ACTOR · BORN 1956
Tom Hanks
- Born
- 9 July 1956, Concord, California, USA
- Known for
- Forrest Gump (1994), Toy Story (1995), The Green Mile (1999), Saving Private Ryan (1998)
153 archived facts 5 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Sep 2026
59 Interesting Facts About Tom Hanks
- #001
Tom Hanks enjoys collecting typewriters and has bought more than 80 of them worldwide. His interest led him to develop Hanx Writer, an iPad app that simulates the sound and feel of antique typewriters. It was very successful and entered the App Store's best-of list in August 2014.
- #002
Tom Hanks's daughter, Elizabeth Hanks, plays the girl on the school bus in Forrest Gump (1994) who refuses to let young Forrest Gump (Michael Conner Humphreys) sit next to her.
- #004
Tom Hanks often meets children in random places like elevators who do not realize he is "Woody" from Toy Story, but he gets them to close their eyes so he can do the voice to their liking.
- #013
For his role as Forrest Gump in Forrest Gump (1994), Tom Hanks placed 43rd on Premiere magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
- #015
Tom Hanks is a big fan of Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969). That is why he agreed to play one of the Canadian Mounties during the Lumberjack song at the Concert for George (2003).
- #017
Tom Hanks was a member of Monty Python for just one night, standing in for John Cleese at A Concert for George.
- #019
Names such as Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman attended Princess Diana's funeral.
- #022
Tom Hanks is the third most represented actor on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Most Inspiring Films of All Time, after Sidney Poitier and Gary Cooper, with four films on the list: Forrest Gump (1994) at 37th, Philadelphia (1993) at 20th, Apollo 13 (1995) at 12th and Saving Private Ryan (1998) at 10th.
- #024
Entertainment Weekly named Tom Hanks the only actor worth 20 million dollars.
- #028
Tom Hanks once worked as a hotel bellhop. Among the famous guests whose bags he carried were Cher, Sidney Poitier, Slappy White and Bill Withers.
- #030
Tom Hanks has been a good friend of Bruce Springsteen since his youth.
- #032
For his role as Josh Baskin in Big (1988), Tom Hanks placed 15th on Premiere magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
- #038
Tom Hanks has played eight real-life people in his films: Jim Lovell in Apollo 13 (1995), Charlie Wilson in Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Captain Richard Phillips in Captain Phillips (2013), Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks (2013), James B. Donovan in Bridge of Spies (2015), Captain 'Chesley Sullenberger' in Sully (2016), Ben Bradlee in The Post (2017) and Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019).
- #043
While scouting locations in Germany with Steven Spielberg for the HBO series Band of Brothers (2001), Tom Hanks dislocated his shoulder when he fell through a rotting floor in a building.
- #048
As a young man, Tom Hanks sold popcorn and peanuts at the Oakland Coliseum.
- #050
Tom Hanks returned to his old high school, Skyline High School, to dedicate a renovated theater named after Rawley T. Farnsworth, the retired drama teacher he thanked in his Oscar speech for Philadelphia (1993). The Oakland Tribune reported that Hanks donated about a quarter of the project's $465,000 cost. He then led an audience of about 1,000 people in a chorus of "There's No Business Like Show Business" (March 6, 2002).
- #054
Tom Hanks once shared a record (with Tom Cruise and Will Smith) for appearing in the most consecutive films that grossed $100 million (7). As of 2008, Smith holds the record alone with 8 films.
- #056
Tom Hanks was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes on October 7, 2013.
- #062
Tom Hanks credited the help of a nearby ice cream shop with gaining the 30 pounds he needed for his role in A League of Their Own (1992).
- #064
The asteroid "12818 tomhanks" is named after him.
- #071
Tom Hanks has been called "the modern James Stewart" by many people.
- #084
Tom Hanks is an environmentalist and frequently advocates for and supports natural causes.
- #086
Tom Hanks is a fan of the English Premier League football team Aston Villa and was given a jersey with 'Hanks 1' printed on the back on a TV series.
- #087
Tom Hanks's first wife, Samantha Lewes, died of cancer 14 years after their divorce.
- #089
Tom Hanks has played a captain in 7 different films: Forrest Gump (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Captain Phillips (2013), Sully (2016), News of the World (2020) and Greyhound (2020).
- #091
Tom Hanks jokingly sent the White House press team a new espresso machine with a note reading, "Keep up the good fight for Truth, Justice, and the American Way, especially for the Truth part."
