Profession: Actor
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title role in Forrest Gump, Commander James A. Lovell in Apollo 13, Captain John H. Miller in Saving Private Ryan, Joe Fox in You've Got Mail and Chuck Noland in Cast Away. Hanks won consecutive Best Actor Academy Awards, in 1993 for Philadelphia and in 1994 for Forrest Gump. U.S. domestic box office totals for his films exceed $3.9 billion.[1] He is the father of actor Colin Hanks.
Contents [hide]
1 END OF CAREER
2 Early career
3 Period of successes and failures
4 Progression into dramatic roles
5 1996 - present: Directing, producing and acting
5.1 Top worldwide film grosses
6 Personal life
7 Politics
8 Other activities
9 Filmography
10 Television
11 Other accolades
12 Eponym
13 References
14 Further reading
15 External links
[edit]END OF CAREER
Tom hanks ended his career by staring in all of the movies he starred in! And he is crazy he talks to a box of chocolates! He comments people on their shoes for no reason! I mean seriously! He was born in 1898 and came back to life to haunt hollywood! He did a very good job scaring the crap out of people with his acting! Now it's all over! We can come out of our basements and houses now it's ok he's gone!
[edit]Early career
In 1979, Hanks packed his bags for New York City, where he made his film debut in the low-budget slasher film He Knows You're Alone and got a part in the television movie Mazes and Monsters. Early in 1979, Hanks was cast in the lead role of Callimaco in the Riverside Shakespeare Company's production of Niccolò Machiavelli's The Mandrake, directed by Daniel Southern. This remains Hanks's only New York stage performance to date; as a high profile Off Off Broadway showcase, the production helped Tom land an agent, Joe Ohla with the J. Michael Bloom Agency. The next year Hanks landed a lead role on the ABC television pilot of Bosom Buddies, playing the role of Kip Wilson. Hanks moved to Los Angeles, where he and Peter Scolari played a pair of young advertising men forced to dress as women so they could live in an inexpensive all-female hotel. Hanks had previously partnered with Scolari in the 1970s game show Make Me Laugh. Bosom Buddies 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," co-producer 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 was not able to convince Hanks. "The television show had come out of nowhere," 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."
Bosom Buddies and a guest appearance on a 1982 episode of Happy Days ("A Case of Revenge," where he played a disgruntled former classmate of The Fonz) prompted director Ron Howard to contact Hanks. Howard was working on Splash (1984), a romantic comedy fantasy 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 that eventually went to John Candy. Instead, Hanks got the lead role and a career boost from Splash, which went on to become a box office hit, grossing more than US$69 million. He also had a sizable hit with the sex comedy Bachelor Party, also in 1984.
In 1983–84, Hanks made three guest appearances on Family Ties as Elyse Keaton's alcoholic brother, Ned Donnelly.[2][3]
[edit]Period of successes and failures
Hanks at Governor's Ball party after 61st Academy Awards, March 29, 1989
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."[citation needed]
After a few more flops and a moderate success with Dragnet, Hanks succeeded with the film Big (1988), both at the box office and within the industry. The film established Hanks as a major Hollywood talent. It was followed later that year by Punchline, in which he and Sally Field co-star as struggling stand-up comedians. Hanks's character, Steven Gold, a failing medical student trying to break into stand-up, was somewhat edgy and complex. Hanks' portrayal of Gold offered a glimpse of the far more dramatic roles Hanks would master in films to come. Hanks then suffered a pile of box-office failures: The 'Burbs (1989), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), and The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), as a greedy Wall Street type who gets enmeshed in a hit-and-run accident. Only the 1989 movie Turner & Hooch brought success for Hanks during this time. In a 1993 issue of Disney Adventures, Hanks said, "I saw Turner & Hooch the other day in the SAC store and couldn't help but be reminiscent. I cried like a baby." He did admit to making a couple of "bum tickers," however, and blamed his "...deductive reasoning and decision making skills."
