Tom Hanks biography, net worth, son, brother, age, Oscars, awards, wife, height 2025

Tom Hanks Biography

Tom Hanks is a legend of world cinema, a talented American actor, screenwriter and director, successful producer, two-time Oscar winner with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – and simply a good person. He's the star of "Forrest Gump," "The Green Mile," "Cast Away," "The Terminal" and many other masterpieces. You won't often see Hanks in action flicks or "popcorn blockbusters" – his films consistently teach audiences about goodness and make them think about what really matters.

Hanks regularly appears on screen, produces new projects, writes scripts, voices animated films and even appears in music videos. Americans adore him and consider him practically a national hero. Tom has been voted America's favorite actor five times in Harris Poll surveys, and his star has been shining on the Hollywood Walk of Fame since 1992.

Childhood and Early Years

The future actor was born on July 9, 1956, in Concord, California, becoming the third child in a large family. He has brothers Jim and Larry and a sister Sandra. His father, Amos Mefford, worked as a cook at a local restaurant. His mother, Janet Marilyn Frager, was a healthcare worker who, according to family legend, was distantly related to President Abraham Lincoln.

Tom Hanks as a child (pictured on the right with his mother)

Tom wasn't even five when his parents divorced. The older children stayed with their father, while their mother took one-year-old Jim. According to Tom, the divorce was the most devastating shock of his childhood. Their father didn't have enough time to raise the boys – he was always busy at work and preferred spending his free time with new girlfriends.

The family moved around frequently, so Tom never had time to make friends and grew up as a quiet, withdrawn boy. By age sixteen, he'd attended five different schools, which didn't help his grades at all.

There was another reason why Hanks didn't focus much on his schoolwork. He had a passion – theater – and devoted all his free time to it. The boy frequently attended plays, and at twelve, he joined a drama club and started performing in children's productions. His father didn't encourage his son's "antics," believing you couldn't make money that way, but Tom was determined to become an actor and confidently pursued his goal.

Tom Hanks in a school theater production (1974)

As a teenager, Tom saw Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." It remains the actor's favorite film to this day. "It has everything about why people go to the movies, regardless of the year, subject, or genre," Hanks believes.

After graduating high school, he enrolled at California State University in 1976, where he began studying dramatic arts and stage performance. Initially, Hanks approached his studies with enthusiasm, but over time he became disillusioned with the teaching methods, which seemed outdated and boring to him. Tom was more drawn to unusual creative experiments and avant-garde ideas, while the university mainly focused on dry theory.

Within a year, the young man met Vincent Dowling, head of the Great Lakes Theater Festival, who offered him a job. For three years, Tom worked on set design, costume design, lighting setup, and even directing. This gave him invaluable experience covering every aspect of theater life, and as soon as the right opportunity came along, he dropped out of university and started touring with a small acting troupe from Cleveland.

Acting Career

During this same period, Tom started a family, marrying his college classmate Samantha Lewis. In 1977, the young couple welcomed their son, and Hanks had to seriously consider putting food on the table. The family settled in New York City, the land of opportunity, and the young man began making the rounds at theaters and studios, hunting for work. Tom first appeared on screen in 1980, and like many young actors, he started his creative journey with television series.

Tom Hanks' very first role (He Knows You're Alone, 1980)

Director Ron Howard spotted him in one of these shows and offered him the lead role in Splash in 1984. Tom handled the challenge beautifully, but the film didn't bring him worldwide fame or the financial independence he'd been hoping for. To support his family, which now included two children, the actor continued appearing in TV series and low-budget films like Bachelor Party (1984).

Everything changed dramatically in 1988 when Big hit theaters. In it, Hanks masterfully played a boy who suddenly finds himself in a man's body. The role, which Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, and Robin Williams had all wanted, became Tom's lucky break.

His virtuoso performance earned him a Golden Globe and his first Oscar nomination, while the paycheck from the film solved all his financial problems. After Big, Hanks became a hot commodity for comedy roles. Over the next few years, his filmography expanded with pictures like Turner & Hooch (1989), The 'Burbs (1989), and Punchline (1988). Sure, there were some outright flops along the way, but it was clear that the actor's luck had finally turned.

In 1992, Tom stepped away from comedy and played a rough, perpetually drunk coach in A League of Their Own. The film is notable for marking Hanks' directorial debut, with Madonna taking on one of the roles.

Real stardom came to Hanks in 1993 after the release of the romantic drama Sleepless in Seattle, where he starred alongside Meg Ryan as a touching single father. That same year, his role as a gay man dying of AIDS in Philadelphia cemented his success and brought him his first Oscar.

And his brilliant work in Forrest Gump, which became a Hollywood classic and the sensation of 1994, added a second precious statuette to his collection and made him a star of global proportions.

Forrest Gump - Trailer

From the mid-90s on, Tom entered what can only be called a golden era. Practically every film he appeared in became a blockbuster and earned Oscar nominations. One after another, cinematic masterpieces hit screens: Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Green Mile (1999), and Cast Away (2000).

