Look up trailer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A trailer may refer to:

In transportation:

• Trailer (vehicle), an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle
  • Bicycle trailer, a wheeled frame for hitching to a bicycle to tow cargo or passengers
  • Travel trailer, or caravan, a type of recreational trailer designed to provide sleeping space
• Semi-trailer truck
• Semi-trailer
• Portable classroom, a temporary classroom for schools with insufficient building capacity
• Mobile home, a housing unit built in factories, rather than on site
• Full-trailer
• Construction trailer, temporary accommodation for offices and building materials storage on construction sites.

In music:

• Trailer (album), the 1994 album from the Northern Irish musical group Ash

In films and video:

• Trailer (book), a short video for marketing a book
• Trailer (film), an advertisement, usually in the form of a brief excerpt or string of excerpts, for a new film
  • Teaser trailer, a truncated version of a theatrical or film trailer

In computing:

• Trailer (information technology), data appended to a main block of data to facilitate its processing

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This article may be written from a fan's point of view, rather than a neutral point of view. Please clean it up to conform to a higher standard of quality, and to make it neutral in tone. (August 2010)

Jack Reacher is a fictional character created by British author Jim Grant who writes under the pen name of Lee Child.

Biographical information[link]

Jack (None) Reacher is a former United States Army Military Police Major. He was born on a military base in Berlin in 1960. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he served 13 years in the Military Police, during which time he became part of a fictional military police unit, the 110th Special Investigations Unit, formed to handle exceptionally tough cases, especially those involving members of the United States Army Special Forces.

Though he was demoted from Major to Captain in the prequel novel The Enemy, he regained the rank of Major by the time he mustered out in 1997. He received many military awards during his career, including the Silver Star, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Soldier's Medal, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart for wounds sustained in the bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983.^{[citation needed]}

Since leaving the Army, Reacher has been a drifter. He wanders throughout the United States because he felt he never got to know his own country, having spent his youth living overseas on military bases. He usually travels by hitchhiking or bus. As a drifter, the only possessions he carries are money, a foldable toothbrush and, after 9/11, an expired passport. He wears his clothing for 2–3 days before discarding it, usually purchasing new clothing cheaply from chain outlets. He has no steady income and lives on savings in his bank account and part-time jobs. At various points during the series, his bank account is supplemented by taking money from his enemies (this occurs most notably in Bad Luck and Trouble). Reacher knows how to drive although he is admittedly not a very good driver. He has never possessed a driver's license.

Skills[link]

Reacher's demeanor is stoic, and he does not talk much. He has a propensity for saying "that's for damn sure". Reacher frequently does not answer when people make statements or ask questions, nodding or shrugging, preferring the other party to fill the silence. A recurring line in the novels is "Reacher said nothing". He is cool-headed and rarely becomes visibly angry, one of the few exceptions to this occurs in Nothing to Lose when he erupts in rage at an apathetic hospital employee for not ensuring that comatose Iraq War veteran received the proper care. Reacher has the uncanny ability to know what time it is, at any time of the day, without referring to a clock. He often uses his internal clock as an alarm, enabling him to wake up at any time he chooses. It is revealed in Bad Luck and Trouble that Reacher has a fascination with mathematics. Reacher drinks coffee constantly. With this, he quotes in The Enemy: "The Reacher brothers' need for caffeine makes heroin addiction look like an amusing little take-it-or-leave-it sideline". He is also fond of breakfast foods, especially eggs, pancakes, and bacon. Reacher only occasionally uses profanity.

Reacher is highly skilled at fighting, although he is not an expert in any particular martial art. Reacher's favorite techniques include elbow strikes, uppercuts, and headbutts. His tremendous strength aids him in fighting, as he is significantly stronger than most of his opponents. As revealed in Nothing to Lose, Reacher hates confronting an opponent armed with a knife. In addition to his fighting prowess, a common element of the Reacher novels is his overall propensity for brutality when necessary. Reacher's capacity for violence is enormous, although those he harms are nearly always villains worthy of what they receive. One notable exception to this was a bartender Reacher encounters during an Army investigation in the prequel novel The Enemy. Reacher badly maims the man in a fight but later learns that he was not involved with the story's antagonists. He was officially reprimanded for this by the Army. In his efforts to protect innocents and stop villains, he has done such things as snap necks, bludgeon skulls, and break knees. Sometimes during the course of a novel, usually toward the end, Reacher calmly kills his foe(s) even after they are no longer a threat, but only if they have committed terrible acts (usually multiple murders) which he feels merit their deaths as justice. Such killings by Reacher are featured in Persuader and Bad Luck and Trouble, among others. In The Hard Way, Reacher is described as completely lacking, "The remorse gene. It just wasn't there."

