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About Tom Hanks
You’ve probably seen him in one of his many blockbusters, such as Big, Forrest Gump, or Apollo 13. Tom Hanks has been synonymous with both blockbusters and award-winning acting performances.
He is regarded as one of the most successful box office stars of all time, as well as the “nicest guy in Hollywood.” Hanks has received multiple awards and demonstrated that he is a quadruple threat—actor, producer, writer, and director—throughout his career, which spans more than three decades.
Tom is noted for his exceptional acting abilities, with standout performances in both humorous and tragic parts. His films have grossed over 9.96 billion dollars, and he is regarded as a cultural icon in the United States.
This is how Tom Hanks rose to become one of the most influential and respected figures in the world today and throughout history.
Early Life
Tom Hanks grew up in the San Francisco area. He majored in drama in community college and at California State University, Sacramento until he was invited to join the Great Lakes Theater Festival for a three-year internship.
He came to New York City in 1980 and secured a co-starring part in the two-season cross-dressing sitcom Bosom Buddies. Following that, he had a string of modest cinema parts.
Theatre Geek
Tom grew raised in Concord, California, where he was born Thomas Jeffrey Hanks. When he was a child, his father, Amos, and mother, Janet, divorced, and he grew up living with his father.
Hanks went to Skyline High School, where he was a geek and acted in school plays, according to him. Hanks studied drama at Chabot College in Hayward, California, after graduating from high school, then transferred to California State University, Sacramento after two years.
Hanks came to New York City in 1979 and made his cinematic debut in He Knows You’re Alone, a slasher film. Hanks also starred in the television film Mazes and Monsters and the Riverside Shakespeare Company’s performance of The Mandrake the same year.
Hanks scored a lead part in the short-lived ABC television sitcom Bosom Buddies the following year, giving him his first taste of the mainstream.
Rise to Stardom
In 1988, Tom Hanks became well-known for his performance in the popular film Big. He built a career out of pushing genre boundaries after that. Sleepless in Seattle, Apollo 13, Toy Story, You’ve Got Mail, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, The Da Vinci Code, and Angels and Demons are just a few of his notable roles.
Hanks became only the second actor in history to win back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Actor in 1993 and 1994. In 1993, he earned an Academy Award for his role as an HIV-positive attorney in the film Philadelphia. In 1994, he earned an Academy Award for his performance in Forrest Gump, in which he played the lead character.
Hanks began his career as a producer and director in 1996 with the film That Thing You Do!, which he wrote and directed. Since then, he’s directed or produced several films, including Cast Away and The Polar Express.
From 1978 to 1987, Tom Hanks was married to Samantha Lewes. In 1988, he married actress, Rita Wilson. Actor Colin Hanks and rapper Chet Haze are two of his four children.
Highlights
Here are some of the best highlights of Tom Hanks’ career:
- Big (Movie, 1988)
- Forrest Gump (Movie, 1994)
- Academy Awards (Best Actor ‘Forrest Gump’, 1994) – Won
- The Green Mile (Movie, 1999)
- Catch Me If You Can (Movie, 2002)
- The Terminal (Movie, 2004)
- The Da Vinci Code (Movie, 2006)
- Captain Phillips (Movie, 2013)
- Inferno (Movie, 2016)
- The Post (Movie, 2017)
Real Estate Assets
Tom and Rita paid $2.95 million for a magnificent beachside property in the ultra-exclusive Malibu Colony in April 1991. Director John Frankenheimer was the buyer.
This house is now worth at least $20 million, if not more. Tom and Rita paid $26 million for their principal residence in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles in January 2010.
Tom and Rita sold two Palisades properties side by side for $18 million in May 2017. The buyer demolished the two homes to make space for a huge single mansion, concealing their identity through a San Francisco-based lawyer and LLC.
In the Pacific Palisades, Tom and Rita own at least five more houses. Tom and Rita own a ski lodge in Sun Valley, Idaho, just outside of Los Angeles.
The Hanks/Wilson real estate portfolio is estimated to be valued at at least $150 million.
Our Favourite Quotes By Tom Hanks
“Some people are cowards… I think by and large a third of people are villains, a third are cowards, and a third are heroes. Now, a villain and a coward can choose to be a hero, but they’ve got to make that choice.”
“There isn’t any great mystery about me. What I do is glamorous and has an awful lot of white-hot attention placed on it. But the actual work requires the same discipline and passion as any job you love doing, be it as a very good pipe fitter or a highly creative artist.”
“If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.”
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