Tom Hanks

Is a frequent guest host on "Saturday Night Live" .

Received the Distinguished Public Service Award, the United States Navys highest civilian honor, on Veterans Day 1999 for his work in the epic Saving Private Ryan .

Entertainment Weekly chose him as the only actor worthy of $20 million.

Dislocated his shoulder when he fell through a rotting floor in a building in Germany while scouting locations with Steven Spielberg for the HBO series "Band of Brothers" .

Second actor to win back-to-back Best Actor Oscars, for his work in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump . The first was Spencer Tracy , for Captains Courageous and Boys Town .

Ranked #17 in Empire magazines "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list (October 1997).

Attended Skyline High School in Oakland, California.

Attended Chabot College in Hayward, California.

Attended California State University, Sacramento.

Voted best actor by the readers of Us magazine.

Younger brother of Sandra Hanks and Larry Hanks and older brother of Jim Hanks.

After a one-shot guest appearance on "Happy Days" , producer Ron Howard asked him to read for a secondary role in Splash , and he got the lead role instead.

Married his first wife Samantha Lewes (real name: Susan Dillingham) two months after their son Colins birth.

Hanks cited the help of a nearby ice cream shop which helped him gain 30 pounds for his role in A League of Their Own .

Received emergency treatment for serious staph infection in leg after returning from overseas location shoot.

Was asked to play the title role in Jerry Maguire , which eventually went to Tom Cruise.

His Oscar acceptance speech for Philadelphia led to the plot of the movie In & Out . Hanks thanked a gay teacher in his speech.

Has another brother who is a professor at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.

Received American Film Institutes Life Achievement Award, presented by fellow Oscar winner Steven Spielberg , the youngest ever to receive that award (12 June 2002).

Returned to his old high school, Skyline High School in Oakland, California, to dedicate a renovated theater named for Rawley T. Farnsworth, the retired drama teacher he thanked in his Philadelphia Oscar speech. Oakland Tribune reports Hanks donated about 1/4 of the $465,000 cost of the project. Then he led the audience of some 1000 people in a chorus of "Theres No Business Like Show Business" (6 March 2002).

Is a member of the International Thespian Society (a group supporting theatre for high school students internationally).

Jim Lovell , who Hanks played in Apollo 13 , is actually left-handed, but Hanks refused to write with his left hand for the movie.

He is a third cousin, four times removed, of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Their common ancestors were John Hanks (1680 - 1740) and his wife, Catherine, who were the great-great-grandparents of Lincoln, and the six times great-grandparents of Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks is also a seventh cousin, once removed, of actor George Clooney (Catherine and John Hanks were the seven times great-grandparents of Clooney).

Ranked #13 in Premiere magazines 2003 annual Power 100 List. Had ranked #15 in 2002.

Is a diehard fan of the Cleveland Indians baseball team.

Ranked #1 on Star TVs Top Ten Box Office stars of the 1990s

Lost 30 pounds for his role as Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia .

He gained weight for and later lost 55 pounds playing Chuck Noland in Cast Away .

Is a fan of English Premier League soccer team Aston Villa and was presented with a shirt on a TV show with the print Hanks 1 on the back.

Has been referred to by many as "the modern James Stewart ".

Biography in: "Whos Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 205-206. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

His heroic Oscar-winning gay character Andrew Beckett in the 1993 film Philadelphia was ranked #49 on the Amerian Film Institutes heroes list of the 100 years of The Greatest Screen Heroes and Villians.

He was voted the 26th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

His three favourite bands/artists are Elvis Presley , Patrick Rondat and Alabama Thunderpussy.

His first wife Samantha Lewes died of cancer 14 years after their divorce.

Had made four films with director Steven Spielberg , all of which are tied to Europe. Saving Private Ryan revolved around his character and his infantry unit seeking out a missing private in Europe during WW II. Catch Me If You Can involved his character tracking down Frank Abagnale Jr. in France; in The Terminal , his character was from the fictional eastern European country of Krakohzia, and Bridge of Spies was a Cold War thriller where his character had to go to Berlin, Germany.

Shortly before the release of Columbia Pictures Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within , he was one of several actors speaking out against the use of "synthespians" (computer-generated actors) in the place of flesh-and-blood humans. Nevertheless, he took the lead role in the computer-animated film The Polar Express , a film highly-publicized for its use of new (and expensive) technique of digital actors.