In Killing Floor, it is revealed that he has a love for music, especially blues music. It was this affinity for the blues that inspired Reacher to get off the bus at the start of Killing Floor and catapulted him into the resulting story. It is also in this novel that Reacher's internal monologue reveals that he has a music collection in his head, which he listens to.

Reacher is always aware of his surroundings; he always sits with his back to the wall, so that he can see those entering a room so he cannot be attacked from behind. He generally likes to be alone, especially in the dark. In 61 Hours, it is stated that an Army psychological study of reactions to fear in children showed him as having abnormally fast reflexes and aggression levels at the age of six.

As revealed in Nothing to Lose, Reacher holds no religious beliefs and is openly scornful of the fundamentalist Christianity espoused by the novel's antagonist. Reacher also shows his disdain for religion when in Bad Luck and Trouble he is traveling to Los Angeles via airline, and he states that he does not like Alaskan Airlines "because they put scripture cards on the meal trays."

Reacher is a skilled marksman. In addition to being the only non-Marine to win the Marine Corps Wimbledon Cup rifle competition, he also won the US Army Pistol Championship and served as a pistol instructor. Throughout the novels, Reacher has shown great skill in the use of handguns, rifles, sub-machine guns, and shotguns.

Physical appearance[link]

Reacher is a giant, standing at 6' 5" tall (1.96m) with a 50-inch chest, and weighing between 210 and 250 pounds (100–115 kg). He has ice-blue eyes and dirty blond hair. He has very little body fat, and his muscular physique is completely natural (he reveals in Persuader, he has never been an exercise enthusiast.) He is exceptionally strong but is not a good runner.^[3] Reacher is strong enough to break a man's neck with one hand (Bad Luck and Trouble) and kill a villain with a single punch to the head (Running Blind and 61 Hours) or chest (Worth Dying For). In a fight against a 7 foot, 400 lb steroid-using thug (Persuader), Reacher was able to lift his opponent into the air and drop him on his head.

Reacher has various scars, most notably a scar on his abdomen caused by a bombing in Lebanon.^[4] He also has a 3-4 inch thin white scar that intersects his shrapnel scar that he received during a knife fight with Al-Qaeda operative Lila Hoth. Reacher mentions how the rough stitch work from his existing scar helped decrease the severity of his most recent attack. However, the cut did produce a deep, serious gash that led to Reacher passing out from blood loss.^[5] He also has a scar on his chest from a .38 bullet,^[6] a tear drop burn scar from close range gunshot that crossed his chest at point blank range,^[7] and one on his arm where his brother struck him with a chisel in his youth.^[8]

Family[link]

Reacher's mother Josephine Moutier Reacher, born in France, was 30 years old when Reacher was born. She met Reacher's father in Korea and married him in Holland (The Enemy). She was widowed in 1988, and died in 1990 at the age of 60 of cancer. When she was only 13, she joined the French Resistance and under the alias "Beatrice" worked with Le Chemin de Fer Humain (the Human Railroad), saving 80 men. She garroted a schoolmate, a boy who threatened to give her up to the Nazis. Josephine Moutier was awarded the Médaille de la Résistance (the Resistance Medal) for her heroism.

Reacher's father (Stan Reacher) was a Marine captain, who served in Korea and Vietnam. His service in the United States Marine Corps kept his family continually moving all around the world to various military bases. He died in 1988. When describing his father, Jack is quoted as saying, "(He was) a stone-cold killer. Next to him I look like Liberace.^[9]" After military service, "there was no place left for people like him.^[10]"

Jack had only one sibling, brother Joe Reacher. Two years older than Jack, Joe was born on a military base in the Philippines. Jack used to help Joe beat up the kids who gave him trouble in school, and vice versa. Joe was also a West Point graduate, and spent five years in Military Intelligence before joining the Treasury Department. He never won any of the "good medals", only the "junk awards." Joe died at the age of 38, having arranged a meeting with a potential investigation subject (see Killing Floor). Because he was killed in the line of duty, his name can be found on the Treasury's Roll of Honor.

