Actor/producer/director/screenwriter Tom Hanks spent much of his childhood moving around with his father, attempting to cope with constantly changing schools, religions and stepmothers. He began performing in high school plays and continued acting while at university.
A role in the university stage production, Cherry Orchard, got Hanks into the prestigious Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Ohio, and his first professional turn was at age 21 in The Taming of the Shrew (1977). Three seasons of training there led to New York auditions and his debut film in 1980 - He Knows You're Alone.
Born: Thomas J. Hanks, July 9, 1956, Concord, California, USA
Education: California State University (Sacramento) majoring in theatre, but left before graduating to intern with the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival
Trivia: a descendant of Nancy Hanks, Abraham Lincoln's mother; first to win back-to-back Best Actor Oscars (for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump) since Spencer Tracy in 1937 and 1938; a nearby ice-cream shop helped him gain 14 kilograms for his role in A League of Their Own (1992); is a fan of Star Trek and English Premier League team Aston Villa.
