Biography

American leading actor Tom Hanks has become one of the most popular stars in contemporary American cinema. Born July 9, 1956, in Concord, CA, Hanks spent much of his childhood moving about with his father, an itinerant cook, and continually attempting to cope with constantly changing schools, religions, and stepmothers. After settling in Oakland, CA, he began performing in high-school plays. He continued acting while attending Cal State, Sacramento, and left to pursue his vocation full-time. In 1978, Hanks went to find work in New York; while there he married actress/producer Samantha Lewes, whom he later divorced.

Hanks debuted onscreen in the low-budget slasher movie He Knows You're Alone (1979). Shortly afterward he moved to Los Angeles and landed a co-starring role in the TV sitcom Bosom Buddies; he also worked occasionally in other TV series such as Taxi and Family Ties, as well as in the TV movie Mazes and Monsters. Hanks finally became prominent when he starred opposite Daryl Hannah in the Disney comedy Splash!, which became the sleeper hit of 1984. Audiences were drawn to the lanky, curly headed actor's amiable, laid-back style1and keen sense of comic timing. He went on to appear in a string of mostly unsuccessful comedies before starring in Big (1988), in which he gave a delightful performance as a child in a grown man's body. His 1990 film Bonfire of the Vanities was one of the biggest bombs of the year, but audiences seemed to forgive his lapse. In 1992, Hanks' star again rose when he played the outwardly disgusting, inwardly warm-hearted coach in Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own. This led to a starring role in the smash hit romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle (1993).

Although a fine comedic actor, Hanks earned critical respect and an even wider audience when he played a tormented AIDS-afflicted homosexual lawyer in the drama Philadelphia (1993) and won that year's Oscar for Best Actor. In 1994 he won again for his convincing portrait of the slow-witted but phenomenally lucky Forrest Gump, and his success continued with the smash space epic Apollo 13 (1995). In 1996, Hanks tried his hand at screenwriting, directing, and starring in a feature: That Thing You Do!, an upbeat tale of a one-hit wonder group and their manager. The film was not particularly successful, unlike Hanks' next directing endeavor, the TV miniseries From Earth to the Moon. The series was nominated for and won a slew of awards, including a series of Emmys. The success of this project was outdone by Hanks' next, Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998). Ryan won vast critical acclaim and was nominated for 11 Oscars, including a Best Actor nomination for Hanks. The film won five, including a Best Director Oscar for Spielberg, but lost Best Picture to Shakespeare in Love, a slight that was to become the subject of controversy. No controversy surrounded Hanks' following film, Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail (1998), a romantic comedy that paired Hanks with his Sleepless co-star Meg Ryan. Although the film got mixed reviews, it was popular with filmgoers, and thus provided Hanks with another success to add to his resumé. Even more success came soon after when Hanks took home the 2000 Golden Globes' Best Actor in a drama award for his portrayal of a shipwrecked FedEx systems engineer who learns the virtues of wasted time in Robert Zemeckis' Cast Away. Though absent from the silver screen in 2001, Hanks remained in the public eye with a role in the acclaimed HBO mini-series Band of Brothers as well as appearing in September 11 television special America: A Tribute to Heroes and the documentary Rescued From the Closet. Next teaming with American Beauty director Sam Mendes for the adaptation of Max Allan Collins graphic novel The Road to Perdition (subsequently inspired by the Japanese manga Lone Wolf and Cub), the nice-guy star took a rare anti-hero role as a hit man (albiet an honorable and fairly respectable hit man) on the lam with his son ({$Tyler Hoechlin) after his son witnesses a murder. Lensed by veteran cinematographer Conrad L. Hall (who had previously worked with Mendes on American Beauty), The Road to Perdition won as much praise for it's lavish visuals as it did criticism for being rather bland despite the potent star power involved. Much more warmly embraced by audiences than critics, Perdition's downbeat, noirish tale of murder and revenge faced stiff competition in the form of more lightweight summertime fare as Men in Black II and Austin Powers in Goldmember. Though it held it's own in the top ten in the weeks following it's much touted release, Perdition unfortunate lack of depth left many feeling as if the film were coasting on star-power auto-pilot despite the fact that it proved at least an interesting breakthrough in terms of respectable comic-to-film translations.

