“I’ve made over 20 movies and 5 of them are good”. This modest line does not belong to an actor with episodic or minor roles in low-budget Hollywood films, but to the winner of two Oscars, four Golden Globes and the prestigious award for overall contribution to cinema “Cecil Demil” Thomas Jeffrey Hanks.
The radiant California boy, who is now recognized as one of America’s cultural icons, is celebrating his 65th birthday. He was born on July 9, 1956, into the family of Portuguese-born hospital employee Janet Marilyn and traveling chef Ames Melford Hanks. The couple have four children and when the first three get divorced – Sandra, Larry and Tom stay with their father, and the youngest – Jim – with his mother Janet. By Tom’s age of 10, the family moved so often that the boy lived in 10 different houses.
Years later, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, the actor will admit: “I was an outsider at school. I was awfully, painfully shy. And at the same time, I was the boy who made me laugh with his comments. But I never created problems. I was a very good and responsible child“.
However, some not so well-known facts about his life show that kindness and responsibility are his constant companions even after he is an adult.
A tragic loss
In 1978, at the age of 22, Tom Hanks married his college sweetheart Samantha Lewis. They are already enjoying their one-year-old son Colin, and 4 years later their daughter Elizabeth appears in their family.
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Tom Hanks with his daughter Elizabeth
Photo: Getty Images
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Although their marriage fell apart and Tom and Samantha divorced in 1987, the two remained close friends. When Samantha is diagnosed with bone cancer, the actor bears all her treatment costs. Unfortunately, after a long battle for life, in 2002, Tom Hanks’ first great love died.
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Photo: Getty Images
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The Bulgarian trace
Margarita Hasanova Ibrahimova is the real name of the woman who has ruled the heart of the Hollywood legend for 33 years. Rita Wilson was born in the family of the Bulgarian Muslim from the Rhodopes Hassan Ibrahimov and his Greek wife Dorothea. Before marrying in 1988, Tom Hanks converted to the Orthodox faith. The couple has two sons – Chester Marlon Hanks, born in 1990, and 5 years younger Truman Theodore. “The success of our marriage was a matter of time, maturity, and our shared desire for intimacy. Not that marriage is sometimes not a complete disaster, but we both know that no matter what, we will overcome all problems together.“, explains the actor.
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Photo: Getty Images
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In the skin of 10 real characters
Tom Hanks is probably the actor who played the most real characters on the screen. He has starred in as many as 10 films inspired by real people. From American TV presenter, producer and writer Fred Rodgers in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”, astronaut Jim Lovel’s prez “Apollo 13 ” and abducted by Somali pirates Captain Richard Phillips in “Captain Phillips” to the amazing incarnations that brought him the two most valuable statuettes in Hollywood – AIDS lawyer Andrew Beckett in “Philadelphia ” and of course the unforgettable Forrest Gump.
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Hanks signed the contract for Forest Gump just 90 minutes after reading the script. But there is one requirement – the film to be historically true. In order to play Forrest as accurately as possible, the actor “absorbs” the southern accent of Michael Connor Humphries – the boy who plays the young Gump. Among other things, Tom Hanks waived the fixed fee he could receive for the role, and instead it was written in the contract that he would receive a percentage of the profits from the film. His faith in the qualities of the tape brings him over 40 million dollars.
The highest award from the US Navy
For his role as Captain John Miller in “Rescuing Private Ryan,” on November 11, 1999, Tom Hanks received the Special Merit Award to the Society – the highest civilian recognition from the United States Navy.
“This film dramatically raised the awareness and appreciation of American society for the self-sacrifice of American veterans during the Battle of Normandy.“, said in an official statement from the fleet.
And last but not least:
Tom Hanks and Abraham Lincoln are relatives
Following her family tree, the Hollywood star discovers that she is a maternal relative of the 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln. Hanks is the third cousin, four generations apart, of Honest Abe. Their common ancestors were John Hanks (1680 – 1740) and his wife Catherine, who were Lincoln’s great-grandfather and great-grandmother.
But there may be nothing strange in all this, because “…life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. “
Happy birthday, Tom Hanks!
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Photo: Getty Images
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