Between 1994 and 2004, he was the performer nominated for the most Academy Awards (four times, along with Sean Penn , Meryl Streep , Judi Dench and Ed Harris ) and won the most (twice).

Was considered for the role of Peter Banning (Peter Pan) in Hook , which went to Robin Williams.

Was listed as a potential nominee on both the 2005 and 2007 Razzie Award nominating ballots. He was suggested in the Worst Actor category on the 2005 ballot for his roles in the films The Polar Express (referred to as "Bi-Polar Express" on the ballot), The Ladykillers and The Terminal . He was suggested again in the Worst Actor category two years later, for his performance in The Da Vinci Code . He failed to receive either nomination.

Has been good friends with Bruce Springsteen since his youth.

He once worked as a hotel bellman. Some of the celebrity guests whose bags he carried were Cher , Sidney Poitier , Slappy White and Bill Withers.

Premiere magazine ranked him as #28 on a list of the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature.

He is an environmental conservationist and often advocates and supports natural causes.

In three of his movies, he has a scene where he is stranded at sea: Splash , Joe Versus the Volcano , and Cast Away .

Has worked with two actors who played Howard Hughes. In Philadelphia , he worked with Jason Robards , who played Hughes in Melvin and Howard for director Jonathan Demme. His cast mate in Catch Me If You Can was Leonardo DiCaprio , who played Hughes in The Aviator for Martin Scorsese.

He and his good friend Meg Ryan have been co-stars in three movies as love interests: Sleepless in Seattle , Joe Versus the Volcano and Youve Got Mail .

Shares his birthday with Jack White , David OHara , Courtney Love , Chris Cooper , O.J. Simpson and Donald Rumsfeld.

On his fathers side, Tom is of English, and some German, ancestry. Two of his paternal great-grandparents were English immigrants. Toms maternal grandparents were both of Portuguese descent (from the Azores Islands). Toms maternal great-grandfather had changed his surname from "Fraga" to "Frager".

Born to Amos Mefford Hanks, a chef, and his wife Janet Marylyn Frager, a hospital worker, his parents divorced in 1960.

Is a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Actors Branch) since 2001.

Related to Bill Cosby s wife Camille O. Cosby (ne Camille Olivia Hanks), as both share a biological lineage to Abraham Lincoln through Lincolns mother, Nancy Hanks.

Stepson of the former Frances Wong, who his father married in 1965.

Sold popcorn and peanuts as a teenager at the Oakland Coliseum.

His performance as Josh Baskin in Big is ranked #15 on Premiere magazines 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

His performance as Chuck Noland in Cast Away is ranked #46 on Premiere magazines 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

He and President George Bush are both related to 19th-century Presidents. Bush, a Republican, is descended, by way of his mothers family, from Franklin Pierce, one of the last Democratic presidents before Abraham Lincoln. Hanks, a Democrat, is descended from the family of Lincolns mother.

His top five all-time favorite films are 2001: A Space Odyssey , The Godfather , Fargo , Elephant and Boogie Nights , with Stanley Kubrick s film holding the top ranking.

His performance as Forrest Gump in Forrest Gump is ranked #43 on Premiere magazines 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

Is the third most-represented actor (behind Sidney Poitier and Gary Cooper ) on the American Film Institutes 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time, with four of his films making the list. They are: Forrest Gump at #37, Philadelphia at #20, Apollo 13 at #12, and Saving Private Ryan at #10.

Ranked #16 on Premiere magazines 2006 "Power 50" list. Had ranked #16 in 2005 as well.

Biography/bibliography in: "Contemporary Authors". Volume 244, pages 199-202. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2006.

He once shared a record (with Tom Cruise and Will Smith ) as the actor to star in the most consecutive $100 million-grossing movies (7). As of 2008, Smith holds the record alone with 8 movies.

Frequently works with director Steven Spielberg , and is related to Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln. He was not involved in Spielbergs film about Lincoln, despite his frequent involvement in historical projects.

Forbes magazine estimated his 1999 earnings at $71.5 million.

Cited as Americas Favorite Movie Star in Harris Polls conducted in 2002, 2004, 2005, a record number of times as the #1 favorite. Harrison Ford and Clint Eastwood are the only other actors to have achieved that feat.

Was a member of Monty Python for one night only, filling in for John Cleese , at A Concert For George.