[edit]Progression into dramatic roles
Hanks and Rita Wilson at the 1989 Oscars
Hanks climbed back to the top again with his portrayal of a washed-up baseball star turned manager in A League of Their Own (1992). Hanks admits that his acting in earlier roles was not great and that he has improved. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Hanks noted his "modern era of moviemaking ... because enough self-discovery has gone on.... My work has become less pretentiously fake and over the top". This "modern era" began in 1993 for Hanks, first with Sleepless in Seattle and then with Philadelphia. The former was a blockbuster success about a widower who finds true love over the airwaves. Richard Schickel of Time called his performance "charming," and most critics agreed that Hanks' portrayal ensured him a place among the premier romantic-comedy stars of his generation.[citation needed]
In Philadelphia, he played a gay lawyer with AIDS who sues his firm for discrimination. Hanks lost thirty-five pounds and thinned his hair in order to appear sickly for the role. In a review for People, Leah Rozen stated "Above all, credit for Philadelphia's success belongs to Hanks, who makes sure that he plays a character, not a saint. He is flat-out terrific, giving a deeply felt, carefully nuanced performance that deserves an Oscar." Hanks won the 1993 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Philadelphia. During his acceptance speech he revealed that his high school drama teacher Rawley Farnsworth and former classmate John Gilkerson, two people with whom he was close, were gay.[4] The revelation inspired the 1997 film In & Out, starring Kevin Kline as an English Literature teacher who is outed by a former student in a similar way.[citation needed]
Hanks on the film set of Forrest Gump in 1994
Hanks followed Philadelphia with the 1994 summer hit Forrest Gump. Of the film, Hanks has remarked: "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." Hanks won his second Best Actor Academy Award for his role in Forrest Gump, becoming only the second actor to have accomplished the feat of winning consecutive Best Actor Oscars. (Spencer Tracy was the first, winning in 1937–38. Hanks and Tracy were the same age at the time they received their Academy Awards: 37 for the first and 38 for the second.)
Hanks' next role—astronaut and commander Jim Lovell, in the 1995 movie Apollo 13--reunited him with Ron Howard. Critics generally applauded the film and the performances of the entire cast, which included actors Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, and Kathleen Quinlan. The movie also earned nine Academy Award nominations, winning two. The same year, Hanks starred in the animated blockbuster Toy Story as the voice of the toy Sheriff Woody.
[edit]1996 - present: Directing, producing and acting
Hanks turned to directing with his 1996 film That Thing You Do! about a 1960s pop group, also playing the role of a music producer. Hanks and producer Gary Goetzman went on to create Playtone, a record and film production company named for the record company in the film.
Hanks executive produced, co-wrote, and co-directed the HBO docudrama From the Earth to the Moon. The twelve-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 project was, at US$68 million, one of the most expensive ventures taken for television.
Hanks's next project was no less expensive. For Saving Private Ryan he teamed up with Steven Spielberg to make a film about a search through war-torn France after D-Day to bring back a soldier who has a ticket home. It earned the praise and respect of the film community, critics, and the general public. It was labeled one of the finest war films ever made and earned Spielberg his second Academy Award for direction, and Hanks another Best Actor nomination. Later in 1998, Hanks re-teamed with his Sleepless in Seattle co-star Meg Ryan for You've Got Mail, a remake of 1940's The Shop Around the Corner.
In 1999, Hanks starred in an adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Green Mile. He also returned as the voice of Woody in Toy Story 2. The following year he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor and an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of a marooned FedEx systems analyst in Robert Zemeckis's Cast Away. In 2001, Hanks helped direct and produce the acclaimed HBO mini-series Band of Brothers. He also appeared in 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's and Richard Piers Rayner's 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. The same year, Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson produced the hit movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. In August 2007, he along with co-producers Rita Wilson and Gary Goetzman, and writer and star Nia Vardalos, initiated a legal action against the production company Gold Circle Films for their share of profits from the movie.[5][6] At the age of 45, he 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, another Spielberg film, The Terminal, and The Polar Express, a family film 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". In August 2005, Hanks was voted in as vice president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[7]
Hanks next starred in the highly anticipated film The Da Vinci Code, based on the bestselling novel by Dan Brown. The film was released May 19, 2006 in the US and grossed over US$750 million worldwide. He followed the film with Ken Burns's 2007 documentary The War. For the documentary, Hanks did voice work, reading excerpts from World War II-era columns by Al McIntosh. In 2006, Hanks topped a 1,500-strong list of 'most trusted celebrities' compiled by Forbes magazine.[8] Hanks next appeared in a cameo role as himself in The Simpsons Movie, in which he appeared in an advertisement claiming that the US government has lost its credibility and is hence buying some of his. He also made an appearance in the credits, expressing a desire to be left alone when he is out in public. Later in 2006, Hanks produced the British film Starter for Ten, a comedy based on working class students attempting to win University Challenge.[9]
In 2007, Hanks starred in Mike Nichols's film Charlie Wilson's War (written by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin) in which he plays Democratic Texas Congressman Charles Wilson. The film opened on December 21, 2007 and Hanks received a Golden Globe nomination.