Tom Hanks and Matt Damon in Saving Private Ryan

A standout moment in 2002 was the brilliant acting duo of Hanks and Leo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can. In the romantic drama You've Got Mail, Tom reunited with Meg Ryan, while in the comedy Larry Crowne he was paired with the dazzling Julia Roberts.

Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can

And how perfectly the actor fit into the role of Robert Langdon in the screen adaptations of Dan Brown's works The Da Vinci Code (2006), Angels & Demons (2009), and Inferno (2016)! Finally, Hanks got the chance to choose projects close to his heart and continues to amaze audiences with the full depth and versatility of his acting talent to this day.

Tom is one of the box office champions, with projects featuring him bringing in around four billion dollars for their creators. It's amusing that his most profitable turned out to be the animated film Toy Story 3, where he simply voiced one of the characters.

In Toy Story 3, Tom Hanks voiced Sheriff Woody

In early 2018, Steven Spielberg's new film The Post starring Tom Hanks was released worldwide. Unfortunately, for political reasons, the film was banned in fourteen Arab countries calling for a boycott of Israel.

Tom Hanks in Carly Rae Jepsen's "I Really Like You" Music Video

In 2019, the actor once again voiced cowboy Woody in the fourth installment of Toy Story, and also appeared in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Hanks plays an elderly, optimistic TV host named Fred who befriends a cynical young journalist (Matthew Rhys). Fred's warmth and openness gradually break down the wall his new acquaintance has built around himself.

A shot from A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

In March 2020, the actor and his wife Rita Wilson made headlines for decidedly non-cinematic reasons: they became among the first celebrities diagnosed with coronavirus. This happened in Australia, where Hanks had flown to play Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's manager, in Baz Luhrmann's biographical film Elvis. Filming was halted for six months. In September 2020, Hanks returned to Australia to complete shooting on the film.

Meanwhile, the military thriller "Greyhound" hit Apple TV+ streaming, written by Hanks himself. He played a naval commander escorting Allied convoys across the Atlantic. Also in 2020, audiences saw the western "News of the World," an adaptation of Paulette Jiles' novel about a 19th-century traveling news reader trying to return a girl kidnapped by Native Americans.

Tom Hanks in captain's uniform looks through broken glass with a serious expression on his face — Tom Hanks in "Greyhound"

2021 brought the sci-fi drama "Finch" from director Miguel Sapochnik. In this post-apocalyptic drama, Tom Hanks appeared as an elderly inventor who builds a robot to care for his dog after his death.

In 2022, besides "Elvis" which finally made it to screens, Hanks appeared in Disney's "Pinocchio" adaptation as Geppetto, Pinocchio's father, and in the remake of the Swedish film "A Man Called Otto."

Tom Hanks in brown suit and hat leans on a cane, looking seriously into the camera — Tom Hanks in "Elvis"

In 2023, Hanks starred in Wes Anderson's quirky comedy "Asteroid City" alongside Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, and Bryan Cranston. He also executive produced the Apple TV+ war miniseries "Masters of the Air," which premiered in January 2024.

November 2024 saw the release of "Here" directed by Robert Zemeckis – essentially a "Forrest Gump" creative team reunion 30 years later. Using a static camera and de-aging technology, the film told the story of one family across several decades. Critics gave the experiment a chilly reception: the film earned just 36% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Good Guy

Tom Hanks fans genuinely believe he's one of the best people on Earth. And it's not just about his acting talent. Hanks is a genuinely good guy with an incredible sense of humor. Judge for yourself.

In September 2016, Hanks was strolling through Central Park when he spotted newlyweds taking photos. He couldn't resist photobombing their shot, jumping into the frame as an unexpected third wheel. The bride and groom weren't upset – quite the opposite. They started taking pictures hugging the celebrity. And in 2017, he helped a cash-strapped couple who dreamed of getting married in Texas by giving them money.

Once, on his way to the store with his son, he came across a group of Girl Scouts selling cookies. The actor bought several boxes, then stood next to them calling out to passersby, promising a photo with anyone who bought cookies from the girls (the proceeds traditionally go to charity).

In October 2015, Hanks found a student ID on the street and put out a call on Twitter to find its owner. His post was retweeted by tens of thousands of users. The card's owner didn't have her own Twitter, but her friend saw the post, and Hanks eventually got the address and mailed the ID back.

A girl named Sarah Moretti has autism and collects every newspaper clipping about her idol Tom Hanks. When the actor learned about this, he sent her an invitation to his Broadway show "Lucky Guy" with backstage access. There, he had a sweet chat with his fan and joked that even his mom didn't have that many newspaper clippings of his achievements.

When a tipsy group of teenagers at a bar recognized the Hollywood star sitting at the next table and asked for photos, Hanks didn't refuse. He joined them at their table and played along when one of the guys pretended to be asleep. The result was a pretty hilarious photo session that went viral.

