Tom Hanks

Anyone who followed Tom Hanks’ early career is no doubt amazed by where he is today. Apart from razor-sharp comic timing, little in Hanks’ early work reveals the massive acting talent that would carry Hanks to four Oscarâ nominations and two wins. His capacity for portraying deep, conflicting emotion—hung on characters of all walks of life—has won him fans from around the world and allowed him to partner with some of Hollywood’s most respected filmmakers.

Tom Hanks, born in California on July 9, 1956, was roundly rejected by his college’s dramatic productions. Looking outside of his school setting for work, he soon found himself moving to another city on a wing and a prayer. He took a role in a theater production in Cleveland, and from that beginning developed a reputation as a solid, hardworking performer with a charm that won audiences over. A series of quality TV appearances eventually drew the attention of director Ron Howard, who gave him a starring role in Splash, opposite Daryl Hannah, and from there he began an assault on Hollywood.

Tom Hanks’s everyman persona and good looks continued to see him cast in comic roles, until his roles in the romance Sleepless in Seattle—followed by his much talked about Oscarâ-winning performance in the AIDS drama Philadelphia—put him on the map as a serious dramatic actor. Tom Hanks scored another Oscarâ with Forrest Gump, at which point he had his choice of roles. He slowed the pace of his movie making, taking a part in Apollo 13 and narrating an accompanying documentary series on space travel. Around this time, he voiced Woody, a toy cowboy in the astonishing Toy Story, animated by Pixar—the company’s first film.

Since then Tom Hanks has taken on several types of roles showcasing his diverse talents in films ranging from Saving Private Ryan to The Ladykillers, and frequently teaming with the likes of Steven Spielberg. A widower by his first marriage, he is now happily married, and has four children from his two marriages.