Ranked by Empire Magazine as 17th out of "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" in October 1997, Hanks is married to actress Rita Wilson, with whom he appeared in Volunteers (1985). The couple have two children in addition to Hanks' other two from his previous marriage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Filmography

Ladykillers, The (2004)
Polar Express, The (2004) .... The Conductor
People Like Us: Making 'Philadelphia' (2003) (V) .... Himself
Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch (2002) (TV) .... Himself
Catch Me If You Can (2002) .... Carl Hanratty
54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, The (2002) (TV) .... Himself
Road to Perdition (2002) .... Michael Sullivan
AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Tom Hanks (2002) (TV) .... Himself/Honoree
Making of 'Road to Perdition', The (2002) (TV) .... Himself
74th Annual Academy Awards, The (2002) (TV) .... Himself
Rescued From the Closet (2001) (V) .... Himself
America: A Tribute to Heroes (2001) (TV) .... Himself
"Band of Brothers" (2001) (mini) TV Series .... British Officer
73rd Annual Academy Awards, The (2001) (TV) (uncredited) .... Himself
Orange British Academy Film Awards, The (2001) (TV) .... Himself
2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards (2000) (TV)
Behind the Scenes: Cast Away (2000) (V) .... Himself
Cast Away (2000) .... Chuck Noland
Shooting War (2000) (TV) .... Himself/Narrator
Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary (1999) (TV) .... Himself
Green Mile, The (1999) .... Paul Edgecomb
... aka Stephen King's The Green Mile (1999) (USA: complete title)
Miracle of the Green Mile, The (1999) (TV) .... Himself
Toy Story 2 (1999) (voice) .... Woody
Into the Breach: 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998) (V) .... Himself
Return to Normandy (1998) (V) .... Himself
... aka Making of 'Saving Private Ryan', The (1998) (V) (UK)
Saturday Night Live: Game Show Parodies (1998) (V) .... Mr. Short-Term-Memory: Jeff Morrow
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Mike Myers (1998) (V) .... Barry Algar
You've Got Mail (1998) .... Joe Fox
Saving Private Ryan (1998) .... Capt. John H. Miller
"From the Earth to the Moon" (1998) (mini) TV Series .... Jean-Luc Despont
Christopher Reeve: A Celebration of Hope (1998) (TV) .... Himself
Harryhausen Chronicles, The (1998) (TV) .... Himself
"Celebrity Profile" (1997) TV Series .... Himself
I Am Your Child (1997) (TV) .... Himself
Lost Moon: The Triumph of Apollo 13 (1996) (V) .... Himself
That Thing You Do! (1996) .... Mr. White
American Film Institute Salute to Steven Spielberg, The (1995) (TV) .... Himself (host)
Toy Story (1995) (voice) .... Woody
Celluloid Closet, The (1995) .... Himself
... aka Celluloid Closet (1996) (France)
... aka Gefangen in der Traumfabrik (1995) (Germany)
Apollo 13 (1995) .... Jim Lovell
... aka Apollo 13: The IMAX Experience (2002) (USA: IMAX version)
50 Years of Funny Females (1995) (TV) (archive footage) .... Himself
67th Annual Academy Awards, The (1995) (TV) (uncredited) .... Himself
Through the Eyes of Forrest Gump (1994) (TV) .... Himself
Wonderful World of Disney: 40 Years of Television Magic, The (1994) (TV) .... Himself
Forrest Gump (1994) .... Forrest Gump
"Fallen Angels" (1993) TV Series .... Trouble Boy #1 (I'll Be Waiting)
Philadelphia (1993) .... Andrew Beckett
Sleepless in Seattle (1993) .... Samuel 'Sam' Baldwin
65th Annual Academy Awards, The (1993) (TV) (uncredited) .... Himself
League of Their Own, A (1992) .... Jimmy Dugan
Radio Flyer (1992) (uncredited) .... Older Mike
Bonfire of the Vanities, The (1990) .... Sherman McCoy
Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) .... Joe Banks
Turner & Hooch (1989) .... Det. Scott Turner
'burbs, The (1989) .... Raymond 'Ray' Peterson
Punchline (1988) .... Steven Gold
Big (1988) .... Joshua 'Josh' Baskin
Dragnet (1987) .... Pep Streebeck
Every Time We Say Goodbye (1986) .... David
Nothing in Common (1986) .... David Basner
Money Pit, The (1986) .... Walter Fielding
Volunteers (1985) .... Lawrence Bourne III
Man with One Red Shoe, The (1985) .... Richard
Bachelor Party (1984) .... Richard 'Rick' Ernesto Gassko
Splash (1984) .... Allen Bauer
Mazes and Monsters (1982) (TV) .... Robbie Wheeling
... aka Rona Jaffe's Mazes and Monsters (1982) (TV)
"Bosom Buddies" (1980) TV Series .... Kip 'Buffy' Wilson (1980-82)
He Knows You're Alone (1980) .... Elliot
... aka Blood Wedding (1980)