Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Tom Hanks

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Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks is a popular American actor and is one of the highest-paid all-time box office stars. He stole the limelight in his performance in the movie Splash a romantic comedy directed by Ron Howard. His charm and upbeat attitude earned him instant stardom and he was also compared to Hollywood greats.

He has established himself not only as an actor but also as a writer and director. He has also produced many films and documentaries. Hank was born Thomas Jeffrey Hanks in 1956, he is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide and is regarded as an American cultural icon.

To many people, Tom Hanks really is Forrest Gump, Woody from Toy Story, and Fred Rogers. Others might just know him as America’s Dad. Since the 1980s, he’s played characters that made people laugh but also challenged their worldviews.

Tom Hanks is one of the most beloved actors and public figures in Hollywood and across the world. The two-time Oscar winner received critical acclaim for his dramatic performances in films such as Philadelphia (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998), but sealed his status as a household name through comedic roles in Big (1988) and the Toy Story franchise. Here are the top 10 remarkable facts about Tom Hanks.

1. Tom Hanks is Related to President Abraham Lincoln

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As a double Oscar winner, Tom Hanks is considered Hollywood royalty. Hanks is a third cousin, four generations removed, of former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln. Their common ancestor is John Hanks (1681-1740), Lincoln’s great-great-grandfather and Hanks’ six-time great-grandfather. Hank’s link to ‘Honest Abe’ comes through the President’s mother, Nancy Hanks.

The former president’s great-great-grandfather was John Hanks, who was also Tom’s great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather.

After playing famous television presenter and reverend Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Hanks discovered that he and Mister Rogers are actually sixth cousins after filming wrapped. In 2019, Hanks also found out, thanks to researchers at Ancestry.com, that he shares some DNA with Mr. Rogers. “It all just comes together, you see,” Hanks teased when he learned the news from Access Hollywood.

2. Tom Hanks is an Honorary Citizen of Greece

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Through his marriage to Greek-American actress Rita Wilson and charity work for the nation, Tom Hanks is an honorary citizen of Greece. He also joined the Greek Orthodox Church upon his marriage to Wilson.

Citing “exceptional services to Greece,” authorities in Athens announced they had decided to not only grant the 63-year-old Hanks Greek citizenship but extend the offer to his wife, the actor-singer Rita Wilson, and their two sons, Chester and Truman.

Although he may not star in the films himself, Tom Hanks helped bring two of Greece’s most famous film franchises to the big screen. Both he and Rita Wilson are executive producers of the My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Mamma Mia! Movies.

These are the best cities to visit in Greece.

3. He Helped Fund Some Scenes in Forrest Gump

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Tom Hanks paid for the iconic cross-country running scene to be in Forrest Gump himself after the studio said it was too expensive. Forrest Gump remains one of the most iconic Hollywood films in Tom Hanks’ career. The running scene at the end remains memorable but the scene was rejected by the producers claiming it was too expensive to shoot.

At the time of its release, Forrest Gump (1994) was the biggest hit of Tom Hanks’ career. The film won the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Picture and was a gigantic hit at the box office – but the film was predicted to be a failure before its release.

The film studio did not want to grant the production a huge budget, so the actor stepped in to help fund what he deemed to be crucial scenes in the film, most famously the scene of Forrest running cross-country. Hanks also offered to be paid by how much the film earned at the box office – which turned out to be far more lucrative.

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4. Tom Hanks is a Typewriter Collector

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Some people collect stamps others baseball cards but Tom Hanks collects typewriters. That’s right—Tom is an avid typewriter enthusiast, his collection comprises over 100 typewriters from around the world.

A huge fan of typewriters (especially manual ones), Hanks has purchased more than 250 from around the world and was highlighted in the 2016 documentary film California Typewriter. His first book, Uncommon Type (2017), is a collection of 17 short stories—all incorporating typewriters.

He began his collection in 1978 when he took his plastic typewriter to a restorer who refused to repair it calling the replica a “worthless toy,” and convinced him that quality typewriters are real, steel, durable machines. Hanks walked out of the store with a Hermes 2000 beginning his obsession.

Due to his keen collector’s habit, Tom Hanks decided to introduce his love of typewriters into the modern age. In 2014, Hanks helped develop and release a typewriter app for the iPad, that functions with the same keyboard and physical typewriter sounds.

5. Hanks Worked As a Hotel Bellman Before

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Every celebrity has their “beginning”. Tom Hanks started out as a bellboy, working at Hilton hotels to make ends meet before he launched his acting career.

