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Tom Hanks

ACTOR · BORN 1956

Tom Hanks

Born
9 July 1956, Concord, California, USA
Known for
The Godfather (1972), Bridge of Spies (2015), Big (1988), The Money Pit (1986)

56 archived facts 8 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Nov 2026

Tom Hanks (born 9 July 1956) is an actor best known for The Godfather, Bridge of Spies and Big.

Tom Hanks over the years

Tom Hanks in 1989 (age 33)
1989 · age 33Alan Light, CC BY 2.0
Tom Hanks in 2005 (age 49)
2005 · age 49Michael E. Dukes, Public domain
Tom Hanks in 2022 (age 66)
2022 · age 66Eva Rinaldi from Abbotsford, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0

56 Interesting Facts About Tom Hanks

Interesting Facts (12)

  1. #001

    In 2015 Tom Hanks began using his official Twitter feed partly to post photos and locations of lost items, like gloves, shoes and socks, that he spotted on New York's streets. At least once it got something back to its owner: in October 2015 he found the Fordham College ID of a woman named Lauren, who collected it from his office.

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  2. #002

    Shortly before Columbia Pictures released Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001), he was one of several actors who spoke out against using "synthespians" (computer-generated actors) in place of real people, yet he went on to star in the computer-animated The Polar Express (2004), a film heavily promoted for its new and expensive digital-actor technique.

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  3. #003

    As a joke, he sent the White House press corps a new espresso machine with a note: "Keep up the good fight for Truth, Justice, and the American Way, especially for the Truth part."

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  4. #004

    He once worked as a hotel bellman. Some of the celebrity guests whose bags he carried were Cher, Sidney Poitier, Slappy White and Bill Withers.

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  5. #005

    His performance as Josh Baskin in Big (1988) is ranked #15 on Premiere magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

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  6. #006

    His performance as Chuck Noland in Cast Away (2000) is ranked #46 on Premiere magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

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  7. #007

    Though known for his on-screen charisma and versatility, Tom admits he was a "horribly, painfully, terribly shy" kid.

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  8. #008

    Forbes magazine estimated his 1999 earnings at $71.5 million.

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  9. #009

    In three of his movies, he has a scene where he is stranded at sea: Splash (1984), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), and Cast Away (2000).

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  10. #010

    Some of his movies use comedic scenes of his character urinating: The Money Pit (1986), A League of Their Own (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Apollo 13 (1995) and The Green Mile (1999).

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  11. #011

    He has a scene stranded at sea in three of his films: Splash (1984), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) and Cast Away (2000).

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  12. #012

    Rob Reiner wanted Tom Hanks for Get Smart, but Hanks was busy making Cast Away.

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Production Story (5)

  1. #013

    His company Playtone Entertainment takes its name from the fictional Playtone Records in That Thing You Do! (1996).

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  2. #014

    He was originally cast as twins Charlie and Donald Kaufman in Adaptation. (2002) but dropped out, and Nicolas Cage took the part and earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for it.

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  3. #015

    After a one-off guest spot on Happy Days (1974), producer Ron Howard asked him to read for a supporting part in Splash (1984), and he ended up with the lead.

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  4. #016

    His Oscar speech for Philadelphia (1993), in which he thanked a gay teacher, inspired the plot of In & Out (1997).

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  5. #017

    He outbid other studios with $1 million for the film rights to the true-crime story A Cold Case, about a detective's quest to solve the 1970 murder of a New York restaurant owner, and besides producing he is interested in starring.

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Behind the Scenes (8)

  1. #018

    Jim Lovell, whom Hanks played in Apollo 13 (1995), is left-handed, but Hanks refused to write left-handed for the film.

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  2. #019

    He's a frequent Saturday Night Live (1975) guest host, and one of his best-known characters there, "Mr. Short-Term Memory," is named after him: Hanks gave the character, Jeff Morrow, his own real middle name, Jeffrey.

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  3. #020

    Hanks credited a nearby ice cream shop with helping him gain 30 pounds for A League of Their Own (1992).

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  4. #021

    While scouting locations in Germany with Steven Spielberg for HBO's Band of Brothers (2001), he fell through a rotting floor and dislocated his shoulder.

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  5. #022

    When I was young, I sold popcorn and peanuts at the Oakland Coliseum.

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  6. #023

    He auditioned for the role of Joel Goodson in Risky Business (1983), and the role ultimately went to Tom Cruise.

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  7. #024

    Despite being known for his on-screen charisma and versatility, Tom admits that he was a "horribly, painfully, terribly shy" child.

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  8. #025

    He has been a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) (Actors Branch) since 2001.

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Characters & Cast (3)

  1. #026

    Children he meets in random places like elevators often can't grasp that he's "Woody" from Toy Story, so he has them close their eyes and does the voice, which they love.

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  2. #027

    Was asked to play the title role in Jerry Maguire (1996), which eventually went to Tom Cruise.

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  3. #028

    Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, who were writing Splash, suggested Tom Hanks to director Ron Howard, who at first thought of him for the hero's wisecracking brother, a part that went to John Candy, but Hanks won the lead instead.

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Easter Eggs & References (3)

  1. #029

    His daughter, Elizabeth Hanks, is the girl on the school bus in Forrest Gump (1994) who won't let young Forrest (Michael Conner Humphreys) sit next to her.

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  2. #030

    When he guested on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009), Conan's last NBC show in L.A. (Jan. 22, 2010), the Tonight Show Band played The Beatles' "Lovely Rita" for his entrance, no doubt a nod to his beloved wife, the lovely Rita Wilson.

