Tom Hanks
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- This article is about the actor Thomas Jeffrey Hanks. See Tom Hanks (scientist) for information about the scientist.
Image:Tom Hanks, February 2004.jpg
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9 1956) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor who starred in family friendly comedies, before achieving notable success as a dramatic actor. He is one of the highest grossing actors of all time, with a combined gross of over $3.1 billion. [1]
Contents |
Biography
Early life
Hanks was born in Concord, California to Amos Mefford Hanks, a Southern cook of English and Welsh heritage, and Janet Merilyn Frager, a hospital worker who was also of mostly English descent. As a child, Hanks experienced a wandering, middle-class life with neither ambition nor talent much in evidence. By the time he was five, his parents had separated. They remarried several times before divorcing for good. His father later married an Asian woman with a large family. "Everybody in my family likes each other," Hanks told Rolling Stone. "But there were always about fifty people at the house. I didn't exactly feel like an outsider, but I was sort of outside of it." When his parents divorced, Hanks, his older brother Larry, and his sister went off with their father, a roving cook who rambled through various cities until settling in Oakland, California when Tom was eight. His younger brother stayed with his mother.
In school, Hanks also was unremarkable. "I was a geek, a spaz," he told Rolling Stone. "I was horribly, painfully, terribly shy. At the same time, I was the guy who'd yell out funny captions during filmstrips. But I didn't get into trouble. I was always a real good kid and pretty responsible." Although he acted in a few school plays (the names of which he says he cannot remember), acting never seemed a real possibility until Hanks transferred from San Francisco Bay Area junior college Chabot College to California State University at Sacramento, California. "Acting classes looked like the best place for a guy who liked to make a lot of noise and be rather flamboyant," Hanks told New York. "I spent a lot of time going to plays. I wouldn't take dates with me. I'd just drive to a theater, buy myself a ticket, sit in the seat and read the program, and then get into the play completely. I spent a lot of time like that, seeing Bertolt Brecht, Tennessee Williams, Henrik Ibsen and all that."
It was during these acting classes that Hanks met Vincent Dowling, head of the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland. At Dowling's suggestion, Hanks became an intern at the Festival, which stretched into a three-year experience that covered everything from lighting to set design to stage management. Such a commitment required that Hanks drop out of college. But by the end of the three years he had decided he wanted to become an actor. Part of the bug was due to the Cleveland Critics Circle Award, which he won as best actor for his performance as Proteus in Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona, one of the few times he played a villain.
Early roles
In 1978 he moved to New York, where he married actress-producer Samantha Lewes. Seven years and a son and daughter later they were divorced, but Hanks still sees his children regularly. While in New York, Hanks acted for the Riverside Shakespeare Company. In addition, he made his film debut in a low-budget slasher movie and got a small part in a television movie entitled Mazes & Monsters. He continued to audition and finally landed a role on an ABC television pilot called Bosom Buddies.
"It was flukesville," Hanks told Newsweek. Hanks flew to Los Angeles, California where he was teamed with Peter Scolari as a pair of young ad men forced to dress as women so they could live in an inexpensive all-female hotel. The series ran for two seasons, and although the ratings were never strong, television critics gave the program high marks. "The first day I saw him on the set," the show's coproducer, Ian Praiser, told Rolling Stone, "I thought, `Too bad he won't be in television for long.' I knew he'd be a movie star in two years." But if Praiser knew it, he wasn't able to convince Hanks. "The television show had come out of nowhere," Hanks's best friend, Tom Lizzio, told Rolling Stone, "Then out of nowhere it got canceled. He figured he'd be back to pulling ropes and hanging lights in a theater."
But it was Bosom Buddies that drew director Ron Howard to contact Hanks. Howard was working on Splash, a romantic comedy about a mermaid who falls in love with a human. At first, Howard considered Hanks for the role of the main character's wisecracking brother, a role which eventually went to John Candy. Hanks instead got the lead and a career boost from Splash, which went on to become a box-office blockbuster, grossing more than $100 million.
Period of hits and misses
More comedies followed but none clicked with audiences. With Nothing in Common (1986)--about a young man alienated from his parents who must re-establish a relationship with his father, played by Jackie Gleason--Hanks began to establish the credentials of not only a comic actor, but of someone who could carry a serious role. "It changed my desires about working in movies," Hanks told Rolling Stone. "Part of it was the nature of the material, what we were trying to say. But besides that, it focused on people's relationships. The story was about a guy and his father, unlike, say, The Money Pit, where the story is really about a guy and his house."
