Tom Hanks

Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for his comedic and dramatic roles, he is widely recognized as a popular film star and cultural icon. As of 2020, he was ranked as the fourth-highest-grossing American film actor of all time. His accolades include two Academy Awards, seven Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards, alongside nominations for five BAFTA Awards and a Tony Award. He has also received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2002, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2014, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2020.

Hanks was born at Mount Diablo Hospital in Concord, California, to Janet Marylyn, a hospital worker, and Amos "Bud" Hanks, an itinerant cook. Following his parents' divorce in 1960, he was raised by his father alongside his older siblings, Sandra and Larry. After attending Skyline High School in Oakland, California, where he acted in school plays, he studied theater at Chabot College and California State University, Sacramento. While studying theater, he met Vincent Dowling and interned for three years at the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio, winning the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in 1978.

In 1979, Hanks moved to New York City, making his film debut in He Knows You're Alone (1980) and starring in the television movie Mazes and Monsters (1982). His breakthrough television role was co-starring as Kip Wilson on the ABC sitcom Bosom Buddies (1980–1982). He achieved widespread film fame in the romantic comedy fantasy Splash (1984), followed by roles in Bachelor Party (1984), Nothing in Common (1986), and Dragnet (1987). His performance in Big (1988) established him as a major Hollywood star and earned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Hanks gained further critical acclaim in the 1990s with A League of Their Own (1992) and Sleepless in Seattle (1993). He won consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor for playing a gay lawyer with AIDS in Philadelphia (1993) and the title character in Forrest Gump (1994). He then starred in Apollo 13 (1995), voiced Sheriff Woody in Toy Story (1995), made his directorial feature debut with That Thing You Do! (1996), and earned another Oscar nomination for Saving Private Ryan (1998). His 1990s work concluded with You've Got Mail (1998) and The Green Mile (1999).

Throughout the 2000s and beyond, Hanks starred in Cast Away (2000), Road to Perdition (2002), The Polar Express (2004), the Robert Langdon series, Cloud Atlas (2012), Captain Phillips (2013), Sully (2016), A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019), News of the World (2020), and Elvis (2022). He frequently collaborated with director Steven Spielberg on projects including Catch Me If You Can (2002), The Terminal (2004), Bridge of Spies (2015), and The Post (2017).

In addition to film acting, Hanks launched the production company Playtone with Gary Goetzman, producing acclaimed television projects such as From the Earth to the Moon (1998), Band of Brothers (2001), John Adams (2008), The Pacific (2010), Game Change (2012), Olive Kitteridge (2015), and Masters of the Air (2024). He made his Broadway debut in Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy (2013), earning a Tony Award nomination, and has hosted Saturday Night Live ten times.