Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks is an American film and television actor who has made a lasting impression in Hollywood with his extensive acting career. He has won two Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and five Screen Actors Guild Awards, among many other accolades, and he is well-known for his roles in Forrest Gump, Big, and Saving Private Ryan.

Hanks was born in 1956 in California, and raised in a Catholic family. He began acting in high school and attended California State University, Sacramento, where he studied theater. He left college early in order to pursue an acting career, and his career eventually flourished in the 1980s with a starring role as Bosom Buddies. In the following decades, Tom Hanks became synonymous with characters such as Forrest Gump, a gentle, wise, and loyal Vietnam veteran; the title role in Big, a 13-year-old who magically swaps bodies with an adult; and Captain John H. Miller, the leader of a squad of seven U.S. Army Rangers in the movie Saving Private Ryan.

Hanks has also written and directed several feature films, including That Thing You Do! (1996), Larry Crowne (2011), and Greyhound (2020), and he has produced many others. In 1994, he co-founded the production company Playtone with his writing and producing partner, Gary Goetzman. They have collaborated to produce a handful of successful movies and television shows, such as From the Earth to the Moon (1998), Band of Brothers (2001), and The Pacific (2010).

In addition to the many credits associated with his acting and producing career, Hanks is also an author. His account of his personal relationships with his grandfather, teacher, and a couple of old men he meets as a boy, is told in Uncommon Type: Some Stories, which was released in 2017. A follow-up book, Breakthrough: Hope, Heartache, and Helping Others in the Face of Life's Greatest Challenges, was released in 2019.

It is with no surprise that the public has embraced Hanks' humanity over the past several decades, as he has often brought a sense of gentleness, humanity, and humor to his characters. Tom Hanks continues to be a beloved actor in Hollywood and is recognized as one of the industry's most iconic figures. He maintains a broad range of interests and passions, and as such, will likely continue to have success on both the small and big screens alike.