Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (b.1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is one of the most talented and versatile actors of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The fourth highest all-time box office star in North America, Hank’s cheerful everyman persona made him a natural for starring roles in numerous popular films.
Hanks’s performance as a gay AIDS victim in Philadelphia (1993) won him an Academy Award for best actor. He won a second Oscar for Forrest Gump (1994,) and, in so doing, became one of only two men to ever win back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Actor.
Born in Concord, California, Hanks embraced his budding theater career as a high school student in the San Francisco Bay area. He is known for his comedic and dramatic roles in such films as Splash (1984,) Big (1988,) Turner & Hooch (1989,) A League of Their Own (1992,) Sleepless in Seattle (1993,) Apollo 13 (1995,) You’ve Got Mail (1998,) The Green Mile (1999,) Cast Away (2000,) Road to Perdition (2002,) Saving Private Ryan (1998,) Cloud Atlas (2012,) Captain Phillips (2013,) Saving Mr. Banks (2013,) and Sully (2016.)
In addition to the Oscars, Hanks is the recipient of numerous acting awards. He also received a Kennedy Center Honor 2014 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom 2016.
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In every life there comes a time when that dream you dream becomes that thing you do.
—Tom Hanks