Hanks, Tom, 1956–, American film actor, b. Concord, Calif., as Thomas Jeffrey Hanks. In 1980 he acted in his first film, and in 1980–82 he co-starred in a television sitcom. Hanks subsequently appeared in numerous Hollywood comedies, among them Splash (1984), Big (1988), the baseball-themed A League of Their Own (1992), and the romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle (1993). He turned to serious drama in Philadelphia (1993), receiving an Academy Award for his portrayal of an AIDS-stricken gay lawyer, and won a second Oscar for the title role in Forrest Gump (1994). His later films include Apollo 13 (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Cast Away (2000), The Terminal (2004), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Captain Phillips (2013), Bridge of Spies (2015), Sully (2016), The Post (2017), and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019), an affectionate film about Fred Rogers. Hanks wrote, directed, and acted in the film That Thing You Do! (1996), has voiced characters in several animated features, and has produced and directed television miniseries. He made his Broadway debut in 2013 as the star of Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy.
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