Hanks in 2008
In 2008's The Great Buck Howard, Hanks played the on-screen father of a young man (Hanks' real-life son, Colin Hanks) who chooses to follow in the footsteps of a fading magician (John Malkovich). Tom Hanks's character was less than thrilled about his son's career decision.
Hanks's next endeavor, released on May 15, 2009, was a film adaptation of Angels & Demons, based on the novel of the same name by Dan Brown. Its April 11, 2007 announcement revealed that Hanks would reprise his role as Robert Langdon, and that he would reportedly receive the highest salary ever for an actor.[10][11] The following day he made his 10th appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live, impersonating himself for the Celebrity Jeopardy sketch.
Hanks is producer of the Spike Jonze film Where The Wild Things Are, based on the children's book by Maurice Sendak.[12]
In 2010, Hanks reprised his role as Sheriff Woody in the third film in the Toy Story franchise, 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.[13]
[edit]Top worldwide film grosses
Hanks is ranked the highest all time box office star with over $3.639 billion total box office gross, an average of $107 million per film.[14] He has been involved with seventeen films that grossed over $100 million at the worldwide box office. The highest grossing film he has starred in is 2010's Toy Story 3.[15]
[edit]Personal life
Hanks was married to American actress Samantha Lewes[16] (née Susan Jane Dillingham) from 1978 to 1987. The couple had two children, son Colin Hanks (also an actor) and daughter Elizabeth Ann.[17][18] In 1988, Hanks married actress Rita Wilson. The two first met on the set of Hanks's television show Bosom Buddies but later developed a romantic interest while working on the film Volunteers. They have two sons: Chester, or "Chet" (who has a small part as a student in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), and Truman. As of January 2011, Chet, a sophomore at Northwestern University, has been receiving media attention for his recent release of a rap single, "White and Purple (Northwestern Remix)".[19]
Regarding his religious views, Hanks has said, "I must say that when I go to church – and I do go to church – I ponder the mystery. I meditate on the 'why?' of 'Why people are as they are' and 'Why bad things happen to good people,' and 'Why good things happen to bad people'... The mystery is what I think it is, almost, the grand unifying theory of mankind."[20]
Hanks became a grandfather when his son Colin and daughter-in-law Samantha produced granddaughter Olivia Jane Hanks on February 1, 2011.[21]
[edit]Politics
Hanks has made donations to many Democratic politicians and has been open about his support for same-sex marriage, environmental causes and alternative fuels. Hanks made public his presidential candidate choice in the 2008 election when he uploaded a video to his MySpace account in which he announced his endorsement of Barack Obama.[22]
A proponent of environmentalism, Hanks is an investor in electric vehicles and owns both a Toyota RAV4 EV and the first production AC Propulsion eBox. Hanks was a lessee of an EV1 before it was recalled, as chronicled in the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?[23][24] He is on the waiting list for an Aptera 2 Series.[25]
Hanks was extremely outspoken about his opposition to Proposition 8, an amendment to the California constitution that defined marriage as a union only between a man and a woman. Hanks and others who were in opposition to the proposition raised over USD$44 million in contrast to the supporters' $39 million,[26] but Proposition 8 passed with 52% of the vote.[27]
While premiering a TV series in January 2009, Hanks called supporters of Proposition 8 "un-American" and attacked the LDS (Mormon) church members, who were major proponents of the bill, for their views on marriage and their role in supporting the bill.[28][29] About a week later, Hanks apologized for the remark, saying that nothing is more American than voting one's conscience.[30]
[edit]Other activities
Hanks with Steven Spielberg (left) at the National World War II Memorial in March 2010
A supporter of NASA's manned space program, Hanks has said that he originally wanted to be an astronaut but "didn't have the math." 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. 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 also 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.[31] The award is 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.[32] 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.[citation needed]
Hanks is one of several celebrities who frequently participates in planned comedy bits on Conan O'Brien's talk shows, including Late Night, The Tonight Show, and Conan while a guest. On one visit, Hanks asked Conan to join his run for president on the "Bad Haircut Party" ticket, with confetti and balloons and a hand held sign with the slogan "You'd be stupid to vote for us". On another episode, O'Brien, noting that Hanks was missing Christmas on his promotional tour, brought the season to him, including a gift (the skeleton of Hooch), and a mass of snow burying them both. On yet another episode, Conan gave Hanks a painting he had commissioned reflecting two of his interests: Astronauts landing on the beach at Normandy. On March 10, 2008, Hanks was on hand at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to induct sixties band The Dave Clark Five.[33]
[edit]Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1980 He Knows You're Alone Elliot
