Tom Hanks
☼ Born on 9 December 1956, in Concord, California, USA
Biography
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born in Concord, California, to Janet Marylyn (Frager), a hospital worker, and Amos Mefford Hanks, an itinerant cook. His mother's family, originally surnamed "Fraga", was entirely Portuguese, while his father was of mostly English ancestry. Tom grew up in what he has called a "fractured" family. He moved around a great deal after his parents' divorce, living with a succession of step-families. No problems, no alcoholism - just a confused childhood. He has no acting experience in college and credits the fact that he could not get cast in a college play with actually starting his career. He went downtown, and auditioned for a community theater play, was invited by the director of that play to go to Cleveland, and there his acting career started.
Ron Howard was working on Splash (1984), a fantasy-comedy about a mermaid who falls in love with a business executive. Howard considered Hanks for the role of the main character's wisecracking brother, which eventually went to John Candy. Instead, Hanks landed the lead role and the film went on to become a surprise box office success, grossing more than $69 million. After several flops and a moderate success with the comedy Dragnet (1987), Hanks' stature in the film industry rose. The broad success with the fantasy-comedy Big (1988) established him as a major Hollywood talent, both as a box office draw and within the film industry as an actor. For his performance in the film, Hanks earned his first Academy Award no
(click to expand)
mination as Best Actor.
Hanks climbed back to the top again with his portrayal of a washed-up baseball legend turned manager in A League of Their Own (1992). Hanks has stated that his acting in earlier roles was not great, but that he subsequently improved. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Hanks noted his "modern era of movie making ... because enough self-discovery has gone on ... My work has become less pretentiously fake and over the top". This "modern era" began for Hanks, first with Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and then with Philadelphia (1993). The former was a blockbuster success about a widower who finds true love over the radio airwaves. Richard Schickel of Time magazine called his performance "charming", and most critics agreed that Hanks' portrayal ensured him a place among the premier romantic-comedy stars of his generation.
In Philadelphia, he played a gay lawyer with AIDS who sues his firm for discrimination. Hanks lost 35 pounds and thinned his hair in order to appear sickly for the role. In a review for People, Leah Rozen stated, "Above all, credit for Philadelphia's success belongs to Hanks, who makes sure that he plays a character, not a saint. He is flat-out terrific, giving a deeply felt, carefully nuanced performance that deserves an Oscar." Hanks won the 1993 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Philadelphia. During his acceptance speech, he revealed that his high school drama teacher Rawley Farnsworth and former classmate John Gilkerson, two people with whom he was close, were gay.
Hanks followed Philadelphia with the blockbuster Forrest Gump (1994) which grossed a worldwide total of over $600 million at the box office. Hanks remarked: "When I read the script for Gump, I saw it as one of those kind of grand, hopeful movies that the audience can go to and feel ... some hope for their lot and their position in life ... I got that from the movies a hundred million times when I was a kid. I still do." Hanks won his second Best Actor Academy Award for his role in Forrest Gump, becoming only the second actor to have accomplished the feat of winning consecutive Best Actor Oscars.
Hanks' next role - astronaut and commander Jim Lovell, in the docudrama Apollo 13 (1995) - reunited him with Ron Howard. Critics generally applauded the film and the performances of the entire cast, which included actors Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, and Kathleen Quinlan. The movie also earned nine Academy Award nominations, winning two. Later that year, Hanks starred in Disney/Pixar's computer-animated film Toy Story (1995), as the voice of Sheriff Woody. A year later, he made his directing debut with the musical comedy That Thing You Do! (1996) about the rise and fall of a 1960s pop group, also playing the role of a music producer.
As of 2022, Hanks is 66-years-old. He has never retired from acting, and has remained active in the film industry for more than four decades.
