NEED TO KNOW
- Tom Hanks is a father to four grown kids.
- Tom Hanks and his first wife Samantha Lewes had their son Colin in 1977 and then had their daughter Elizabeth in 1982.
- He has his two other sons Chet and Truman with his wife Rita Wilson.
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born on July 9, 1956, in Concord, California. He began acting in high school plays in Oakland. He studied theater at Chabot College and later at California State University, Sacramento; subsequently, he interned for three years at the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio.
Career Beginnings and Major Success, He moved to New York in 1979 and made his film debut with the low-budget horror movie ‘He Knows You’re Alone’. He gained significant recognition through lead roles in comedies like ‘Splash’ and ‘Big’, for ‘Big’, he earned critical acclaim and his first major award.
In the 1990s, he shifted from comedy to drama and won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice consecutively for ‘Philadelphia’ and ‘Forrest Gump’. He came to be known as ‘America’s Dad’ due to his portrayals of dependable and morally upright characters in films such as ‘Captain Phillips’, ‘Bridge of Spies’, ‘Sully’, and ‘A Man Called Otto’.
His first marriage was to Samantha Lewes (1978–1987), with whom he had two children: Colin Hanks (who is also an actor) and Elizabeth Hanks. In 1988, he married actress and producer Rita Wilson; they remain together to this day and have two sons: Chester ‘Chet’ Hanks and Truman Hanks.
Off-screen, he is known for his kindness, dedication to his work, and strong family values.
Colin Hanks
Colin Hanks is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known as the eldest son of Hollywood star Tom Hanks. He was born Colin Lewes Dillingham on November 24, 1977, in Sacramento, California, USA. His mother, Samantha Lewes (born Susan Jane Dillingham), was an actress and producer; his father is Tom Hanks. Initially, he used his mother’s surname, ‘Dillingham’.
He made his screen debut with a small role in his father’s directorial debut film, ‘That Thing You Do!’. He gained early recognition for his role as Alex Whitman in the sci-fi series ‘Roswell’. He starred alongside Jack Black and John Lithgow in the teen comedy ‘Orange County’.
He appeared in notable films such as ‘King Kong’, ‘The House Bunny’, ‘Untraceable’, ‘The Great Buck Howard’, ‘Parkland’, and ‘Elvis & Nixon’. On television, he played key roles as Jack Bailey in ‘The Good Guys’ and in ‘Dexter’ Season 6.
He is the eldest child of Tom Hanks and Samantha Lewes. Following his parents’ divorce, his father remarried actress Rita Wilson in 1988; from that marriage, Colin has two half-brothers: Chester “Chet” Hanks (born 1990) and Truman Hanks (born 1995). He married Samantha Bryant in 2010; the couple has two daughters: Olivia Jane Hanks and Charlotte Bryant Hanks.
Elizabeth Ann Hanks
E. A. Hanks, also known as Elizabeth Ann Hanks, is an American author, journalist, and actress. She is the oldest and only daughter of Tom Hanks. She was born on May 17, 1982, in Los Angeles, California, USA, with her name being Elizabeth Ann Hanks. She is the second-born child of Tom Hanks. Moreover, she has two half-brothers from her father’s relationship with Rita Wilson.
At first, she experimented with acting and took some smaller parts on screen, like one in ‘Forrest Gump’ and one in ‘That Thing You Do!’. In addition to this, she participated in films ‘Encouraged’ and the short film ‘This World and the Next’.
Then, she redirected her attention to writing and journalism. She did an internship in ‘Vanity Fair’, working with the editor Graydon Carter and later started writing under the pseudonym E. A. Hanks. She has written articles and essays for important newspapers and magazines like ‘Time’, ‘The Guardian’, ‘The Washington Post’, ‘The New York Times’, and ‘HuffPost’.
She spent her childhood mainly in Sacramento and Los Angeles. This period was marked by certain difficulties, like her parents’ divorce and the death of her mother due to cancer in 2002. She studied English and literature in the University of St Andrews in Scotland and Vassar College in New York. She is rather a private person; apparently, she is married to a non-public figure.
Chester ‘Chet’ Marlon Hanks
Chester ‘Chet’ Marlon Hanks is an American actor, musician, and model. Despite belonging to one of Hollywood’s most famous families, he has carved out a career for himself in the entertainment industry.
He was born Chester Marlon Hanks on August 4, 1990, in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is the first child of actor Tom Hanks and actress-producer Rita Wilson. He attended Northwestern University, where he studied theater and began experimenting with music and performance.
He made his film debut in the 2007 teen movie ‘Bratz’ playing the character Dexter. He appeared in films such as ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’, ‘Larry Crowne’, ‘Project X’, and ‘Fantastic Four’, and also made a brief appearance (cameo) in his father’s World War II film, ‘Greyhound’.
He also established a strong presence on television, with roles including Charlie in ‘Shameless’ and Blake in ‘Empire’. He pursued a career in music under the name ‘Chet Haze’ and has worked as a model and brand collaborator, engaging in projects across acting, music, and fashion.
He is the son of two famous entertainers, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, and grew up in the limelight while carving out his own path in the industry. He has a daughter named Micaiah, born in 2016 to his former partner, Tiffany Miles. As of early 2020, he has not married.
Truman Theodore Hanks
Truman Theodore Hanks is the youngest son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. He was born on December 26, 1995, in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is the second son of Tom Hanks and actress-producer Rita Wilson.
He graduated from Stanford University in 2018 and subsequently began working professionally in the film industry.
Immediately after college, he began working in technical roles—starting as a camera trainee—on the German series ‘Babylon Berlin’. He is primarily building a career behind the camera as a cinematog-rapher and camera operator.
He gained experience by working in the cinematography and camera departments on major films and shows such as ‘Black Widow’ (2021), ‘West Side Story’ (2021), ‘Wrath of Man’ (2021), and the Amazon series ‘Fallout’ (2024).
He grew up in a high-profile entertainment family as the youngest child of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, where he frequently had the opportunity to visit film sets and interact with industry professionals.
He keeps his personal life very private; as of the early 2020s, there is no confirmed information regarding marriage or children, and he rarely speaks publicly about his relationships.