Tom Hanks began performing with the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in 1977, later moving to New York City. He starred in the television sitcom Bosom Buddies, but became far more known when he starred in the Ron Howard film Splash. He went on to headline many more popular and acclaimed movies, including Big, Forrest Gump and Cast Away, en route to becoming one of the most powerful and well-respected actors in Hollywood.

Early Life and Career

Hanks was born on July 9, 1956, in Concord, California. Hanks' parents divorced when he was 5 years old, and he was raised, along with his older brother and sister, by his father, a chef named Amos. The family moved frequently, finally settling in Oakland, California, where Hanks attended high school.

After graduating in 1974, Hanks attended junior college in Hayward, California. He decided to pursue acting after reading and watching a performance of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh (1946), and transferred into the theater program at California State University in Sacramento.

In 1977, Hanks was recruited to take part in the summer session of the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Lakewood Ohio. Over the next three years, Hanks spent his summers acting in various productions of Shakespeare's plays and his winters working backstage at a community theater company in Sacramento. He won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in 1978, for his portrayal of Proteus in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Movies and Career

Big Break With 'Splash'

By 1980, Hanks had dropped out of college, and after his third season with the Great Lakes festival, he moved to New York City. Many rounds of auditions later, he landed a small part in the 1980 slasher film He Knows You're Alone. That same year he was spotted by a talent scout for ABC and was cast in the television sitcom Bosom Buddies, playing one of two advertising executives who dress in drag in order to rent an apartment in an all-female building.

The show was cancelled after two seasons, but it gave Hanks some exposure and led to his casting in guest roles on various episodes of popular shows like Happy Days (1974-84), Taxi (1978-83), The Love Boat (1977-87) and Family Ties (1982-89). In 1982, Ron Howard, co-star of Happy Days and now working as a director, remembered Hanks and had him read for a supporting part in a movie. That supporting role eventually went to John Candy, and Hanks instead landed the lead role in Howard's Splash (1984) as a man who falls in love with a mermaid, played by Daryl Hannah. The movie became a surprise hit, and Hanks was suddenly a recognizable face.

A string of panned films followed, most notably Bachelor Party (1984), The Man With One Red Shoe (1985), Volunteers (1985), The Money Pit (1986) and Dragnet (1987). Hanks managed to emerge relatively unscathed from these critical failures, as reviewers often pointed to his performance as the best thing about each movie.

Major Hit: 'Big'

In 1988, Hanks was finally cast in a star-making role in director Penny Marshall's Big, playing a 13-year-old boy transplanted overnight into the body of a 35-year-old man. His performance charmed both critics and audiences, and earned him his first Academy Award nomination for best actor.

With Big, Hanks established that he could be a box-office draw as well as a talented actor. Over the next few years, his projects failed to match the critical or commercial success of that film, although they did display Hanks' wide range, from lighthearted comedies (1989's Turner and Hooch, 1990's Joe Versus the Volcano) to more dramatic fare (1988's Punchline, 1990's Bonfire of the Vanities).

Oscar Wins for 'Philadelphia' and 'Forrest Gump'

Following a memorable performance as the manager of an all-women's baseball team in A League of Their Own (1992), Hanks enjoyed two huge hits in 1993: Sleepless in Seattle, a romantic comedy written by Nora Ephron that rematched him with his Joe Versus the Volcano co-star Meg Ryan; and Philadelphia, co-starring Denzel Washington. In the latter film, Hanks played a lawyer fired from his high-paying firm because he has AIDS, delivering a courageous performance that earned him an Academy Award for best actor.

He followed up on that tremendous year with the release of Forrest Gump (1994), the sprawling story of an unlikely hero's path through 20th-century American history, directed by Robert Zemeckis. The film was a phenomenal box office success, winning Oscars for best picture and director. For his part, Hanks brought home his second straight lead actor Oscar, becoming the first person in 50 years to accomplish that feat.

Blockbusters: 'Apollo 13,' 'Toy Story,' 'Saving Private Ryan'

In 1995, Hanks starred in another blockbuster, Apollo 13, a Howard film based on the abortive lunar landing mission of the Apollo 13 spacecraft in 1970. The film was released in the IMAX format in 2002. Like Forrest Gump, the film made more than $500 million at the box office. Also in 1995, he headlined the voice cast of Toy Story, the first major film of the Disney/Pixar partnership.