Acquaintances[link]

• Officer Roscoe, (30), is a police officer, appearing in Killing Floor.
• Holly Johnson, (27), is a newly inducted FBI Special Agent and former Wall Street stock analyst. She is dark, attractive, self-assured and a knee ligament injury sustained whilst playing soccer requires her to use a cane. She appeared in Die Trying. She is the only daughter of General Johnson, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and is the goddaughter of the President.
• Jodie Garber-Jacob, (30), is the daughter of General Leon Garber, his former commanding officer (The Enemy). She met and fell in love with Reacher when she was 15 and was totally off-limits to him. In Tripwire, she is divorced, using her maiden name and working as a corporate attorney. She is mentioned in Echo Burning as having moved to Europe. She appeared in Tripwire, and Running Blind (The Visitor in the United Kingdom and Australia).
• General Leon Garber, (retired), is the father of Jodie, a General who knew Reacher, helped him in Die Trying, and willed him his house. He appeared in Die Trying and The Enemy and The Affair. His funeral is in Tripwire.
• Lisa Harper, (29), is an FBI Agent, stationed at Quantico. She appeared in Running Blind (The Visitor in the United Kingdom and Australia).
• Alice Amanda Aaron, (25), graduated from Harvard Law School, practicing law at a legal mission in Pecos, Texas, as penance for coming from a wealthy family. She appeared in Echo Burning.
• Carmen Greer, (30), is a housewife, short, slim, dark-skinned, fine-boned, "maybe 100 pounds". She is married with one child and an abusive husband. She appeared in Echo Burning.
• Frances Neagley, (late thirties), is a Security consultant, and former Army Master Sergeant and Military Policeman. She is of medium height, slim, and has dark hair and eyes. She spends large amounts of time in the gym and has a purely platonic relationship with Reacher, not liking to be touched. Her demeanor suggests that she could be considered something of a female counterpart to Reacher. She appeared in Without Fail, Bad Luck & Trouble, and The Affair.
• Mary Ellen Froelich, (35), is a Secret Service Agent, charged with protecting the Vice President. She has short fair hair, and is quietly confident. She dated Joe Reacher. She appeared in Without Fail.
• Susan Duffy, (early thirties), is a rogue agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. She is pale, slim, and attractive, and appeared in Persuader.
• Lieutenant Summer, (25), is an African-American Lieutenant in the Army Military Police. She is petite and slender, and appeared in The Enemy.
• Eileen Ann Hutton, (age unknown), is a Brigadier General in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the US Army. She and Reacher had a relationship prior to, and featured in, One Shot.
• Vaughan, (exact age unknown), is a police officer in Hope, Colorado. She is "probably less than five feet six, probably less than a hundred and twenty pounds, probably less than thirty-five years old" according to Reacher's estimate. Married to a totally incapacitated casualty of the war in Iraq (husband's name is Robert David Vaughan, called David). She befriends Reacher in Nothing to Lose.
• Karla Dixon, (age unknown, possibly late 30s) is a forensic accountant; formerly a Major in the Army and part of Reacher's 'Special Investigators Unit', which he formed and led in the 90s. They are reunited in Bad Luck & Trouble and secretly rekindle an affair, which they regret not starting back in the army. She is described as 'dark, very pretty, comparatively small' and slim. She is extremely good with numbers and shares Reacher's fascination with mathematics.
• Detective Theresa Lee is an NYPD detective who aids Reacher's take down of an Al-Qaeda team in Gone Tomorrow. They had a brief romantic episode before Reacher left to complete his task.
• Lauren Pauling, (early fifties), is an ex-FBI agent who now acts as a private investigator. She often refers to herself as being old. She appears in The Hard Way.
• Susan Turner, (early thirties), is a Major in the US Army and is the current commander of the 110th MP. She is described as a little above average height (5'7"), slender, long dark hair tied back, tanned skin and deep brown eyes. Her face is described as conveying "intelligence and authority and youth and mischief at the same time". Her defining characteristic, however, is her voice ... "warm, a little husky, a little breathy, a little intimate". She appears in 61 Hours.
• Stan Lowrey, (late thirties), is a member of Reacher's old 110th MP unit. He is handsome, youthful, and full of energy. A kind of man that gets the job done. He appears in Bad Luck and Trouble and in the latest novel The Affair.
• Dave O'Donnell, (late thirties), is a member of Reacher's old 110th MP unit. He appears in Bad Luck and Trouble. He carries an army blade in one pocket and a pair of ceramic brass-knuckles in the other.