In the role of actor
Asteroid City (22/06/2023)
Sean Kelly on Movies Podcast Asteroid City Play Episode Pause Episode Mute/Unmute Episode Rewind 10 Seconds 1x Fast Forward 30 seconds 00:00 / 00:05:11 Subscribe Share Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify RSS Feed Share Link Embed Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 00:05:11 | Recorded on June 22, 2023Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | […]
Elvis (23/06/2022)
Baz Luhrmann directs a biopic of the King of Rock and Roll with Elvis. Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks) is a former carnie, who has moved into the music business managing country singer Hank Snow (David Wenham). Hank’s son Jimmie Rodgers (Kodi Smit-McPhee) brings to Parker’s attention Elvis Presley (Austin Butler), a new young signee […]
Finch (08/11/2021)
A man in a post-apocalyptic world builds a robot companion in Finch. Finch Weinberg (Tom Hanks) is one of the few survivors of a solar flare, which destroyed the ozone layer, resulted in uninhabitable levels of ultraviolet radiation. Finch spends his days scavenging the ruins of St. Louis while coming home at night to take […]
News of the World (23/01/2021)
A travelling newsreader takes in an orphaned girl in News of the World. Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) is a former member of the Confederate Infantry, who now makes a living travelling from town to town and reading the newspaper headlines to the paying public. One day while travelling between towns, Jefferson comes across […]
Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm (22/10/2020)
Sacha Baron Cohen unleashes his Kazakhstani news reporter on more unsuspecting Americans in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bride to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Fourteen years after his first trip to America, Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) finds himself an embarrassment to his country of Kazakhstan. As a […]
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (08/12/2019)
A troubled investigative journalist is assigned to write a profile on Mr. Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. In 1998, Lloyd Vogel (Lloyd Vogel) is assigned by his editor at “Esquire” magazine to write a profile on children’s television host Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) for an upcoming piece about heroes. Lloyd has been […]
Toy Story 4 (23/06/2019)
Woody and Buzz come back for one more adventure in Toy Story 4. With Andy having gone to college, Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and all the other toys have been left in the care of pre-schooler Bonnie. However, Woody no longer finds himself as the favourite toy, spending much of playtime in […]
Shazam! (11/04/2019)
A teenage boy is imbued with magical powers that turns him into a superhero in Shazam!. Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is a teenage delinquent, who is sent to a group home run by Victor and Rosa Vazquez (Cooper Andrews and Marta Milans) and is introduced to his new foster siblings Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), […]
The Post (07/01/2018)
The publishing of a government cover-up results in a battle for the freedom of the press in The Post. Kay Graham (Meryl Streep) is the publisher of The Washington Post and works with editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) in the day to day operations. Kay is under much scrutiny for being the first female publisher of […]
Inferno (29/10/2016)
Professor Robert Langdon returns to solve puzzles pointing towards a biological weapon in Inferno. Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) wakes up in a hospital bed in Florence, Italy, which no recollection how he go there. Dr. Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones) tells him that he is suffering from amnesia following a blow to the head. After an armed […]
Bridge of Spies (28/01/2016)
An American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in Bridge of Spies. At the height of the Cold War, a man named Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) is arrested on the charge of spying for the Russians. Even though it’s pretty obvious that Abel is guilty, insurance lawyer James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) is recruited […]
Captain Philips (27/10/2013)
From director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum) comes this true story about the captain of an Amercian cargo ship and his near-death experience with Somali pirates. In 2009, Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) sets sail in the MV Maersk Alabama on journey towards Mombasa, Kenya. Phillips’ journey takes him off along the coast of Somalia, which […]
Cloud Atlas (10/12/2012)
Six weeks into its release, I finally caught up with Cloud Atlas, the epic multi-story film directed by the collaboration of Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and Andy and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix). The film is based on the novel of the same name by David Mitchell and features a large ensemble cast that includes […]
Radioman (01/05/2012)
You may not know Craig “Radioman” Castaldo by his name, but I am almost certain that you have seen the guy. Radioman is known for appearing at the film sets around New York City, always with his bike and trusty radio. Often this results in him getting a brief cameo role in the production. In […]
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (21/05/2011)
Out of all the films based on Disney theme park rides to come out last decade (as least three rides got adaptations), Pirates of the Caribbean is the only to get turned into a successful franchise. Technically, this is the fourth film in the series. However, it can also be said that this film features a new […]
Angels & Demons (15/05/2009)
Based on what I heard Angels & Demons had the better story of Dan Brown’s two Robert Langton novels. I have never read either of the novels, so I have no context of comparison, but the seemed to be a more traditional thriller than the elaborate puzzle that made up The Da Vinci Code. I’d […]