The following year, Hanks made his directorial and screenwriting debut with That Thing You Do!, which enjoyed moderate success. He continued his behind-the-camera duties in the Emmy-winning HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, which he produced, directed, wrote and acted in for various episodes.

In 1998, he starred in another groundbreaking blockbuster, Saving Private Ryan, a World War II drama directed by Steven Spielberg and filmed with gruesome accuracy. While the film was nominated for director and actor Academy Awards and was a favorite for best picture, only Spielberg took home the Oscar. Also that year, Hanks teamed once more with Ryan and Ephron in the hit romantic comedy You've Got Mail.

'Toy Story 2,' 'The Green Mile,' 'Cast Away'

Hanks soared to the top of the holiday box office in late 1999 as he reprised his role as the voice of Woody, the cowboy at the center of 1995's animated film Toy Story. Toy Story 2, also featuring the voice of Tim Allen, surpassed all expectations at the box office, grossing a record-breaking $80.8 million when it opened over Thanksgiving weekend. He also starred in The Green Mile during this time, which shot to No. 2 at the box office, behind Toy Story 2, in its opening weekend. The film was set in a Depression-era prison and adapted from a story by Stephen King.

Hanks underwent a striking physical transformation to play a man stranded on a desert island in his next film, the long-awaited Cast Away (2000), directed by Zemeckis and co-starring Helen Hunt. His performance propelled the film to the top of the holiday box office, earning Hanks critical raves and yet another well-deserved Oscar nomination for best actor.

Having already notched an imposing record of box office hits, his accessible good looks and regular-guy charisma earning him comparisons with screen legends of the past like Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda and Gary Cooper, Hanks in 2002 was honored with the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award, making him the youngest actor ever to receive that honor.

'The Da Vinci Code,' 'Charlie Wilson's War' and Broadway

In 2002, Hanks produced the surprise hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding, starring Nia Vardalos. He was back on the big screen in 2004 with Joel and Ethan Coen's remake of the classic 1955 comedy The Ladykillers, Spielberg's comedy-drama The Terminal and the family film The Polar Express. The A-list actor also continued his producing work with the Imax space documentary Magnificent Desolation (2005) and Evan Almighty (2007).

Hanks was next seen in the highly anticipated The Da Vinci Code (2006), based on the bestselling novel by Dan Brown and co-starring Audrey Tatou. The film grossed more than $750 million worldwide. During the 2007 Christmas season, Hanks appeared as the lead in Charlie Wilson's War, a drama based on a Texas congressman's efforts to assist Afghan rebels in their war with the Soviets. The performance earned Hanks a Golden Globe nomination.

In 2009, Hanks starred in Angels and Demons, the sequel to Da Vinci. He went on to perform voiceover work for the acclaimed TV miniseries The Pacific (2010) and Toy Story 3 (2010), before starring in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011) and Cloud Atlas (2012).

After a monumental screen career, Hanks made his Broadway debut in the 2013 production of Lucky Guy. He impressed enough to garner a Tony Award nomination for best performance by a lead actor, but lost out to Tracy Letts of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

'Saving Mr. Banks,' 'Bridge of Spies,' 'The Post'

Also in 2013, Hanks played the title character of the nautical thriller Captain Phillips and portrayed Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks, which focuses on how the studio head convinced P.L. Travers, played by Emma Thompson, to grant permission to make Mary Poppins a cinematic project.

After Hanks was seen strutting his stuff in popster Carly Rae Jepsen's music video "I Really Like You," critics greatly took to his portrayal of a U.S. attorney in the Cold War thriller Bridge of Spies. The autumn 2015 outing saw the actor reunited with director Spielberg. In November 2016, Hanks received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama for his contribution to the arts.

In 2017, Hanks teamed up with Meryl Streep for Spielberg's The Post, about the drama surrounding the Washington Post's publication of the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War. Once again, the veteran actor's performance was lauded by critics and led to another Golden Globe nomination.