Never refuses fans selfies, no matter how crazy their ideas

When Tom Hanks appears on the red carpet with his wife, he doesn't care how he'll look in photographers' shots. During those moments, he's busy taking pictures of his beloved wife on his phone.

Unlike many of his colleagues, Tom Hanks is incredibly friendly with journalists and always happy to chat. New York Times journalist Taffy Brodesser-Akner interviewed Tom, and it didn't just earn her a paycheck – it helped her overcome a prolonged depression. During their conversation, Hanks shared some life wisdom with her, and his words genuinely helped.

Hanks regularly donates part of his income to the charity "Hidden Heroes," whose volunteers help war veterans (especially refugees from third-world countries) and their caregivers.

The actor owns a mansion in Idaho. Due to dry weather, locals suffer from wildfires every year. Each "fire season," Hanks joins volunteers who buy supplies for victims and purchases firefighting equipment. He does this anonymously, without press attention. This only became known thanks to his neighbor, who shared Hanks's good deed on Twitter.

Tom Hanks' Personal Life

In 1978, Hanks married his Sacramento State college classmate Samantha Lewis. The young couple already had a one-year-old son, Colin, and two years later welcomed daughter Elizabeth. The family faced serious financial struggles - money was tight, sometimes they couldn't even afford car repairs. This situation didn't sit well with his materialistic wife, who regularly unleashed loud arguments on Tom.

Tom Hanks with his first wife Samantha Lewis

In 1985, Hanks met actress Rita Wilson on set. But despite their instant mutual attraction, it took three long years before the lovers officially became husband and wife. Hanks struggled with leaving his family and only filed for divorce in 1987 - he still feels guilty about his children from his first marriage.

Rita is Greek by heritage and Orthodox by faith. Hanks' feelings for this woman were so strong that he converted from Catholicism to have a "big fat Greek wedding" with his chosen one in 1988, complete with all Orthodox traditions. Rita gave Tom two sons: Chester Marlon (1990) and Truman Theodore (1992).

In 2018, Tom and Rita celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. To mark the occasion, the actor commissioned life-sized cardboard cutouts of them to show how they'd changed over the years.

Of Hanks' four children, only Colin followed in his father's footsteps. Chester initially tried acting too, but ultimately chose rap music instead. Unfortunately, the young man developed a drug problem, which became a real test for his parents, and he burns through his father's money on parties. But Tom hasn't lost faith that Chester will eventually come to his senses.

Tom Hanks' younger sons – Chet (left) and Truman

Colin Hanks acts in movies, but not too successfully. His breakout role was the hapless sheriff from the first season of "Fargo." Despite his father's clout, Colin doesn't land major projects. The elder Hanks is against nepotism in Hollywood, and his eldest son shares that view. Meanwhile, the actor's daughter Elizabeth lives the life of an average American. She has a linguistics degree and works as a magazine editor.

Left: Tom Hanks' daughter, right: his eldest son Colin

On April 30, 2025, Hanks and Rita Wilson celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary. Shortly before that, Rita celebrated another milestone – March 2025 marked 10 years of remission from cancer.

Tom Hanks Today

From February through April 2025, Hanks' voice could be heard in NBC's documentary series "America," a 10-episode exploration of American nature. The actor also appeared on the 50th anniversary Saturday Night Live special, reprising his signature role as Doug in the "Black Jeopardy" sketch.

As for future projects, Hanks will once again voice Sheriff Woody in "Toy Story 5," set for release in June 2026. There's also a "Greyhound" sequel in the works.

Tom Hanks: latest news and articles

Deborah Drake

Tom Hanks has always been able to play good in dramas. He just fits so well in that kind of movies and he can show the atmosphere of the movie very great.

2021-05-11 18:10:18
Linda Davis

Hanks is such a sweetheart and he played in many roles :) But I still can`t handle his cuteness and can`t take him seriously.

2021-04-19 22:13:14
Matthew Adrian Hughes

An example of an actor who can deal with every role very well.

2021-04-12 15:37:34
Wayne Harris

I remember I watched Forrest Gump I was 18 years old but I still remember how Hanks played there.

2021-04-09 20:34:35
David Park

I adore The Green Mile with him, it`s a movie for the ages.

2021-03-05 12:32:40

Tom Hanks

Photos: Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks Biography

Childhood and Early Years

Acting Career

The Good Guy

Tom Hanks' Personal Life

Tom Hanks Today

Tom Hanks: latest news and articles

Reddit Users Share Their Favorite Romantic Comedies from the '90s and 2000s

Film of the Day: "Cast Away" — The Drama That Made Tom Hanks Gain 50 Pounds

Destructive fires are destroying celebrity homes in Los Angeles

Loneliness is canceled: 13 X-Mas and New Year movies with a happy ending