Before finding fame, Hanks brushed up against stars when he worked as a bellhop for Hilton hotels during college.  He spent two years studying theater at Chabot College before enrolling at California State University, Sacramento. While working as a hotel bellman, he got to meet some notable stars, including Cher, Sidney Poitier and Slappy White.

Hanks also used to sell concessions, including peanuts and sodas, at Oakland A’s games as a teenager. “I went down to sell peanuts and soda, and thinking it would be like in a TV show,” he said on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2019. “Well, first of all, I got robbed twice … Then, I came across professional vendors, who did not like the fact kids were there.” Things turned out less hostile for Hanks when he returned to provide the voice for stadium vendors during A’s games in 2020.

California Urban Legends.

6. Gaining and Losing Weight

Hanks isn’t often the type of actor one thinks of when it comes to transformative roles. After all, some stars routinely change their appearance to gain muscle or put some extra weight for a role.

A League of Their Own (1992) wouldn’t be the same without out-of-shape baseball manager-coach Jimmy Dugan. Hanks plumped up for the role with help of an L.A. ice cream shop. However, Vincent D’Onofrio holds the record for the most weight gained by an actor for a movie role, after he gained 70lbs to play Leonard “Gomer Pyle” Lawrence in Full Metal Jacket.

He lost all that weight (and a little more) the following year for his Oscar-winning role in Philadelphia (1993) as a lawyer with AIDS.

Back in 2013, he revealed he had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and would not be losing or gaining weight for film roles anymore, for the sake of his health.

7. Hanks was at one time a  Member of Monty Python Troupe

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He was a member of the iconic British comedy troupe Monty Python—for one night. He filled in for John Cleese, singing along with the group’s classic “Lumberjack Song,” when Cleese couldn’t make it at the 2002 memorial event The Concert for George (Harrison).

Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) was a British surreal comedy troupe that created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals.

The Pythons’ influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles’ influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being “an important moment in the evolution of television comedy”.

Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python’s Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam’s animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content.

A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding the rules of television comedy.

Learn about the best British Comedies.

8. Tom Hanks earned a Presidential Medal of Freedom

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President Barack Obama awarded Hanks with the honor in 2016 for not only his film work but his social and environmental justice efforts and advocacy on behalf of veterans and their families. Ellen DeGeneres, Robert De Niro, Michael Jordan, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, and Cicely Tyson also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom the same year as Hanks.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom, is the highest possible honor for a US civilian. The medal is given out to the nation’s best athletes, performers, and scientists.

It was the last time Obama will be performing the ceremony before Trump takes office in January. Obama bestowed especially high praise on Hanks, describing him as “America’s Dad”, and going on to say that “Tom has always saved his best role for real life. He is a good man, which is the best title you can have.”

9.  International Tom Hanks Day is a Thing

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The International Tom Hanks Day started as a joke on April 1st, 2004. Most people see these sorts of things as jokes, however, some jokes are meant to last longer. Even back in 2004, when a group of Hanks fans met under the leadership of Kevin Turk, nobody expected the world to actually start celebrating Tom Hanks’s day.

It wasn’t long until the star himself joined the party, saying that Turk and company have either lost their jobs or minds, or both, in a traditional Hanks joking manner. What started as a joke continues to take place every April 1st, with Hanks also helping since 2007.

On April 2, 2004, a group of Western Michigan University students had a Hanks movie marathon and earmarked the day to honor the Greyhound star. They made T-shirts for the occasion and the holiday took off around campus. “It turned into just a backyard kegger where we hung out all day,” founder Kevin Turk told the Chicago Tribune.

Turk brought International Tom Hanks Day celebrated on the closest Saturday to April 1 with him to Chicago when he relocated to the Windy City after college and it continued to amass a following.

10.  He has Directed His Family In A Movie

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Tom Hanks’ family – notably wife Rita Wilson and sons Colin and Chet Hanks – stars in their own right, with each of them working as professional actors in multiple famous productions. Although their careers are largely in separate respective spheres, the family worked together on screen in Hanks’ directorial film debut.

That Thing You Do! is a 1996 musical film about the life of a short-lived band, and was met with acclaim for Hanks’ directing.

Rita Wilson plays a waitress the leading character takes a romantic interest in. His son Colin and his daughter Elizabeth make cameos credited as “Male Page” and “Bored Girl in Dress Shop”, respectively