Religion: Greek Orthodox Church, his wife's choice

Hobbies: Surfing, golf, hockey

Thomas J. Hanks was born July 9, 1956 in Concord, California, Hanks spent much of his childhood moving about with his father, an itinerant cook, and continually attempting to cope with constantly changing schools, religions, and stepmothers. Hanks says that by the time he turned 10, he already had "three mothers, five grammar schools and 10 houses"; nevertheless, he hates it when the news media say he came from a broken home, because he feels he and his family are still close. After settling in Oakland, California, he began performing in high school plays (He attended Skyline High School). He then attended Chabot College in Hayward, California. While attending community college, Hanks was a bellman at Hilton hotels. He continued acting while attending Cal State, Sacramento, and dropped out at age 20 to pursue acting. In 1978, Hanks went to find work in New York; while there he married his first wife, actress-producer Samantha Lewes. Tom Hanks was married to Samantha Lewes from 1978 to 1985 and has two children, Colin and Elizabeth. He married Rita Wilson - who he met during filming of the movie, Volunteers - on April 30, 1988 and now has two children, Chester and Truman. His brother, Jim Hanks, is also an actor.

After starring in the TV sitcom, Bosom Buddies, Tom Hanks starred in the hit motion picture, The Splash in 1984. Then in 1989, Tom Hanks won a Golden Globe Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Award and earned his first Oscar nomination for his endearing role of a little boy in a man's body in Penny Marshall's "Big." He was the third choice to star in "Big"; actors Harrison Ford and Robert DeNiro were asked first. Tom Hanks has received two Best Actor Academy Awards in 1994 and 1995. He became the first actor in over 50 years to win consecutive Best Actor Academy Awards when he captured his second Oscar for his unforgettable performance in the title role in Robert Zemeckis' "Forrest Gump." His work in the film also brought him a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild honor. The year prior, Hanks was honored with his first Oscar (as well as another Golden Globe Award) for Best Actor for his moving portrayal of AIDS-stricken lawyer Andrew Beckett in Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia."

He won his fourth nomination for his leading role of a WWII platoon captain leading a squadron in search of a missing soldier in Steven Spielberg's epic drama, "Saving Private Ryan." He earned another Golden Globe nomination for his work opposite Meg Ryan in the romantic comedy "Sleepless in Seattle," directed by Nora Ephron, and reunited with both Ryan and Ephron for the romantic comedy "You've Got Mail." Hanks received widespread critical and audience acclaim for his work as astronaut Jim Lovell in the Academy Award-nominated space epic "Apollo 13," on which he reunited with director Ron Howard following their collaboration on the 1984 comedy hit "Splash." Hanks' passion for the space program was dramatized in the acclaimed HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon." The episodic series, which captured 17 Emmy nominations and was named the year's Best Miniseries by both the TV Academy and the H.F.P.A. (with a Golden Globe), chronicled the story of America's Apollo missions. Hanks executive produced and hosted the series, wrote or co-wrote several segments, acted in an episode and directed the first installment, for which he was nominated for an Emmy.

In 1996, Hanks made his successful feature film writing and directing debut with the nostalgic musical comedy "That Thing You Do!." The title song spawned a hit single and also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. He also directed episodes of the popular HBO anthology "Tales from the Crypt," and the segment entitled "I'll Be Waiting" for Showtime's "Fallen Angels" series.

His other film credits include "Bachelor Party," "A League of Their Own," "Punchline," "Nothing in Common" and "The Money Pit." Hanks also created the voice of cowboy Woody in the Disney animated films "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2."