Ringside Report Puts the Spotlight On Tom Hanks

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By Geoffrey Huchel

The word versatile is used quite often to describe an actor’s film and TV career. It has been used in reference to stars such as Meryl Streep, Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman, and Michelle Pfeiffer, to name a few. An elite group of performers with this distinction would not be complete without one of the greatest actors of all time- Tom Hanks- one of the most popular and recognizable film stars.

Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born on July 9, 1956 in Concord, California. He is an Academy Award winning actor, director and producer. During his high school years Hanks acted in school plays while attending Skyline High School in Oakland, California. While attending Chabot College in Hayward, California, Hanks studied theater and after two years he transferred to California State University, Sacramento. Hanks interned at the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. The internship covered most aspects of theater production including lighting, set design, and stage management. During this time Hanks won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his 1978 performance as Proteus in Shakespeare’s The Two Gentleman of Verona.

In the late 1970s, Hanks moved to New York City, where he made his film debut in the low budget slasher flick, HE KNOWS YOU’RE ALONE (1980). The same year, he appeared in an episode of THE LOVE BOAT (1977). He was cast in the role of Kip in the television series BOSOM BUDDIES (1980), starring opposite Peter Scholari. Hanks and Scholari played a pair of young advertising men forced to dress as women so they could live in an inexpensive all-female hotel. Hanks moved to Los Angeles after landing the role. BOSOM BUDDIES ran for two seasons. Throughout the early 1980s Hanks continued appearing in TV series and movies, including TAXI (1978), HAPPY DAYS (1974), FAMILY TIES (1982) and MAZES AND MONSTERS (1982). By the mid to late-1980s Hanks film career began to take off. He was cast as Allen Bauer in the comedy SPLASH (1984), with Daryl Hannah and Eugene Levy. Following SPLASH, Hanks appeared in the films BACHELOR PARTY (1984), THE MAN WITH ONE RED SHOE (1985), THE MONEY PIT (1986), with Shelley Long, NOTHING IN COMMON (1986), DRAGNET (1987), BIG (1988), PUNCHLINE (1988), and TURNER & HOOCH (1989.

By the 1990s Hanks was a major film star. He starred opposite Meg Ryan in the comedy JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO (1990), THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES (1990), A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1992), with Geena Davis, Lori Petty and Madonna. Hanks, as Jimmy Dugan, delivered the famous line “There’s no crying in baseball.” He starred opposite Meg Ryan for a second time in the romantic comedy SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE (1993). He won his first Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role as Andrew Beckett in the drama PHILADELPHIA (1993), also starring Denzel Washington. The following year, Hanks won another Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, whose life intertwines with some of the biggest events in American history, in the drama FORREST GUMP (1994). Hanks starred opposite Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williams and Sally Field. In addition to Hanks’s win, the film won 6 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director for Robert Zemeckis. Hanks delivered another famous movie quote, and it has something to do with chocolate. I am sure you know what it is. Hanks next film was the Ron Howard directed APOLLO 13 (1995), with Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris. He lent his voice for Disney’s TOY STORY (1995), as Woody and featured the voices of Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Annie Potts and many others. For his next project Hanks wrote, starred and directed the comedy THAT THING YOU DO! (1996), featuring Liv Tyler, Charlize Theron, Tom Everett Scott and Ethan Embry. Hanks starred in Steven Spielberg’s powerful war drama SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998), with Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, and Edward Burns. Hanks received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for his performance. He co starred opposite Meg Ryan one more time for the charming romantic comedy YOU’VE GOT MAIL (1998) and returned to voice Woody for TOY STORY 2 (1999). Hanks’ last film of the decade was the four-time Oscar nominated crime drama THE GREEN MILE (1999), based on the novel by Stephen King.

The 2000s into the present were not short of amazing performances by Hanks. In fact, the list is quite impressive. He starred as Chuck Noland in CASTAWAY (2000), with Helen Hunt and Wilson the volleyball. His performance in CASTAWAY earned him another Oscar nomination. Next was the TV mini-series BAND OF BROTHERS (2001), followed by ROAD TO PERDITION (2002), with Paul Newman, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (2002), with Leonardo DiCaprio and Christopher Walken, THE LADYKILLERS (2004), THE TERMINAL (2004), THE POLAR EXPRESS (2004), where Hanks voiced six different characters, CARS (2006), THE DA VINCI CODE (2006), CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR (2007), with Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams, and ANGELS & DEMONS (2009). Hanks returned for a third time to voice Woody in TOY STORY 3 (2010). He costarred opposite Julia Roberts for a second time in LARRY CROWNE (2011) and the same year opposite Sandra Bullock in EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (2011).

Hanks starred in the true story of Captain Richard Phillips, and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the U.S.-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years. His next role was also based on a true story. He portrayed Walt Disney in the comedy SAVING MR. BANKS (2013), costarring opposite Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers, the woman who wrote the novel Mary Poppins which the 1964 classic musical film was based on. Hanks starred in Steven Spielberg’s historical drama BRIDE OF SPIES (2015), with Mark Roylance, Alan Alda and Amy Ryan. In 2016, Hanks took on another role based on a true story, SULLY. The story of Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger, an American pilot who became a hero after landing his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the passengers and crew. The film was directed by the legendary Clint Eastwood and costarred Aaron Eckhart and Laura Linney. In the past few years Hanks starred in THE CIRCLE (2017), with HARRY POTTER alum Emma Watson, THE POST (2017), with Meryl Streep, TOY STORY 4 (2019) and the biographical A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (2019). Hanks received another Oscar nomination for his portrayal of TV icon Fred Rogers.

Essential Hanks:
BIG (1988)

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1992)

PHILADELPHIA (1993)

FORREST GUMP (1994)

APOLLO 13 (1995)

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)

THE GREEN MILE (1999)

BRIDGE OF SPIES (2015)

SULLY (2016)

THE POST (2017)
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