95 Facts About Tom Hanks

Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born on July 9,1956 and is an American actor and filmmaker.

Tom Hanks received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2002, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2014, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, and the Golden Globe Cecil B DeMille Award in 2020.

Tom Hanks rose to fame with leading roles in comedies: Splash, The Money Pit, Big, and A League of Their Own.

Tom Hanks won two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor, playing a gay lawyer suffering from AIDS in Philadelphia, then the title character in Forrest Gump.

Tom Hanks has frequently collaborated with directors Ron Howard, Nora Ephron, and Robert Zemeckis.

Tom Hanks cemented his film stardom with lead roles in the romantic comedies Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail ; the dramas Apollo 13, The Green Mile, Cast Away, Road to Perdition, Cloud Atlas, and News of the World ; and the biographical dramas Charlie Wilson's War, Captain Phillips, Saving Mr Banks, Sully, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and Elvis.

Tom Hanks played the title character in the Robert Langdon series and voiced Sheriff Woody in the Toy Story franchise and multiple roles in The Polar Express.

Tom Hanks's breakthrough television role was a co-lead in the ABC sitcom Bosom Buddies.

Tom Hanks has hosted Saturday Night Live ten times and launched a production company, Playtone, which has produced various limited series and television movies, including From the Earth to the Moon, Band of Brothers, John Adams, The Pacific, Game Change, and Olive Kitteridge.

Tom Hanks made his Broadway debut in Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy, earning a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.

Tom Hanks was born in Concord, California, on July 9,1956, to hospital worker Janet Marylyn and itinerant cook Amos "Bud" Tom Hanks.

Tom Hanks's mother was from a Portuguese family; their surname was originally "Fraga".

Tom Hanks's father had English ancestry, and through his line, Hanks is a distant cousin of President Abraham Lincoln and children's host Fred Rogers.

Tom Hanks studied theater at Chabot College in Hayward, California, and transferred to California State University, Sacramento after two years.

Tom Hanks replied that he would have rather won a Heisman by playing halfback for the California Golden Bears.

At Dowling's suggestion, Tom Hanks became an intern at the festival.

Tom Hanks's internship stretched into a three-year experience that covered most aspects of theater production, including lighting, set design, and stage management, prompting Hanks to drop out of college.

In 1979, Tom Hanks moved to New York City, where he made his film debut in the low-budget slasher film He Knows You're Alone and landed a starring role in the television movie Mazes and Monsters.

Tom Hanks had previously partnered with Scolari on the 1970s game show Make Me Laugh.

Tom Hanks made a guest appearance on a 1982 episode of Happy Days where he met writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel who were writing the film Splash, a romantic comedy fantasy about a mermaid who falls in love with a human, to be directed by former Happy Days star Ron Howard.

Tom Hanks then suffered a run of box-office underperformers: The 'Burbs, Joe Versus the Volcano and The Bonfire of the Vanities.

Tom Hanks climbed back to the top again with his portrayal of a washed-up baseball legend turned manager in Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own.

Tom Hanks has said that his acting in earlier roles had not been great, but that he later improved.

Richard Schickel of TIME called his performance "charming", and most critics agreed that Tom Hanks' portrayal ensured him a place among the premier romantic-comedy stars of his generation.

Tom Hanks lost 35 pounds and thinned his hair in order to appear sickly for the role.

Tom Hanks is flat-out terrific, giving a deeply felt, carefully nuanced performance that deserves an Oscar.

Tom Hanks followed Philadelphia with Robert Zemeckis's Forrest Gump, playing the title character, a man with an IQ of 75 who happens to find himself involved with some of the major events in recent American history.

Tom Hanks reunited with Ron Howard to play astronaut and commander Jim Lovell in Apollo 13.

Tom Hanks starred in Pixar's Toy Story as the voice of Sheriff Woody.

Later that year, Tom Hanks re-teamed with Ephron and Ryan for You've Got Mail, a remake of Ernst Lubitsch's The Shop Around the Corner.

Tom Hanks starred in Frank Darabont's The Green Mile, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King.

Tom Hanks reprised the role of Woody in Toy Story 2.

Tom Hanks reunited with Zemeckis for Cast Away, playing a marooned FedEx systems analyst.

Tom Hanks reunited with Spielberg, starring opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can, based on the true story of conman Frank Abagnale, Jr.

At the age of 45, Tom Hanks became the youngest-ever recipient of the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award on June 12,2002.

In 2004, he appeared in three films: The Coen brothers' The Ladykillers, Spielberg's The Terminal and Zemeckis's The Polar Express, a family film for which Tom Hanks played multiple motion capture roles.

In 2006, Tom Hanks topped a 1,500-strong list of "most trusted celebrities" compiled by Forbes magazine.

Tom Hanks produced the animated children's movie The Ant Bully and Starter for Ten, a comedy about working-class students attempting to win on University Challenge.

Tom Hanks did voice work for Ken Burns's documentary The War, reading excerpts from World War II-era columns by Al McIntosh.

Tom Hanks voiced himself in The Simpsons Movie, in which he appeared in an announcement claiming that the US government has lost its credibility and is hence buying some of his.

Tom Hanks made an appearance in the credits, expressing a desire to be left alone when he is out in public.

Tom Hanks starred in Mike Nichols's Charlie Wilson's War as Democratic Texas Congressman Charles Wilson.

Tom Hanks's character was less than thrilled about his son's career decision.

Tom Hanks produced Spike Jonze's Where The Wild Things Are, based on the children's book by Maurice Sendak.

Tom Hanks reprised his role of Woody in Toy Story 3 after he, Tim Allen and John Ratzenberger were invited to a movie theater to see a complete story reel of the movie.

Tom Hanks played multiple parts in Cloud Atlas, based on the novel of the same name by David Mitchell, and was executive producer of the miniseries Game Change.