Hanks's next film (after three more flops)--Big (1988)--proved to be successful, not only at the box office but within the industry in establishing Hanks as a major Hollywood talent. "It's not easy being successful in this town," his friend Scolari told Rolling Stone, "particularly for a man of conscience. You get fed a steady diet of adulation. You get fed things that aren't necessarily bad or poisonous or toxic in any way. But they're not really on your meal plan. You have to stop and say, `Wait a minute--I didn't order this.' You have to take your life by the horns. You have responsibilities that have nothing to do with being an actor. Tom Hanks has dealt with his success. I have never known him to be happier."
Despite this success, Hanks's choice of roles again landed him in trouble with another string of box-office failures. First The 'Burbs (1989), then Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), and finally the colossal bomb The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), which saw Hanks as a greedy Wall Street type who gets enmeshed in a hit-and-run accident.
Progression into dramatic roles
Hanks again climbed back to the top with his portrayal of an unsuccessful baseball manager in A League of Their Own (1992). In an interview with Vanity Fair, Hanks called the work he's done since League his "modern era of moviemaking ... because enough self-discovery has gone on.... My work has become less pretentiously fake."
This "modern era" welcomed in a spectacular 1993 for Hanks, first with Sleepless in Seattle and then with Philadelphia. The former was a summer smash about a widower who finds true love over the airwaves. Richard Schickel of Time called his performance "charming" and most agreed that his portrayal ensured him a place among the premiere romantic-comedy stars of his generation. But it was in the latter film that Hanks truly made his mark. Playing a gay lawyer with AIDS who sues his firm for discrimination, Hanks proved he had the depth and talent to be one of the greats. (To make his performance in the film even more realistic, Hanks lost 35 pounds and thinned his hair in order to appear sickly.) In a review for People, Leah Rozen praised Hanks's skill: "Above all, credit for [Philadelphia's] success belongs to Hanks, who makes sure he plays a character, not a saint. He is flat-out terrific, giving a deeply felt, carefully nuanced performance that deserves an Oscar." And Hanks's peers agreed, honoring him with the 1994 Academy Award for best actor.
Forrest Gump
Hanks followed Philadelphia with the 1994 summer blockbuster hit Forrest Gump. The film is a bittersweet tale of a simple-minded young man who finds himself in the middle of most of the major events of recent American history. In the process, the character's very real wisdom shines through and positively affects the lives he touches. In Vanity Fair the film's director, Robert Zemeckis, praised Hanks's performance: "[Hanks] brings to this role what any great actor does--and I mean great actor--which is a real honesty."
In the same article Hanks explained what appealed to him about the script: "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." What Hanks also got from his performance in the movie was a 1995 Academy Award, his second for best actor. In winning back-to-back Oscars, Hanks became only the second actor to have accomplished the feat (Spencer Tracy was the first, winning in 1937-38).
Apollo 13
Hanks's next project reunited him with director Ron Howard in a movie about Apollo 13, in which he played astronaut and commander James Lovell. In 1970, Apollo 13 was on its way to the Moon when an oxygen tank exploded and the spacecraft almost failed to return to Earth. Critics applauded the film and the performances of the entire cast, which included actors Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, and Kathleen Quinlan. Audiences flocked to the theaters to see Apollo 13 and to witness what was perhaps the American space program's greatest moment in the possible face of tragedy.
1998 and on
Hanks turned to the role of executive producer (and co-writer and co-director) for the HBO docucrama, From the Earth to the Moon. The six-part series chronicles the space program from its inception, through the familiar flights of Neil Armstrong and Jim Lovell, to the personal feelings surrounding the reality of moon landings. The Emmy Award-winning $68 million project is one of the most expensive ventures taken for television. Hanks next project was no less expansive. He teamed up with Steven Spielberg to make a film about D-Day, the landing at Omaha Beach, and a quest through war-torn France to bring back a soldier who has a ticket home. Saving Private Ryan earned the praise and respect of the film community, critics, and the general public; it was labeled one of the finest films ever made, earning Spielberg his second Academy Award for direction and Hanks a Best Actor nomination. Later in 1998, Hanks co-starred with his Sleepless in Seattle counterpart, Meg Ryan, for another romantic comedy. The two made You've Got Mail, a remake of the 1940 movie The Shop Around the Corner which starred Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan.
In 1999, Hanks starred in an adaption of Stephen King's novel, The Green Mile. The following year he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor, and an Academy nomination for his portrayal of a shipwrecked FedEx systems engineer in Robert Zemeckis' Cast Away. In 2001, Hanks appeared in the acclaimed HBO mini-series Band of Brothers, the September 11 television special America: A Tribute to Heroes and the documentary Rescued From the Closet.
