Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor famous for playing notable roles in many popular and critically acclaimed movies. He is well known for his acting ability, and is able to play characters that range from the vulnerable Forrest Gump, to the inspirational lead in Philadelphia, to the never-say-die commander Jim Lovell in Apollo 13. Hanks is generally known for his ability to imbue "nice-guy" roles with warmth, for example in the romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle, but is quite capable of taking the role of a mob hitman in Road to Perdition. Hanks was born in Concord, California to Amos Mefford Hanks, a Southern cook of English and Welsh heritage, and Janet Merilyn Frager, a hospital worker who was also of mostly English descent. He later moved to Oakland, California where he attended Skyline High School (Oakland, California). After high school, Hanks attended Chabot College in Hayward, California and transferred to California State University, Sacramento where he studied theatre. He couldn't get cast in a college play so he auditioned for community theater instead. He was invited by the director of that play to go to Cleveland, and it was there his acting career started. A move to New York City, New York shortly followed where the actor began making the rounds at auditions, facing like many actors, rejection after rejection. A friendship with two theater producers prompted Hanks to ask them for a $5,000 loan when he needed to move to Los Angeles, California. The producers had liked Hanks so much that they doubled the loan for his move to the West Coast, where he was soon cast in Bosom Buddies. |