That same year, Tom Hanks made his Broadway debut, starring in Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.

Tom Hanks told the magazine that he built plastic models of rockets when he was a child and watched live broadcasts of space missions back in the 1960s.

In March 2015, Tom Hanks appeared in the music video for Carly Rae Jepsen's "I Really Like You", lip-syncing most of the song's lyrics as he goes through his daily routine.

Tom Hanks starred as airline captain Chesley Sullenberger in Clint Eastwood's Sully.

Tom Hanks next reprised his role as Robert Langdon in Inferno, and co-starred alongside Emma Watson in the 2017 science fiction drama The Circle.

Tom Hanks voiced David S Pumpkins in The David S Pumpkins Halloween Special, which aired October 28,2017, on NBC, a character he had portrayed in episodes of Saturday Night Live.

Tom Hanks reprised his role as Sheriff Woody in Pixar's Toy Story 4.

Tom Hanks portrayed Fred Rogers in Marielle Heller's biographical film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, for which he was nominated for his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Tom Hanks delivered an opening monolog via his house but did not appear in any of the sketches.

Tom Hanks starred in Greyhound, a war film which he wrote the screenplay for.

Tom Hanks reunited with Paul Greengrass for the Western News of the World.

In 2021, Tom Hanks starred in the science fiction drama Finch, directed by Miguel Sapochnik, and released by Apple TV+.

Tom Hanks first starred as Tom Parker, the manager of Elvis Presley, in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis.

Tom Hanks' final film of the year was A Man Called Otto, an English-language remake of the Swedish film A Man Called Ove.

In 2023, Tom Hanks appeared in Wes Anderson's Asteroid City, starring alongside Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright and Bryan Cranston.

Tom Hanks attended the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special where he acted in the Black Jeopardy sketch reprising his role as Doug.

Tom Hanks is attached to star in an adaptation of the 2011 non fiction book In the Garden of Beasts from director Joe Wright about American diplomat William Dodd's time in Nazi Germany.

Tom Hanks has received six Academy Award nominations including two consecutive wins for Best Actor for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump in 1993 and 1994 respectively.

Tom Hanks received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Nora Ephron's play Lucky Guy in 2013.

Tom Hanks has received 12 Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work on television which includes 7 wins for his work as a producer on various limited series and television films including From the Earth to the Moon, Band of Brothers, John Adams, The Pacific, Game Change, and Olive Kitteridge.

Tom Hanks is often compared to James Stewart, and has frequently been referred to as "America's Dad".

In 2003, Tom Hanks was voted Number 3 in Channel 4's countdown of the 100 Greatest Movie Stars of All Time, and he is number 22 on VH1's list of the "200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons of All Time".

Tom Hanks was included on Forbes list of the top ten most powerful celebrities in the world, in 2000,2002, and 2003.

Tom Hanks was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs on May 8,2016.

Tom Hanks was interviewed five times on WHYY-FM by Terry Gross on the radio show Fresh Air in Philadelphia.

Two interviews are about the 12 part miniseries From Earth to the Moon, for which Tom Hanks was executive producer and which was nominated for 17 Emmy Awards.

In 1981, Tom Hanks met actress Rita Wilson on the set of TV comedy Bosom Buddies.

In October 2013, on Late Show with David Letterman Tom Hanks said he has type 2 diabetes.

Tom Hanks has since made lifestyle changes to manage his condition, such as maintaining a healthier diet and avoiding film roles that require drastic weight changes.

Since 1984, Tom Hanks has been a fan of the English Premier League club Aston Villa.

In November 2019, shortly before the release of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a drama film in which Tom Hanks portrays Fred Rogers, he learned through Ancestry.

Tom Hanks is a relative of the 16th US president, Abraham Lincoln.

Greece's Interior Minister Takis Theodorikakos said Tom Hanks "showed real interest in the people who suffered from the fire in Mati and promoted this issue in the global media".

Tom Hanks has donated to many Democratic politicians, and during the 2008 United States presidential election uploaded a video to his MySpace account endorsing Barack Obama.

Tom Hanks narrated a 2012 documentary, The Road We've Traveled, created by Obama for America.

In 2016, Tom Hanks endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

Tom Hanks was outspoken about his opposition to the 2008 Proposition8, an amendment to the California constitution that defined marriage as a union only between a man and a woman.

Tom Hanks serves as campaign chair of the Hidden Heroes Campaign of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation.

In 2004, while touring the White House, Tom Hanks learned that the press corps did not have a coffee pot, and shortly thereafter he donated an espresso machine.

Tom Hanks again donated new machines in 2010 and 2017.

Tom Hanks is a member of the National Space Society, serving on the Board of governors of the nonprofit educational space advocacy organization founded by Wernher von Braun.

Tom Hanks produced the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon about the Apollo program to send astronauts to the Moon.

Tom Hanks provided the voice-over for the premiere of the show Passport to the Universe at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

In June 2006, Tom Hanks was inducted as an honorary member of the United States Army Rangers Hall of Fame for his accurate portrayal of a captain in the movie Saving Private Ryan; Tom Hanks, who was unable to attend the induction ceremony, was the first actor to receive such an honor.

On March 10,2008, Tom Hanks was on hand at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to induct The Dave Clark Five.

Tom Hanks is a collector of manual typewriters and uses them almost daily.

Tom Hanks is an ordained minister, and on March 24,2022, CBS News reported that he had recently officiated a wedding in Pittsburgh.

In 2023, Tom Hanks founded Hanx for the Troops, a coffee company that supports veterans and military families through a portion of its profits and various initiatives.

Tom Hanks wrote a collection of short stories inspired by his typewriter collection, Uncommon Type, which was published in 2017.