- #095
Tom Hanks is friends with Julia Roberts, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand.
- #096
Tom Hanks is a member of the International Thespian Society, a group that supports theater for high school students at the international level.
- #099
For his role as Chuck Noland in Cast Away (2000), Tom Hanks ranked 46th on Premiere magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
- #100
Tom Hanks lives in Pacific Palisades, Malibu, California and Ketchum, Idaho.
- #103
Tom Hanks is a die-hard Oakland Raiders fan. He appears in the documentary Rebels of Oakland: The A's, the Raiders, the 70s (2003).
- #104
Tom Hanks's company Playtone Entertainment takes its name from the fictional Playtone Records in the film That Thing You Do! (1996).
- #106
Despite being known for his on-screen charisma and versatility, Tom Hanks admits that he was a "horribly, painfully, terribly shy" child.
- #108
Tom Hanks has been a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) (Actors Branch) since 2001.
- #111
Tom Hanks's favorite baseball team is the Cleveland Indians. During the construction of Jacobs Field, he bought a stone from in front of it.
- #112
When Tom Hanks appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009) on January 22, 2010, Conan's last NBC show in Los Angeles, the Tonight Show Band played The Beatles' "Lovely Rita" as Hanks made his entrance, undoubtedly a nod to Tom's beloved wife, the lovely Rita Wilson.
- #114
Forbes magazine estimated his 1999 earnings at $71.5 million.
- #115
Three of his films include a scene in which he is stranded at sea: Splash (1984), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) and Cast Away (2000).
- #117
In 2007, Forbes magazine reported that his earnings for the previous year were estimated at $74 million.
- #120
He is a Greek citizen (2020).
- #121
He ranked 17th on Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list (October 1997).
- #122
He is a frequent guest host on Saturday Night Live (1975). One of the show's best-known characters, "Mr. Short-Term Memory," was named after him: Hanks used his real-life middle name, Jeffrey, as the character's (Jeff Morrow's) first name.
- #124
He ranked first in Star TV's list of the top ten box-office stars of the 1990s (2003).
- #125
He had made five films with director Steven Spielberg, four of them with a European connection. Saving Private Ryan (1998) revolved around his character and his infantry unit searching for a missing private in Europe during World War II. Catch Me If You Can (2002) involved his character tracking Frank Abagnale Jr. in France; in The Terminal (2004), his character was from the fictional Eastern European country of Krakozhia, and Bridge of Spies (2015) was a Cold War thriller in which his character had to travel to the German city of Berlin.
- #129
He owns a collection of more than 250 typewriters.
- #130
Tom Hanks was voted best actor by the readers of Us magazine in 1995.
- #133
Tom Hanks attended Skyline High School in Oakland, California.
- #134
Tom Hanks ranked 13th on Premiere magazine's 2003 annual Power 100 List. He had been 15th in 2002.
- #136
Tom Hanks has often (and comically) appeared in films that use urination or toilet use as a plot device, such as The Green Mile (1999), Apollo 13 (1995), Forrest Gump (1994), A League of Their Own (1992) and Dragnet (1987).
- #137
Tom Hanks openly supported Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.
- #138
Tom Hanks attended Chabot College in Hayward, California.
- #139
Tom Hanks ranked 16th on Premiere magazine's 2006 "Power 50" list. He had also ranked 16th in 2005.
- #141
Tom Hanks shares his birthday with Jack White, David O'Hara, Courtney Love, Chris Cooper, O. J. Simpson and Donald Rumsfeld.
- #143
Several of Tom Hanks's films use comedic scenes in which his character urinates: The Money Pit (1986), A League of Their Own (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Apollo 13 (1995) and The Green Mile (1999).
- #144
Director Rob Reiner wanted Tom Hanks for Get Smart, but Hanks was involved in the production of Cast Away at the time.
- #146
Tom Hanks has worked with two actors who played Howard Hughes. In Philadelphia (1993), Jason Robards, who played Hughes in Melvin and Howard (1980), appeared, and the film's director was Jonathan Demme. His co-star in Catch Me If You Can (2002) was Leonardo DiCaprio, who played Hughes in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004).
- #147
Biography: "Who's Who in Comedy", Ronald L. Smith, pp. 205-206. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387.
- #148
Biography/bibliography: "Contemporary Authors". Volume 244, pages 199-202. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2006.
- #151
In Toy Story (1995), Hanks's co-star Buzz Lightyear was an astronaut. Hanks had played an astronaut in Apollo 13 (1995).
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
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