Married Rita Wilson at Saint Sophias Church, converting from Roman Catholicism to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

Was in attendance at Princess Diana s funeral along with Steven Spielberg , Tom Cruise , Nicole Kidman , among others.

Auditioned for the role of Joel Goodson in Risky Business , which eventually went to Tom Cruise.

Has also credited Joe Spano , former co-star of the television series "Hill Street Blues" , as being another of his most important early inspirations.

Favorite baseball team is the Cleveland Indians. He purchased a stone in the front of Jacobs Field when it was built.

In 2007, Forbes magazine reported that his earnings were estimated to be $74 million the previous year.

The asteroid "12818 tomhanks" was named after him.

Enjoys collecting typewriters, purchasing over 80 of them around the globe. His interest in them generated an idea for an iPad application that he developed called Hanx Writer, that simulates antique typewriters sound and feel. It was very successful and made it to to top list on Appstore in August 2014.

Publicly endorsed Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.

Is a diehard fan of the Oakland Raiders. Featured in the documentary Rebels of Oakland: The As, the Raiders, the 70s .

Is a huge fan of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" , and has expressed desire to one day guest star on the series.

Is a huge fan of "Doctor Who" .

Was originally cast in the dual role of Charlie Kaufman/Donald Kaufman in Adaptation. , but later dropped out. Nicolas Cage , who went on to receive a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance, was cast instead.

When he appeared on "The Tonight Show with Conan OBrien" , Conans last NBC show in L.A. (Jan. 22, 2010), the Tonight Show Band played The Beatles "Lovely Rita" as Hanks made his entry, undoubtedly a nod to the lovely Rita Wilson , Toms beloved wife.

Lives in Pacific Palisades, Malibu, California and Ketchum, Idaho.

Both Tom Hanks and his son, Colin Hanks , have been "Not My Job" quiz contestants on the National Public Radio show, "Wait Wait...Dont Tell Me!". Both won the quiz.

Has often done films which (comically) use urinating/using the bathroom as a plot device (e.g. The Green Mile , Apollo 13 , Forrest Gump , A League of Their Own and Dragnet ).

Has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes on October 7, 2013.

Became a father for the first time at age 21 when his girlfriend [now ex-wife] Samantha Lewes gave birth to their son Colin Hanks on November 24, 1977.

Became a father for the second time at age 25 when his first [now ex] wife Samantha Lewes gave birth to their daughter Elizabeth Hanks on May 17, 1982.

Became a father for the third time at age 34 when his second wife Rita Wilson gave birth to their son Chet Hanks on August 4, 1990.

Became a father for the fourth time at age 39 when his second wife Rita Wilson gave birth to their son Truman Theodore Hanks on December 26, 1995.

Became a grandfather for the first time at age 54 when his granddaughter Olivia Jane Hanks, via son Colin Hanks , was born on February 1, 2011.

Became a grandfather for the second time at age 56 when his granddaughter Charlotte Bryant Hanks, via son Colin Hanks , was born on July 1, 2013.

(February 2013) New York City: Opens on Broadway in "Lucky Man", the last play written by his friend and frequent director, the late Nora Ephron. This was also be Hankss first-ever appearance in a stage production since he was in junior college, and he co-starred with another old friend, his old "Bosom Buddies" co-star, Peter Scolari.

Some of his movies use comedic scenes of his character urinating: The Money Pit , A League of Their Own , Forrest Gump , Apollo 13 and The Green Mile .

Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio , Tilda Swinton , Marion Cotillard , Emma Thompson , Daniel Brhl , Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams are the only actors to receive a Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA and Critics Choice Award nomination for the same performance and then fail to be Oscar-nominated for it: for their performances in Captain Phillips , The Departed , We Need to Talk About Kevin , De rouille et dos , Saving Mr. Banks , Rush (2013/I) , Nightcrawler and Arrival , respectively.

As of 2016, has appeared in eight films that were Oscar nominated as Best Picture: Forrest Gump , Apollo 13 , Saving Private Ryan , The Green Mile , Toy Story 3 , Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close , Captain Phillips and Bridge of Spies . Of those, Forrest Gump is a winner in the category.

Has played a captain in five different movies: Forrest Gump , Apollo 13 , Saving Private Ryan , Captain Phillips and Sully .

A recipient of the 2014 Kennedy Center Honors. Other recipients this year were Al Green , Patricia McBride , Sting , and Lily Tomlin.

