Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor, producer, writer and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title role in Forrest Gump, Commander James A. Lovell in Apollo 13, Captain John H. Miller in Saving Private Ryan, Sheriff Woody in Pixar’s Toy Story, and Chuck Noland in Cast Away. Hanks won consecutive Best Actor Academy Awards, in 1993 for Philadelphia and in 1994 for Forrest Gump. Domestic box office totals for his films exceed $3.3 billion. He is the father of actor Colin Hanks.
Hanks was married to Samantha Lewes from 1978 to 1987. The couple had two children, son Colin Hanks (also an actor) and daughter Elizabeth Ann. In 1988, Hanks married actress Rita Wilson. The two first met on the set of Hanks’s television show Bosom Buddies but later developed a romantic interest while working on the film Volunteers. They have two sons: Chester, or “Chet” (who has a small part as a student who asks Dr. Jones a question at the end of the college chase in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), and Truman.
Hanks was married to Samantha Lewes from 1978 to 1987. The couple had two children, son Colin Hanks (also an actor) and daughter Elizabeth Ann. In 1988, Hanks married actress Rita Wilson. The two first met on the set of Hanks’s television show Bosom Buddies but later developed a romantic interest while working on the film Volunteers. They have two sons: Chester, or “Chet” (who has a small part as a student who asks Dr. Jones a question at the end of the college chase in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), and Truman.
Hanks gives money to many Democratic politicians and has been open about his support for same-sex marriage, environmental causes and alternative fuels (Hanks was a lessee of an EV1 before it was recalled, as chronicled in the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?) Hanks made public his candidate choice in the 2008 election when he uploaded a video to his MySpace account in which he announced his endorsement of Barack Obama.
Hanks was extremely public with his opinion and opposition to Proposition 8 that amended the California constitution to define marriage as a union only between a man and a woman. Hanks and those in opposition raised over USD$44 million in contrast to the supporters’ $38 million, but Proposition 8 passed with 52% of the vote.
Hanks went on to blame supporters of Proposition 8 as un-American and attacked the LDS (Mormon) church members—major proponents of the bill—for their views on marriage and their role in supporting the bill. About a week later, Hanks apologized for the remark, saying that nothing is more American than voting one’s conscience, and that is what the supporters of Proposition 8 did.