Travels[link]

His travels around the United States of America, exploring the one country he never got to see in his childhood, are the subject of all the novels so far, with the exception of two prequels, one being The Enemy, which centers on a case he undertook as an investigator in the Military Police in 1990, and the other being The Affair. The novels are set in locales ranging from New York City and Los Angeles to small towns in the American South and Midwest. To date, Reacher's travels outside of the United States have taken him to rural England (The Hard Way) and Paris, France, where Reacher visits his dying mother with his brother.

Style[link]

The Reacher novels are written either in the first-person or third-person. Child says writing in the first person is more natural for him, but writing in the third person gives him more freedom when building up suspense.

So far in the series, Killing Floor, Persuader, The Enemy, Gone Tomorrow and The Affair are in the first person narrative. Die Trying, Tripwire, Running Blind/The Visitor, Echo Burning, Without Fail, One Shot, The Hard Way, Bad Luck and Trouble, Nothing to Lose, 61 Hours and Worth Dying For are in the third person.

List of novels/ Appearances[link]

Jack Reacher can be found in the following books by Lee Child:

1. Killing Floor (March 1997)
2. Die Trying (July 1998)
3. Tripwire (June 1999)
4. Running Blind (published as The Visitor in the UK and Australia) (April 2000)
5. Echo Burning (ISBN 0-515-13331-0) (April 2001)
6. Without Fail (April 2002)
7. Persuader (April 2003)
8. The Enemy (Prequel, time frame occurs before Killing Floor) (April 2004)
9. One Shot (ISBN 0-385-33668-3) (April 2005)
10. The Hard Way (ISBN 0-385-33669-1) (May 2006)
11. Bad Luck and Trouble (ISBN 0-385-34055-9) (April 2007)
12. Nothing to Lose (ISBN 978-0593057025) (March 2008)
13. Gone Tomorrow (April 2009)
14. 61 Hours (March 2010)
15. Worth Dying For (September 2010)
16. Second Son, a Kindle exclusive short story (August 2011)
17. The Affair (September 27, 2011) Prequel to Killing Floor

He can also be seen in the short story "James Penney's New Identity" from Fresh Blood 3 (Oct 1999, ISBN 978-1-899344-52-9), a compilation of short mystery stories edited by Mike Ripley and Maxim Jakubowski, although Reacher is not the protagonist in the story and appears only briefly. Reacher is also mentioned several times in the Stephen King's novel Under the Dome.

[edit] Killing Floor

Plot

After hopping off a Greyhound to pursue a whim (finding out what happened to a musician, "Blind Blake"). Reacher is arrested and charged with murder. After an attempt on his life while being held over the weekend in a state prison, Reacher is determined to figure out what happened. Later he finds out that the person he was framed for murdering was Joe Reacher, his brother. Unknowingly, Jack Reacher had stumbled into one of the biggest counterfeiting schemes in the United States. And takes head on, a vicious and ruthless butchers of a well established town gang operating a massive counterfeit notes racket. This novel is set in the fictional town of Margrave, Georgia.

[edit] Die Trying

Plot

Whilst helping Holly Johnson, an attractive young woman struggling with her crutches on a Chicago street, they turn around only to discover two handguns pointing at them. Reacher and the woman are thrown into a dark van and taken 2000 miles across America, completely unaware why they were kidnapped and where they are going. Finding themselves trapped in a seemingly remote place, they must work together to find the answers.

[edit] Tripwire

Plot

Hanging around in Key West, digging pools by hand and moonlighting as a bouncer for a topless bar, Reacher finds himself wanted in New York by a Mrs. Jacob. She turns out to be the beautiful Jodie Garber, daughter of General Leon Garber, Reacher's mentor and surrogate father in the Army. Jack and Jodie soon find themselves hunted by a psychopath crippled from Vietnam who has a shadowy business and other secrets to protect. Reacher inherits a house and a steady girlfriend, and contemplates the joys of sedentary life.

