Tom Hanks, orig. Thomas J. Hanks, (born July 9, 1956, Concord, Calif., U.S.), U.S. film actor. He displayed a flair for light comedy in the television series Bosom Buddies (1980–82) and then became a film star in the comedies Splash (1984) and Big (1988). After winning praise for A League of Their Own (1992) and the romantic hit Sleepless in Seattle (1993), he proved himself an accomplished dramatic actor in Philadelphia (1993, Academy Award), Forrest Gump (1994, Academy Award), Apollo 13 (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), and Cast Away (2000). His other films included the animated Toy Story series (1995, 1999, 2010, and 2019); Road to Perdition (2002); The Da Vinci Code (2006) and its sequel, Angels & Demons (2009); Captain Phillips (2013); The Post (2017); A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019); and News of the World (2020). Many of his roles highlighted his cheerful everyman persona. Hanks made his debut as a director and screenwriter with That Thing You Do (1996). He cowrote, directed, and starred in Larry Crowne (2011). In 2013 he made his Broadway debut in Lucky Guy.
