie Dragnet, which was a comedy movie, was one of the movies that lead to Hanks successful acting career. Another movie which made Hanks an important actor in Hollywood, was the movie Big that came out in 1988. Caused by his appearance in the movie Big, Hanks received his first Academy Award nomination.
In the middle of the nineties, Hanks started his first directing job. He directed the movie That Thing You Do!. Another movie that Hanks co-produced was Playtone. Hanks also created a documentary. The documentary was called From the Earth to the Moon. The documentary eventually won an Emmy Award. Together with Steven Spielberg, Hanks created a movie about the war after D-Day. The movie was called For Saving Private Ryan. Steven Spielberg received an Academy Award, and Hanks received an Academy Award nomination for For Saving Private Ryan. After directing several projects, Hanks appeared as one of the lead roles in The Green Mile in 1999. In the same year, Hanks voiced over a character in the children movie Toy Story 2. In 2001, Hanks appeared in the movie Catch Me If You Can, alongside actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Catch Me If You Can was based on a true story. A year later, Hanks received the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award. Hanks is the youngest person to ever receive that award. Hanks starred in The Coen Brothers’ The Ladykillers in 2004. In the same year, Hanks also starred in movies like The Polar Express and The Terminal. The movie that boosted Hanks’s career a lot was his appearance in The Da Vinci Code, which came out in 2006. The Da Vinci Code describes the novel that is written by Dan Brown. Hanks was part of the cast of the movie Charlie Wilson’s War, which came out in 2007. For his role in Charlie Wilson’s War, Hanks got a nomination for a Golden Globe Award. A year later, Hanks appeared in the movie The Great Buck Howard. In 2008, Hanks also produced the successful movie, Mamma Mia. In 2009, Hanks appeared in the sequel of the Da Vinci Code, which is called Angels & Demons. Just like the first movie, Angels & Demons became a huge success worldwide. Hanks voiced over a character in Toy Story 3 in 2010. Toy Story 3 became very successful, with grossing more than 1 billion dollars. A year later, Hanks appeared in movies like Larry Crowne and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Hanks played in the movie Captain Philips in 2013. Another movie that Hanks appeared in in 2013, was Saving Mr. Banks. In Saving Mr. Banks, Hanks played the role of Walt Disney. Not only did Hanks play in movies in 2013, he also appeared in his first Broadway musical. The musical he debuted in, was Nora Ephron’s Lucky Guy. Hanks played in the movie Bridge of Spies, which came out in 2015. Bridge of Spies was directed by his long-time friend Steven Spielberg. In 2016, Hanks appeared in movies like A Hologram for the King and Clint Eastwood’s Sully.
Before Hanks wanted pursue a career in acting, he was very interested in space, and dreamed of being an astronaut. Therefore, he became part of the National Space Society, which is an ‘’educational space advocacy organization’’. Hanks is also part of the Board of Governors for the National Space Society. Hanks put his interest in space together with his interest in acting and directing, and so created From the Earth to the Moon, a series that could be seen on HBO. Another movie that he produced that was about space, was Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon. Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon covers a story about people landing on the moon. He also voiced over for a show in the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. For all his work around space programs, Hanks received the Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award. He received the award in 2006. Another venture of Hanks, is his interest in type writers. To let other people experience how a typewriter works, Hanks publicized an application for Ios, which is called Hanx Writer. The application came out in 2014. Hanks also stated that a number of his short stories will be available on Hanx Writer.
Hanks has been married two times. The first time, he married Samantha Lewes, who is an actress as well. The two got married in 1978. The couple received one son and one daughter. Their son is called Colin Hanks and their daughter is called Elizabeth Hanks. Hanks and Lewes filed for a divorce in 1987. In 1988, Hanks got re-married. He got married to Rita Wilson, who is an actress as well. When the two were preparing to get married, Hanks switched from religion. Hanks converted to the Greek Orthodox Church, since that is the religion of Wilson. The two met on set for the movie Volunteers. The couple received two sons. The first son is called Chester Marlon Hanks. The youngest son is called Truman Theodore, and is born in 1995. Hanks is suffering from Type 2 diabetes, which he stated in 2013.
For his political opinions, Hanks is a democrat. Over the years, Hanks supported several Democratic politicians. He supported Barack Obama in the 2008 elections and in the 2012 elections as well. In 2016, Hanks supported Hillary Clinton in the presidential elections. Hanks is for same-sex marriage, and believes in the environmental problems. To help get same-sex marriage legalized, Hanks and other people elevated more than 40 million dollars for the cause in 2008. Hanks also finds environmental issues very important, and spends a lot of money to invest in cars that are environmental friendly.
During his long acting career, Hanks has been nominated and won numerous awards. In total, Hanks has been nominated five times for an Academy Award, for movies like Big, Cast Away and Saving Private Ryan. He won two Academy Awards, for Best Actor for movies like Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. Besides the Academy Awards, Hanks has been nominated for an Emmy Award for works like From the Earth to the Moon, Big Love and Band Brothers. He won an Emmy Award for works like John Adams, The Pacific and Game Change. Hanks has been nominated for a Tony Award one time, for his appearance in Lucky Guy in 2013. He has been nominated for a BAFTA Award for works like Forrest Gump, Captain Phillips and Cast Away. Hanks won a BAFTA award in the category Britannia Award for Excellence in Film in 2004. Hanks has been nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Awards for works like The Green Mile, Cast Away and Captain Phillips. He won a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role in Forrest Gump and Apollo 13. Hanks also has been nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in movies like Sleepless in Seattle and Charlie Wilson’s War. He won a Golden Globe for his appearance in movies like Big, Forrest Gump and Philadelphia. Other awards that Hanks has been nominated for include the American Comedy Awards, Chicago Film Critics Association and the American Film Institute. Other awards that Hanks has won include the People’s Choice Awards and Online Film Critics Society.