[edit] Running Blind

Plot

It's tough being a high-flying woman in the Army. Very tough. When Sergeant Amy Callan and Lieutenant Caroline Cook are found dead in their own homes—in baths filled with Army-issue camouflage paint, their bodies completely unmarked—Jack Reacher is under suspicion. He knew them both—and he knows that they both left the Army under dubious circumstances, both victims of sexual harassment. A former U.S. military policeman, a loner and a drifter, he matches the psychological profile prepared by the FBI, and is arrested by ambitious Special Agent Julia Lamarr. But when the body of another woman, Sergeant Lorraine Stanley, is discovered, killed with similar precision, Reacher is released. Everyone fears there is a serial killer on the loose. But the FBI know something in Reacher's past and have strong persuasive powers. Before long Reacher finds himself heavily involved in the murder investigation. He has to find out what these women have in common and why someone is out to do them harm.

[edit] Echo Burning

Plot

Hitching rides is an unreliable mode of transport. In temperatures of over a hundred degrees, you're lucky if a driver will open the door of his air-conditioned car long enough to let you slide in. That's Jack Reacher's conclusion. He's adrift in the fearsome heat of a Texas summer, and he needs to keep moving through the wide open vastness, like a shark in the water. The last thing he's worried about is exactly who picks him up. He never expected it to be somebody like Carmen. She's alone, driving a Cadillac. She's beautiful, young and rich. She has a little girl who is being watched by unseen observers. And a husband who is in jail. Who will beat her senseless when he comes out. If he doesn't kill her first. Reacher is no stranger to trouble. And at Carmen's remote ranch in Echo County there is plenty of it: lies and prejudice, hatred and murder. Reacher can never resist a lady in distress. Her family is hostile, the cops can't be trusted and the lawyers won't help.

[edit] Without Fail

Plot

Reacher arrives in Atlantic City, New Jersey, after hitching a ride with a couple of aging musicians. He is accosted there by Mary Ellen (M. E.) Froelich, a beautiful secret service agent who managed to track him down. She has a special request for him: she consults him on how he could kill the Vice-President; countering those methods would help her considerably in her job: protecting the Vice-President. He accepts the challenge, and enlists old colleague Frances Neagley to help carry out the mission. Froelich asked Reacher's assistance on this matter because of suspicious and threatening letters which had been sent to the Vice-President but instead intercepted by his protective team. Together, they attempt to find the ones responsible.

[edit] Persuader

Plot

Walking along the street, Reacher sees Quinn, a man who should be dead. Reacher is a man who hates unfinished business. Ten years ago, a key investigation went sour and Francis Xavier Quinn got away with murder. Now a chance encounter outside Boston's Symphony Hall brings it all back. And Reacher sees his one last shot to finish what was started all those years ago.

[edit] The Enemy

Plot

On New Year's Day, 1990, in a North Carolina motel, a two-star general is found dead. Within minutes, Reacher is ordered to contain the situation. But things soon escalate when Reacher discovers the general's briefcase is missing and within hours, the general's wife is killed. Reacher soon finds himself embroiled in a complex game of tug of war between powerful men in the United States Army, and beyond.

[edit] One Shot

Plot

In an innocent heartland city, five are shot dead by an expert sniper. The police quickly identify and arrest a suspect, and build a slam-dunk case with iron-clad evidence. But the accused man claims he's innocent and says "Get Jack Reacher.". Reacher himself sees the news report and turns up in the city. The defense is immensely relieved; but Reacher has come to bury the guy. Shocked at the accused's request, Reacher sets out to confirm for himself the absolute certainty of the man's guilt, but comes up with more than he bargained for.

[edit] The Hard Way

Plot

After witnessing an exchange of $1,000,000. Jack Reacher is hired by the underhanded director of a private military firm to rescue his wife and stepchild, who appear to have been kidnapped although they have run away. While Reacher uncovers clues that might lead to a rescue, he learns about the director's dubious past which involves a murderous plot against two ex-associates.He meets a beautiful ex-FBI agent converted to private investigator who assists him in the investigation to unveil the shocking truth, and ultimately engages in a showdown on a farm in Norfolk,England. The novel is set primarily in New York City.

[edit] Bad Luck and Trouble

Plot

You don't mess with the Special Investigators. When one of his old army crew turns up dead outside Los Angeles, Reacher gets his old investigations unit back together to get to the bottom of what's going on.

[edit] Nothing to Lose

Plot

Based in Colorado, travelling from the town of Hope to the town of Despair, it soon becomes clear that Reacher is an unwelcome visitor in a town with a lot of secrets to hide. Reacher cannot resist the opportunity to explore the town's secrets further, especially the peculiar town owner who has employed the majority of the population to work within his recycling factory.