Nine actors received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for their work in a movie starring Hanks: Gary Sinise in Forrest Gump , Ed Harris in Apollo 13 , Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile , Paul Newman in Road to Perdition , Christopher Walken in Catch Me If You Can , Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilsons War , Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close , Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips and Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies . Out of all these movies, Hanks was only nominated (and won) for Forrest Gump.

Is a huge fan of "Monty Pythons Flying Circus" . Thats the reason he agreed upon playing one of the Canadian Mounties in the Lumberjack song during Concert for George .

Tom Hanks was, respectively, 38 and 39 when he won his back-to-back Best Actor Oscars in 1994 and 1995, exactly like Spencer Tracy when he won in 1938 and 1939.

Hanks designated 2001: A Space Odyssey as his favorite film for an AFI poll.

His daughter Elizabeth Hanks appears in the movie, Forrest Gump , as the girl on the school bus who refuses to let young Forrest Gump (Michael Conner Humphreys ) sit next to her.

In 2015, Tom Hanks started using his official Twitter feed in part to post photos and locations of lost items (such as gloves, shoes, socks, etc.) that he saw on the streets of New York. In at least one case, this resulted in the lost property being returned to its owner--in October 2015, he found the Fordham College ID for a woman named Lauren, and she retrieved it from his office.

Has worked with nine directors who have won a Best Director Oscar: Ron Howard , Jonathan Demme , Robert Zemeckis , Steven Spielberg , Sam Mendes , Joel Coen and Ethan Coen , Mike Nichols and Clint Eastwood.

After his parents Amos and Janet divorced in 1960, siblings Tom, Larry and Sarah went to live with their father, staying in 10 different homes in 5 years, while younger brother Jim remained with their mother.

Has portrayed six real-life people in his films: Jim Lovell in Apollo 13 , Charlie Wilson in Charlie Wilsons War , Captain Richard Phillips in Captain Phillips , Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks , James B. Donovan in Bridge of Spies , and Captain Chesley Sullenberger in Sully .

That Thing You Do! is the only film to feature Tom, wife Rita Wilson , son Colin Hanks and daughter Elizabeth Hanks.

He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian award, by President Barack Obama , in a live televised ceremony held in the East Room of the White House, on November 22, 2016, along with twenty other recipients, the the largest, and final Medal of Freedom ceremony of Obamas presidency. At this ceremony, the twenty-one recipients, in alphabetical order, included: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar , Elouise Cobell (posthumous award given to her son), Ellen DeGeneres , Robert De Niro , Richard Garwin , Bill Gates , Melinda Gates , Frank Gehry , Margaret Hamilton (as Margaret H. Hamilton), Tom Hanks , Rear Admiral Grace Hopper (posthumous award given to her niece), Michael Jordan , Maya Lin , Lorne Michaels , Newton Minow , Eduardo Padron (as Eduardo Padrn), Robert Redford , Diana Ross , Vin Scully , Bruce Springsteen and Cicely Tyson.

His company Playtone Entertainment is named after the fictional Playtone Records in the movie That Thing You Do! .

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on June 1, 1992.

Ranked third highest grossing actor of all time with all of his films grossing 4.3 billion dollars in the United States [2016].

(March 2017) Jokingly sent the White House press corps a new espresso machine with a note that read "Keep up the good fight for Truth, Justice, and the American Way, especially for the Truth part.".

In an interview with NPR, Hanks reflected on his first Oscar nomination for Big . He claimed that up until that time, he never considered himself an actor, per se, but rather a comical performer who appeared in movies. He said he took that nomination as validation from others that maybe he actually knew what he was doing. He further said that because of that movie, he began making a conscious decision to take more serious roles, and that he sort of attributes much of the success of the second half of his career to that one event.

Bought the film rights to a true crime story, outbidding other studios by paying $1 million for A Cold Case, about a detectives quest to solve the 1970 murder of a New York restaurant owner. As well as producing it, hes also interested in taking the lead role.

Friends with Julia Roberts , Steven Spielberg , Ron Howard , Denzel Washington , and Frances McDormand.

Though known for his on-screen charisma and versatility, Tom admits he was a "horribly, painfully, terribly shy" kid.

He often meets children in random places such as elevators who dont understand how he is "Woody" from Toy Story, but he makes them close their eyes so he can perform the voice, to their enjoyment.

