Tom Hanks
Two-time Oscar winner whose company Playtone produced Band of Brothers with Steven Spielberg.
via Wikipedia: Tom Hanks · see source
Tom Hanks (born Thomas Jeffrey Hanks on July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker and one of the most recognisable film stars in the world. Alongside his screen career, he has worked repeatedly with Steven Spielberg on stories about World War II, including Saving Private Ryan (1998) and a trilogy of miniseries that began with Band of Brothers (2001) and continued with The Pacific (2010) and Masters of the Air (2024). Band of Brothers was produced through Playtone, the company Hanks launched, which has also made From the Earth to the Moon, John Adams and Game Change.
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Thomas Jeffrey Hanks
- Born
- 9 July 1956
- Birthplace
- Concord, California, U.S.
- Citizenship
- United States; Greece (2019; honorary)
- Occupation
- Actor; filmmaker
- Children
- 4, including Colin, E. A., and Chet
Facts from the source article.
Background
Hanks was born in Concord, California, and moved house constantly as a child after his parents divorced in 1960. He acted in school plays at Skyline High School in Oakland, studied theater at Chabot College and then California State University, Sacramento, and left college after a three-year internship at the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. After moving to New York City in 1979, he broke through on television in the ABC sitcom Bosom Buddies. Ron Howard cast him in Splash (1984), which became a surprise hit, and Big (1988) brought his first Academy Award nomination. He then won Best Actor twice in a row, for Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994).
Did You Know?
- Hanks voices Sheriff Woody in the Toy Story franchise.
- He has hosted Saturday Night Live ten times.
- He made his Broadway debut in Lucky Guy (2013), earning a Tony nomination.
- Through his father's line he is a distant cousin of Abraham Lincoln and Fred Rogers.
More in Production & Cast
Elsewhere in Band of Brothers
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