[edit] Gone Tomorrow

Plot

Reacher takes the subway late at night, and routinely checks his fellow passengers. Four are okay, but the fifth is not. Checking against his mental list for suicide bombers, he comes to the conclusion that the fifth is one too. He is puzzled with her choice of timing and place, as it is not crowded; on the contrary the subway was exceedingly empty. He reasons with her, but she shoots herself; thereby proving Reacher wrong when he concluded she was a bomber. He is determined to discover why she killed herself and soon uncovers a massive conspiracy stretching from California to New York City to even Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation of that country.

[edit] 61 Hours

Plot

The 14th book of the Jack Reacher saga. In South Dakota, a tourist bus crashes during a savage snow storm with Jack Reacher in it. Jack gets caught up in a hunt for a murderer and the protection of a key witness. Meanwhile, a link to Reacher's past comes to his aid and a brings a path to redemption.

[edit] Worth Dying For

Plot

Jack Reacher arrives late one night in a rural Nebraska town. In the town's fading motel bar he overhears a drunk doctor's refusal to attend a domestic abuse. The victim of the abuse is married to the scion of the Duncan clan, which holds that part of Nebraska in its grip, keeping the population cowed and docile. Reacher talks the doctor into doing the right thing, and ends up embroiled in a smuggling ring and an unsolved disappearance from twenty-five years prior.

Worth Dying For was published on 30 September 2010 in the UK^[11] and on 19 October 2010 in the USA.^[12]

[edit] Second Son

Plot

The short story "Second Son" is a snapshot of the life of Reacher and his family circa 1974, while they're stationed on a military base in Okinawa. Upon arriving they immediately get into deep trouble that's compounded by some bad news. The action is interspersed with contemplative moments, such as when Jack's grandfather, a prosthetic-limb maker in Paris, recounts that "… a great war leaves a country with three armies: an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves."

[edit] The Affair

Plot

March 1997. Six months before the events of Killing Floor. Jack Reacher is still in the army. And there's big trouble in a small town in Mississippi, where a soldier's girlfriend is found with her throat cut from ear to ear. Local trouble? Or is the killer from nearby Fort Kelham, a giant base used by elite Army Rangers? In 1997, Reacher's orders are: go undercover, keep your distance, monitor the investigation. Eventually the army's official investigation produces a cast-iron prime suspect—and so does Reacher's undercover search. But Reacher's answer is not the same as the army's. If he keeps quiet, will he be able to live with himself? And if he speaks out, will the army be able to live with him?

Miscellaneous[link]

Paramount Pictures recently hired Academy Award nominated screenwriter Josh Olson to adapt One Shot, the ninth book in the series. Christopher McQuarrie, Oscar-winning screenwriter for The Usual Suspects, was then brought in to re-write Olson's draft.^[13] It was announced in July 2011 that Tom Cruise would play Reacher in the movie adaptation of One Shot, even though he has no visible physical or mental representation of the Reacher character.^[14]

Author Lee Child revealed the origin of Jack Reacher's name in a video clip^[15]: whilst unemployed and midway through writing the first novel with the character as yet unnamed, he visited his local supermarket with his wife. An elderly lady approached him and asked him to reach an item off a high shelf for her. His wife commented: "Hey if this writing thing doesn't work out, you can be a reacher in a supermarket."

The schedule for the Reacher series, previously one-per-year, was stepped up with 61 Hours and Worth Dying For both released in 2010. Lee Child was twice approached by Guildrose/Ian Fleming Publications to continue the James Bond novels but has turned down the offers.

Reacher makes an off-stage cameo in Stephen King's 2010 novel Under the Dome. Chester's Mills police officer Jackie Wettington is revealed to have previously served as a military policewoman in Germany, and she is recommended to Colonel Cox by Jack Reacher, whom Cox describes as "the toughest goddam Army cop that ever served, in my humble opinion."

See also[link]

Novels portal

• Lee Child
• Military brat

External links[link]

• Author Lee Child's Official website
• Jack Reacher Official US website
• Official Publisher UK website
• Jack Reacher Fans website
• Reacher Creatures Facebook group

Notes[link]

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2010)

Tom Hanks
Hanks at President Obama's 2009 inauguration.
Born	Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (1956-07-09) July 9, 1956 (age 55) Concord, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, producer, director, voice over artist, writer, speaker
Years active	1979–present
Spouse	Samantha Lewes (m. 1978–1987; divorced) Rita Wilson (m. 1988–present)
Children	Colin, Elizabeth, Chester, Truman

Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks is known for his roles in Philadelphia and as the title character in Forrest Gump, roles which won him two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor. Hanks is also known for his Oscar nominated roles in Big, Saving Private Ryan and Cast Away.

