Tom Hanks is one of Hollywood’s most trusted faces—and the actor who best embodies the American everyman.
Let’s take a closer look at the man behind the actor I admire and love most: Tom Hanks.
1. A Lonely Childhood and the Path to Acting
Tom Hanks had a childhood that was far more unsettled and lonely than his sunny image on screen might suggest.
- An unstable home life: Born in Concord, California, in 1956, Hanks experienced his parents’ divorce at the age of five. He moved frequently with his father, a chef, and grew up among a succession of stepmothers and half-siblings. Hanks later remembered himself as “a lonely kid who was always moving from place to place.”
- A fateful encounter with theater: Constant moves and changes of school left him extremely shy and inclined to hide his emotions. Then, in high school, he happened to join the drama club—and found a turning point in his life. Onstage, he could become someone else and safely release the wounded feelings he kept buried inside.
- Committing fully to acting: After attending Chabot College and studying theater at California State University, Sacramento, Hanks was selected for an internship with the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Ohio. He dropped out of college and embarked on a career as a professional actor.
2. A Brilliant Acting Career and Its Turning Points
Tom Hanks’s career is the story of a “comedy hopeful” who evolved into one of the defining actors of his generation.
- The early years: A comedy star is born (the 1980s)
- He first made his name through television sitcoms and films such as Splash (1984), winning audiences over with his quick wit and easygoing young-man persona.
- In Big (1988), he gave a memorable performance as a boy trapped in an adult’s body. The role earned him his first Academy Award for Best Actor nomination and demonstrated the breadth of his range.
- The peak years: Two consecutive Academy Awards (the 1990s)
- In 1993, he played a lawyer living with AIDS in Philadelphia. His powerful performance, accompanied by dramatic weight loss, earned him his first Academy Award for Best Actor.
- The following year, in 1994, he played the pure-hearted title character in Forrest Gump, becoming only the second actor in history to win back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Actor.
- Expansion: A string of classics and a move into producing (from the 2000s onward)
- He achieved both commercial and critical success in films including Steven Spielberg‘s Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Cast Away (2000), which follows a man struggling to survive on a deserted island.
- As the voice of Woody in Pixar’s legendary Toy Story series, he won the affection of audiences across generations.
- At the same time, his work as a producer on HBO’s epic miniseries Band of Brothers helped establish him as an influential leader in Hollywood.
3. Tom Hanks the Man: His Character and Personality
His ability to remain successful for so long is rooted not only in his talent, but also in his exceptional character.
- Hollywood’s ultimate nice guy: Hanks is known for responding to paparazzi with wit rather than anger and for happily taking selfies with fans he meets on the street. On set, he shows a thoughtful style of leadership, even taking the time to learn the names of the most junior crew members.
- An analog sensibility and genuine warmth: He is a well-known collector of typewriters. Even in the digital age, he has held on to the analog pleasure of expressing himself through handwritten letters and words typed on a typewriter. The deep sincerity that comes through in his performances seems to grow from this approach to life.
- Discipline and resilience: He has maintained a remarkably clean public image throughout his life, without a major scandal. In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he became the first Hollywood star to publicly announce that he had tested positive and share details of his treatment, reassuring the public with a mature sense of civic responsibility.
4. Marriage, Family, and a Commitment to Love
His family life became a way of healing the sense of loss he had carried from childhood.
- His first marriage and divorce: In 1978, Hanks married actress Samantha Lewes, whom he had met in college, and they had a son, Colin, and a daughter, Elizabeth. But the pressures of marrying young and struggling financially led to their divorce in 1987. Hanks has described that period as one of the most painful failures of his life.
- His lifelong partner, Rita Wilson: Hanks married actress Rita Wilson in 1988, and the couple became one of Hollywood’s most enduring partnerships. Wilson offered warmth and support to the troubled inner life he had carried for years. Together, they had two sons, Chet and Truman, and raised four children in total.
- His children’s lives:
- His eldest son, Colin Hanks, followed his father into the entertainment industry, establishing himself as an actor and director with a resemblance and talent reminiscent of his father.
- His third son, Chet Hanks, pursued a career as a rapper and went through several troubled periods, including a past struggle with drug addiction. Tom Hanks, however, did not turn away from his son’s pain; he supported him with love and helped hold the family together.
5. The Big Picture: Why Do We Love Tom Hanks?
Tom Hanks is more than a gifted performer. He is an icon who embodies the dignity of ordinary people—a quality modern society has too often lost.
The characters he most often plays are not superpowered heroes.
They are ordinary people we might recognize from our own lives: a small-time citizen buffeted by circumstances, a delivery-company employee stranded on a deserted island, a captain desperate to return home from a battlefield, or an immigrant left stranded in an airport with nothing but a suitcase.
With his unmistakably warm eyes and voice, Hanks turns these ordinary characters into extraordinary portraits of people who refuse to lose their humanity in the face of hardship.
The journey of a lonely, deprived boy who learned to communicate with the world through the stage and ultimately became a great actor capable of touching hearts around the globe is, in itself, like a beautiful film.
The reason I love him is that, rather than playing Superman, he brings warmth to stories everyone can relate to, delivering them with the sincerity of the most familiar neighbor next door.
This great actor is one of the treasures of our time.
FAQ
Why is Tom Hanks considered a world-class actor?
Tom Hanks has the range to handle both comedy and drama. He is particularly skilled at expressing the subtle emotions of ordinary people, and his performances in classics such as Forrest Gump, Philadelphia, and Saving Private Ryan have established him as one of the defining actors of his era.
How many Academy Awards has Tom Hanks won?
Tom Hanks won consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor for Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994). It is a rare achievement in film history and remains one of the clearest symbols of his acting prowess.
What are some of Tom Hanks’s most famous films?
His best-known films include Forrest Gump, Philadelphia, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, The Terminal, The Green Mile, Catch Me If You Can, Splash, and Big, as well as his voice performance as Woody in the Toy Story series.
Is Tom Hanks also known for being a kind person in real life?
Yes. Tom Hanks is widely regarded as one of Hollywood’s most trusted actors. He is known for treating fans and crew members with respect and for his humility. After decades of working without a major scandal, he earned the nickname “Hollywood’s nice guy.”
What is the biggest reason Tom Hanks has remained beloved for so long?
His extraordinary talent is certainly part of the answer, but the biggest reason is his ability to portray the lives and emotions of ordinary people with genuine feeling. Rather than playing glamorous heroes, he convincingly portrays the kinds of people we might meet in everyday life, giving audiences a deep sense of empathy and a lasting sense of warmth.