Next he teamed up with American Beauty director Sam Mendes for the adaptation of Max Allan Collins graphic novel Road to Perdition in which he played an anti-hero role as a hitman on the run with his son. That same year, Hanks collaborated with director Spielberg again, starring opposite Leonardo Dicaprio in the hit crime-comedy Catch Me if You Can, based on the true story of Frank Abagnale Jr.
Hanks was subsquently absent from films until 2004, when he appeared in three films: The Coen Brothers' The Ladykillers, yet another Spielberg helmed film, The Terminal, and The Polar Express, a family picture from Robert Zemeckis.
In a USA Weekend interview Hanks talked about how he chooses projects: "[Since] A League of Their Own, it can't be just another movie for me. It has to get me going somehow.... There has to be some all-encompassing desire or feeling about wanting to do that particular movie. I'd like to assume that I'm willing to go down any avenue in order to do it right."
He became the youngest ever recipient of the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award on June 12, 2002.
In August 2005 Hanks was voted in as vice-president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. [2]
Hanks is also starring in the film The Da Vinci Code, based on the novel by Dan Brown
Personal life
Hanks has been married to actress Rita Wilson since 1988. They became involved while working on the movie Volunteers (1985), although they first worked together in an episode of Bosom Buddies (Wilson guest starred as a romantic interest of Peter Scolari's Henry Desmond character). They have two children together. Hanks was married previously to Lewes from 1978 to 1987. That union also produced two children (one of whom is actor/son Colin Hanks). Through his contact with Wilson, Hanks joined the Greek Orthodox Church.[3]
Hanks claims to be a relative of James Hanks, one of several possible fathers of Nancy Hanks, mother of United States president Abraham Lincoln. A map of his family tree showing the purported connection can be found in the External links section.
Hanks is a fan of the Cleveland Indians baseball team and English Premier League football (soccer) team Aston Villa.
Other activities
Hanks is a Democrat and has supported many candidates, including Hillary Clinton, Dianne Feinstein, Al Gore, and John Kerry. Hanks is also a noted environmentalist who drives a hybrid car and is a member of the Nature Conservancy. He has appeared in radio and television public service announcements for the organization and even serves on the board of trustees in Idaho, where he has a home.
Hanks is a member of the National Space Society, serving on the Board of Governors of the nonprofit, educational space advocacy organization founded by Dr. Wernher von Braun, and was the producer of the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon about the Apollo program to send astronauts to the moon. Hanks also provides the voice over for the Hayden planetarium show at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Filmography
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| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The Great Buck Howard | Unknown | (in production) |
| The Risk Pool | Sam Hall | (producer; film just announced) | |
| A Cold Case | Andy Rosenzweig | (producer; pre-production) | |
| Charlie Wilson's War | Charlie Wilson | (post-production) | |
| The Da Vinci Code | Robert Langdon | (completed) | |
| 2004 | The Polar Express | Hero Boy, Father, Conductor, Hobo, Scrooge, & Santa Claus | (executive producer; voices only) |
| Elvis Has Left The Building | Mailbox Elvis | (cameo) | |
| The Terminal | Viktor Navorski | ||
| The Ladykillers | Professor G.H. Dorr | ||
| 2002 | Catch Me If You Can | Carl Hanratty | |
| Road to Perdition | Michael Sullivan | ||
| 2000 | Cast Away | Chuck Noland | (producer) |
| 1999 | The Green Mile | Paul Edgecomb | |
| Toy Story 2 | Sheriff Woody | (voice only) | |
| 1998 | You've Got Mail | Joe Fox | |
| Saving Private Ryan | Captain John H. Miller | ||
| 1996 | That Thing You Do! | Mr. White | (writer and director) |
| 1995 | Toy Story | Sheriff Woody | (voice only) |
| The Celluloid Closet | Himself | (documentary) | |
| Apollo 13 | Jim Lovell | ||
| 1994 | Forrest Gump | Forrest Gump | (received Academy Award-Best Actor for his role) |
| 1993 | Philadelphia | Andrew Beckett | (received Academy Award-Best Actor for his role) |
| Sleepless in Seattle | Sam Baldwin | ||
| 1992 | A League of Their Own | Jimmy Dugan | |
| Radio Flyer | Older Mike | (uncredited) | |
| 1990 | The Bonfire Of The Vanities | Sherman McCoy | |
| Joe Versus The Volcano | Joe Banks | ||
| 1989 | Turner & Hooch | Det. Scott Turner | |
| The 'Burbs | Ray Peterson | ||
| 1988 | Punchline | Steven Gold | |
| Big | Josh Baskin | ||
| 1987 | Dragnet | Pep Streebeck | |
| 1986 | Everytime We Say Goodbye | David Bradley | |
| Nothing in Common | David Basner | ||
| The Money Pit | Walter Fielding, Jr. | ||
| 1985 | Volunteers | Lawrence Whatley Bourne III | |
| The Man With One Red Shoe | Richard Harlan Drew | ||
| 1984 | Bachelor Party | Rick Gassko | |
| Splash | Allen Bauer | ||
| 1980 | He Knows You're Alone | Elliot |
Academy Awards and nominations
- 1988 Nominated Big
- 1993 Won Philadelphia
- 1994 Won Forrest Gump
- 1998 Nominated Saving Private Ryan
- 2000 Nominated Cast Away
Template:Start box {{succession box | title=Academy Award for Best Actor | before=Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman | years=1993–1994 | after=Nicolas Cage for Leaving Las Vegas }} Template:End box
TV work
- Bosom Buddies (1980-1982)
- Mazes and Monsters (1982)
- Vault of Horror I (1994) (also director)
- From the Earth to the Moon (1998) (miniseries) (also executive producer/director/writer)
- Band of Brothers (2001) (miniseries) (producer, director)
- The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch (2002) (Cameo)
Tom Hanks in other media
Tom Hanks appears in the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends episode "One False Movie" where Bloo hires him to play a robot. His face isn't shown. He is voiced by Keith Ferguson in a muffling voice (his head is covered by a trash can).