'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood'

In January 2018, it was announced that Hanks had signed on to play Mister Rogers in an upcoming biopic, eventually titled A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. The project was based on a 1998 Esquire profile by Tom Junod, which recounted the writer's experience of meeting and befriending the beloved children's TV star. Hanks slipped seamlessly into the role of the kindly Rogers, picking up his sixth Oscar nomination following the film's November 2019 theatrical release.

Marriages, Children and Personal Life

Hanks met his first wife, actress and producer Samantha Lewes (real name: Susan Dillingham), while he was in college. They were married in 1978 and had two children, Colin and Elizabeth, before divorcing in 1987.

In 1988, he married actress Rita Wilson, with whom he co-starred in Volunteers. Hanks and Wilson have two children, Chester and Truman.

In an October 2013 appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, Hanks revealed that he was facing a major health challenge. "I went to the doctors and they said, 'You know those high blood sugar numbers you've been living with since you were 36? Well, you've graduated. You've got Type 2 diabetes,'" he said.

In March 2020, Hanks announced via Instagram that he and his wife had tested positive for the coronavirus while in Australia.

Awards and honors

In Hanks' career as an actor and producer, he has received many award nominations. Hanks has received six Academy Award nominations including two consecutive wins for Best Actor for Philadelphia, and Forrest Gump in 1993, and 1994 respectively. Hanks also received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Nora Ephron's play Lucky Guy in 2013. Hanks has also 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 (1998), Band of Brothers (2002), John Adams (2008), The Pacific (2010), Game Change (2012), and Olive Kitteridge (2015).

Honors

• 2002: AFI Life Achievement Award
• 2006: Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award
• 2014: Kennedy Center Honors Medallion
• 2016: Presidential Medal of Freedom
• 2016: French Legion of Honor, at the rank of Chevalier (Knight), for his presentation of World War II and support of World War II veterans, along with Tom
• Brokaw, retired NBC anchor, and Gordon H. Mueller, president and co-founder of the National WWII Museum, New Orleans.
• 2019: Honorary citizen of Greece.
• 2020: Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award

Political views and activism

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. He also narrated a 2012 documentary, The Road We've Traveled, created by Obama for America. In 2016, Hanks endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

Hanks was outspoken about his opposition to the 2008 Proposition 8, an amendment to the California constitution that defined marriage as a union only between a man and a woman. Hanks and others raised over US$44 million to campaign against the proposition, in contrast to the supporters' $39 million, but Proposition 8 passed with 52% of the vote. It was overruled in June 2013, when the Ninth Circuit lifted its stay of the district court's ruling, enabling Governor Jerry Brown to order same-sex marriage officiations to resume. While premiering a TV series in January 2009, Hanks called supporters of Proposition 8 "un-American" and criticized LDS Church members, who were major proponents of the bill, for their views on marriage and role in supporting the bill. About a week later, he apologized for the remark, saying that nothing is more American than voting one's conscience.

Other activities

A supporter of NASA's crewed space program, Hanks said he originally wanted to be an astronaut. 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. He also produced the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon about the Apollo program to send astronauts to the Moon. In addition, Hanks co-wrote and co-produced Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D, an IMAX film about the Moon landings. 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 2006, the Space Foundation awarded Hanks the Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award, given annually to an individual or organization that has made significant contributions to public awareness of space programs.

In June 2006, 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; Hanks, who was unable to attend the induction ceremony, was the first actor to receive such an honor. In addition to his role in Saving Private Ryan, Hanks was cited for serving as the national spokesperson for the World War II Memorial Campaign, for being the honorary chairperson of the D-Day Museum Capital Campaign, and for his role in writing and helping to produce the Emmy Award-winning miniseries, Band of Brothers. On March 10, 2008, Hanks was on hand at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to induct The Dave Clark Five.

Hanks is a collector of manual typewriters and uses them almost daily. In August 2014, Hanks released Hanx Writer, an iOS app meant to emulate the experience of using a typewriter; within days the free app reached number one on the App Store.

After contracting and recovering from a COVID-19 infection early in the pandemic, Hanks and his wife donated their blood antibodies for virus research.

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