1982 Mazes and Monsters Robbie Wheeling Made for television
1984 Splash Allen Bauer
Bachelor Party Rick Gassko
1985 The Man with One Red Shoe Richard Harlan Drew
Volunteers Lawrence Whatley Bourne III
1986 The Money Pit Walter Fielding, Jr.
Nothing in Common David Basner
Every Time We Say Goodbye David Bradley
1987 Dragnet Pep Streebeck
1988 Big Adult Josh Baskin Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
Punchline Steven Gold
1989 Turner & Hooch Detective Scott Turner
The 'Burbs Ray Peterson
1990 Joe Versus the Volcano Joe Banks
The Bonfire of the Vanities Sherman McCoy
1992 A League of Their Own Jimmy Dugan
Radio Flyer Older Mike (uncredited)
1993 Sleepless in Seattle Sam Baldwin Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Philadelphia Andrew Beckett Academy Award for Best Actor
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
1994 Forrest Gump Forrest Gump Academy Award for Best Actor
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actor
1995 Apollo 13 Jim Lovell Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Actor
Toy Story Woody (voice)
1996 That Thing You Do! Mr. White (writer and director)
1998 Saving Private Ryan Captain John H. Miller Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated – London Critics Circle Film Award for Best Actor
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor
You've Got Mail Joe Fox
1999 Toy Story 2 Woody (voice)
The Green Mile Paul Edgecombe Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Drama
2000 Cast Away Chuck Noland Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated — Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance
Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor
2002 Road to Perdition Michael Sullivan, Sr. Nominated — Golden Satellite Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Catch Me If You Can FBI Agent Carl Hanratty
2004 The Terminal Viktor Navorski
The Ladykillers Professor G.H. Dorr
Elvis Has Left the Building Mailbox Elvis (cameo)
The Polar Express Santa Claus, Express Conductor,
Hobo, Hero Boy, Father (executive producer)
(voice/motion capture)
2006 The Da Vinci Code Professor Robert Langdon
Cars Woody Car (voice)
2007 The Simpsons Movie Himself (voice)
Charlie Wilson's War Charlie Wilson Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2008 The Great Buck Howard Mr. Gable
Mamma Mia! (producer)
2009 Angels & Demons Professor Robert Langdon
The National Parks: America's Best Idea Various historical figures (voice)
Where the Wild Things Are (producer)
2010 Toy Story 3 Woody (voice)
Nominated — Scream Award for Best Fantasy Actor
Nominated — Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie
2011 Larry Crowne Larry Crowne (director, producer, writer)
2012 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Filming
[edit]Television
Year Title Role Notes
1980 The Love Boat Rick Martin TV series (episode "Friends and Lovers/Sergeant Bull/Miss Mother")
1980–1982 Bosom Buddies Kip Wilson
1982 Taxi Gordon
Mazes and Monsters Robbie Wheeling
Happy Days Dr. Dwayne Twitchell Episode "A Case of Revenge"
1983 Family Ties Ned Elyse Keaton's brother
1994 Vault of Horror I Director
1998 From the Earth to the Moon Narrator (also executive producer/director/writer) Miniseries
2001 Band of Brothers Producer, director, writer Miniseries
2002 The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch Interviewee
2006–2011 Big Love Executive producer TV series
2008 John Adams Executive producer Miniseries
2010 The Pacific Executive producer/Narrator Miniseries
[edit]Other accolades
Year Organization Award Result
1988 Hollywood Women's Press Club Golden Apple Award Won
1995 Hasty Pudding Theatricals Man of the Year Won
2002 American Film Institute AFI Life Achievement Award Won[34]
Hollywood Film Festival Actor of the Year Won
2004 BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards Britannia Award for Excellence in Film Won
Bambi Awards Bambi for Film – International Won
2009 Film Society of Lincoln Center Gala Tribute Won
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