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  3. #031

    In both his Best Actor Oscar-winning films, his character's mother was played by a former Best Actress winner: Joanne Woodward in Philadelphia (1993), who won in 1958 for The Three Faces of Eve (1957), and Sally Field in Forrest Gump (1994), who won in 1980 for Norma Rae (1979) and in 1985 for Places in the Heart (1984).

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Deeper Meaning (1)

  1. #032

    Tom Hanks said that reading the Forrest Gump script, he saw a big, hopeful film that could give audiences hope about their own lives, something films had given him as a child.

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Career & Awards (10)

  1. #033

    In New York City he opened on Broadway in "Lucky Man," the last play by his late friend and frequent director Nora Ephron. It was his first stage role since junior college, and his co-star was another old friend, Peter Scolari from Bosom Buddies (1980).

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  2. #034

    He was a Python for one night only, filling in for John Cleese at A Concert for George.

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  3. #035

    Talking to NPR about his first Oscar nomination, for Big (1988), Hanks said that until then he had never really thought of himself as an actor, more a comic performer who happened to be in movies, and he took the nomination as a sign from others that he might actually know what he was doing. Because of that film, he said, he made a conscious choice to take more serious roles, and he credits much of the success of the second half of his career to that one moment.

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  4. #036

    He was voted the 26th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

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  5. #037

    He has appeared in ten films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Forrest Gump (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Green Mile (1999), Toy Story 3 (2010), Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011), Captain Phillips (2013), Bridge of Spies (2015), The Post (2017) and Elvis (2022). Forrest Gump won in the category.

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  6. #038

    Has worked with nine directors who have won a Best Director Oscar: Ron Howard, Jonathan Demme, Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Mike Nichols and Clint Eastwood.

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  7. #039

    The longest he has gone between Oscar nominations is 19 years, between Cast Away (2000) and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019).

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  8. #040

    In a 2001 interview with sportscaster Bob Costas, Tom Hanks said he would rather have won a Heisman Trophy as a halfback for the California Golden Bears than an Oscar.

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  9. #041

    Tom Hanks won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his 1978 Proteus in Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona, one of his rare turns as a villain.

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  10. #042

    Bosom Buddies ran two seasons with modest ratings but strong reviews, and co-producer Ian Praiser told Rolling Stone that after his first day seeing Tom Hanks on set, he knew Hanks wouldn't stay in TV long and would be a movie star within two years.

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Life & Family (14)

  1. #043

    Colin Hanks (b. November 24, 1977) and Elizabeth Hanks (b. May 17, 1982) are his children with ex-wife Samantha Lewes; Chet Hanks (b. August 4, 1990) and Truman Hanks (b. December 26, 1995) are his sons with Rita Wilson.

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  2. #044

    In 1999 he needed emergency treatment for a serious staph infection in his leg after returning from an overseas shoot.

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  3. #045

    On 6 March 2002 he returned to Skyline High School in Oakland, California, to dedicate a renovated theater named for Rawley T. Farnsworth, the retired drama teacher he thanked in his Philadelphia (1993) Oscar speech. The Oakland Tribune reported he gave about a quarter of the project's $465,000 cost, and he then led an audience of some 1,000 people in singing "There's No Business Like Show Business."

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  4. #046

    After his parents, Amos and Janet, divorced in 1960, Tom and his siblings Larry and Sarah went to live with their father, moving through 10 homes in 5 years, while their younger brother Jim stayed with their mother.

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  5. #047

    That Thing You Do! (1996) is the only film to feature Tom, wife Rita Wilson, son Colin Hanks and daughter Elizabeth Hanks.

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  6. #048

    Hanks designated 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) as his favorite film for an AFI poll.

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  7. #049

    His top five all-time favorite films are 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), The Godfather (1972), Fargo (1996), Elephant (2003) and Boogie Nights (1997), with Stanley Kubrick's film holding the top ranking.

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  8. #050

    Both Tom Hanks and his son, Colin Hanks, have been "Not My Job" quiz contestants on the National Public Radio show, "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!". Both won the quiz.

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  9. #051

    Frequently works with director Steven Spielberg, and is related to Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln. He was not involved in Spielberg's film about Lincoln, despite his frequent involvement in historical projects.

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  10. #052

    Daughter, Elizabeth Hanks, released an acclaimed 2025 memoir, "The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road," recounting the solo, cross-country journey she made along the American southwest on a mission to uncover both what harrowing violence may or may not have happened to her late mother, Samantha Lewes.

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  11. #053

    Tom Hanks told New York magazine in 1986 that acting classes suited people who liked to make noise and show off, and that he often went to plays alone, driving to the theater, buying a ticket and reading the program before getting lost in the show.

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  12. #054

    Tom Hanks's internship at the Great Lakes Theater Festival turned into three years of work in lighting, set design and stage management, and led him to quit college.

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  13. #055

    In his Oscar acceptance speech, Tom Hanks revealed that two people close to him, his high school drama teacher Rawley Farnsworth and former classmate John Gilkerson, were gay.

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  14. #056

    Tom Hanks married his first wife, Samantha Lewes (real name: Susan Dillingham), two months after their son Colin was born.

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Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

  • Wikipedia English Wikipedia article
  • IMDb IMDb name page (biography and trivia)

Sources for the entries on this page

  1. Wikipedia Tom Hanks — WikipediaEncyclopedia · accessed 17 Sep 2026

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