Trivia
- Hanks is a big WWII buff and a fan of NASA's manned space program. He said that he originally wanted to be an astronaut but "didn't have the math."
- He has said that one of his favorite films is 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). In interviews he has said that he has seen it around 13 times in the theater and owns the VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD releases of the film.
- He is a childhood friend of Bruce Springsteen.
- Hanks, whose daughter attended Vassar College, spoke at the 2005 graduation ceremony.
- Often portrays resourceful, self-reliant, and likeable characters in his film roles.
- He appeared in Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends as a robot.
- In Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, and A League of Their Own, socks play a role in the plot. During his service in the Vietnam War the main advice Forrest Gump receives from Lieutenant Dan (portrayed by Gary Sinise) is to keep his feet clean and dry and to change his socks often. In Apollo 13, a mission control operator walks the crew through the construction of an ad hoc machine to scrub carbon dioxide gas from the air of the space craft. Hanks' character, Jim Lovell takes off his sock to use it in the filter. In Saving Private Ryan, Hanks' character and his men use socks to create "sticky bombs" to destroy the German tanks during the confrontation at the bridge. Another event involving socks can be found in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, produced by Tom Hanks. In this miniseries, the medic warns the soldier to wear dry socks to avoid gangrene. Finally, before the Peaches' final game in "A League of Their Own," Hank's character asks, in the locker room, "What the hell's that smell?" to which he's told, "Alice thinks it's bad luck to change her socks." "You're killin' me, Alice," he says. "You're goddamn killin' me."
- Hanks' characters also seem to have a recurring theme of bladder problems. In Forrest Gump, Forrest meets JFK and blurts out, "I really have to pee!" In The Green Mile, Paul Edgecombe is afflicted with an extremely painful urinary tract infection, which John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) cures. In A League of Their Own, Jimmy Dugan makes his entrance into the locker room highly hung over, seemingly unaware of all the female ballplayers present, and takes a very long stretch at the urinal, as the women look on disbelief. When he finally finishes, Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis) can only say, "Nice pee!"
Further reading
Books
- Trakin, Roy, Tom Hanks: Journey to Stardom, 1987; rev. ed.1995.
- Salamon, Julie, The Devil's Candy: "The Bonfire of the Vanities" Goes to Hollywood, Boston, 1991.
- Wallner, Rosemary, Tom Hanks: Academy Award-Winning Actor, Edina, Minnesota, 1994.
- Pfeiffer, Lee, The Films of Tom Hanks, Secaucus, New Jersey, 1996.
Periodicals
- Films, July 1984.
- Photoplay (London), September 1984.
- Time Out (London), 26 October 1988.
- Film Comment (New York), March/April 1989.
- Interview (New York), March 1992.
- Interview (New York), December 1993.
- Advocate, 14 December 1993.
- Maclean's (Toronto), 11 July 1994.
External links
- {{{2|{{{name|Tom Hanks}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- Tom Hanks's (partial) family tree (links him to former US president Abraham Lincoln)
- Tom Hanks DVDology
- Tom Hanks Quotes
- Tom Hanks Potted History & Movie Filmography
- Tom Hanks Land, the largest and longest running Tom Hanks fansite
- Tom Hanks' thoughts on Earth Day 2006bg:Том Ханкс
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