Is distantly related to Bill Cosby s wife Camille Cosby, they are related by way of Abraham Lincolns mother Nancy Hanks.

In both of the movies for which he won his Best Actor Oscars his characters mothers were played by previous Best Actress Oscar winners; Joanne Woodward in Philadelphia , who won in 1958 for The Three Faces of Eve , and Sally Field in Forrest Gump , who won in 1980 for Norma Rae and in 1985 for Places in the Heart .

Son of Amos (1924-1992) and Janet (ne Frager) Hanks (1932-2016). Both were born and raised in the state of California.

Maternal grandson of Clarence (1903-1945) and Elexio (ne Rose) Frager (1907-1955). Both were born and raised in the state of California.

Maternal great grandson of Manuel (1872-1933) and Mary (ne Enos) Frager (1878-1930). Both were born and raised in the state of California.

My wife keeps on telling me my worst fault is that I keep things to,myself and appear relaxed. But I am really in a room in my own head and,not hearing a thing anyone is saying.

The year I was born, 1956, was the peak year for babies being born, and,there are more people essentially our age than anybody else. We could,crush these new generations if we decided to.

Regarding the WGA Strike and how it could affect the Academy Awards: The,show must go on, that is one of the tenets of everything. I am a member,of the board of governors of the Academy, and we definitely want to put,on a great show and honor the films that have come out in the course of,the year. I just hope that the big guys who make big decisions, up high,in their corporate boardrooms and what not, get down to honest,bargaining and everyone can get back to work.

In this business, careers are based upon longevity.

Everybody was talking about it. Everybody was miscast, me particularly.

(1989, Playboy Magazine) As a child, I had an incredible amount of,freedom to do whatever I wanted to do. By the time I was in junior high,school, I was wandering around, freely, as much as I wanted to. A free,spirit.

Smoking pot just made me the stupidest human being in the world.

Later on, I began to perform and went off to the Great Lakes,Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland as slave labor. That was my big,break. I went back to Sacramento as a professional actor and then went,to New York with my wife and child. It was a war of survival, really. I,was a kid who had never been in such a big city before. I was on,unemployment and trying to act. My wife was an actress as well, and she,was pursuing that as best she could. This went on for two years.

Finally, I got a job in a low-budget movie, and after that, I got a,development deal with ABC and we moved to California.

[on Twitter]: Tweeting is like sending out cool telegrams to your,friends once a week.

[on being a supporter of British soccer team Aston Villa]: I fell in,love with Aston Villa because I thought the name sounded like a lovely,island off Sardinia.

May you live as long as you want and not want as long as you live.

You learn more from getting your butt kicked than getting it kissed.

Everybody has something that chews them up and, for me, that thing was always loneliness. The cinema has the power to make you not feel lonely, even when you are.

Hey, I got an idea, let’s go to the movies. I wanna go to the movies, I want to take you all to the movies. Let’s go and experience the art of the cinema. Let’s begin with the Scream Of Fear, and we are going to haunt us for the rest of our lives. And then let’s go see The Great Escape, and spend our summer jumping our bikes, just like Steve McQueen over barb wire. And then let’s catch The Seven Samurai for some reason on PBS, and we’ll feel like we speak Japanese because we can read the subtitles and hear the language at the same time. And then let’s lose sleep the night before we see 2001: A Space Odyssey because we have this idea that it’s going to change forever the way we look at films. And then let’s go see it four times in one year. And let’s see Woodstock three times in one year and let’s see Taxi Driver twice in one week. And let’s see Close Encounters of the Third Kind just so we can freeze there in mid-popcorn. And when the kids are old enough, let’s sit them together on the sofa and screen City Lights and Stage Coach and The Best Years of Our Lives and On The Waterfront and Midnight Cowboy and Five Easy Pieces and The Last Picture Show and Raging Bull and Schindler’s List… so that they can understand how the human condition can be captured by this amalgam of light and sound and literature we call the cinema.

When I work, a lot of times I have to lose weight, and I do that, but in my regular life I was not eating right, and I was not getting enough exercise. But by the nature of my diet and that lifestyle - boom! The end result was high blood sugars that reach the levels where it becomes Type 2 diabetes. I share that with a gajillion other people.

Tweeting is like sending out cool telegrams to your friends once a week.