Hanks' other acting roles include Apollo 13 as Jim Lovell, The Green Mile as Paul Edgecomb, Toy Story as Woody and Charlie Wilson's War as Charlie Wilson.

Early life[link]

Hanks was born in Concord, California. His father, Amos Mefford Hanks (born in Glenn County, California, on March 9, 1924 – died in Alameda, California, on January 31, 1992), was an itinerant cook.^[1] His mother, Janet Marylyn (née Frager; born in Alameda County, California, on January 18, 1932), was a hospital worker. Hanks' mother is of Portuguese ancestry, while two of his paternal great-grandparents immigrated from Britain.^[2][3] Hanks's parents divorced in 1960. The family's three oldest children, Sandra (now Sandra Hanks Benoiton, a writer)^{[citation needed]}, Larry (now Lawrence M. Hanks, PhD, an entomology professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)^[4] and Tom, went with their father, while the youngest, Jim, now an actor and film maker, remained with his mother in Red Bluff, California.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to having a family history of Catholicism and Mormonism, Hanks was a "Bible-toting evangelical teenager" for several years.^[5] In school, Hanks was unpopular with students and teachers alike, later telling Rolling Stone magazine: "I was a geek, a spaz. I was horribly, painfully, terribly shy. At the same time, I was the guy who'd yell out funny captions during filmstrips. But I didn't get into trouble. I was always a real good kid and pretty responsible." In 1965, Amos Hanks married Frances Wong, a San Francisco native of Chinese descent. Frances had three children, two of whom lived with Tom during his high school years. Hanks acted in school plays, including South Pacific, while attending Skyline High School in Oakland, California.

Hanks studied theater at Chabot College in Hayward, California, and after two years, transferred to California State University, Sacramento. Hanks told New York magazine in 1986: "Acting classes looked like the best place for a guy who liked to make a lot of noise and be rather flamboyant ...I spent a lot of time going to plays. I wouldn't take dates with me. I'd just drive to a theater, buy myself a ticket, sit in the seat and read the program, and then get into the play completely. I spent a lot of time like that, seeing Brecht, Tennessee Williams, Ibsen, and all that."^[6]

During his years studying theater, Hanks met Vincent Dowling, head of the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio.^[1] At Dowling's suggestion, Hanks became an intern at the Festival. His internship stretched into a three-year experience that covered most aspects of theater production, including lighting, set design, and stage management, all of which caused Hanks to drop out of college. During the same time, Hanks won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his 1978 performance as Proteus in Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona, one of the few times he played a villain.^[7]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

In 1979, Hanks moved to New York City, where he made his film debut in the low-budget slasher film He Knows You're Alone (1980)^[1] and got a part in the television movie Mazes and Monsters. Early in 1979, Hanks was cast in the lead role of Callimaco in the Riverside Shakespeare Company's production of Niccolò Machiavelli's The Mandrake, directed by Daniel Southern. This remains Hanks's only New York stage performance to date; as a high profile Off Off Broadway showcase, the production helped Tom land an agent, Joe Ohla with the J. Michael Bloom Agency. The next year, Hanks landed a lead role on the ABC television pilot of Bosom Buddies, playing the role of Kip Wilson. Hanks moved to Los Angeles, where he and Peter Scolari played a pair of young advertising men forced to dress as women so they could live in an inexpensive all-female hotel.^[1] Hanks had previously partnered with Scolari in the 1970s game show Make Me Laugh. Bosom Buddies ran for two seasons, and, although the ratings were never strong, television critics gave the program high marks. "The first day I saw him on the set," co-producer Ian Praiser told Rolling Stone, "I thought, 'Too bad he won't be in television for long.' I knew he'd be a movie star in two years." But if Praiser knew it, he was not able to convince Hanks. "The television show had come out of nowhere," best friend Tom Lizzio told Rolling Stone. "Then out of nowhere it got canceled. He figured he'd be back to pulling ropes and hanging lights in a theater."

Bosom Buddies and a guest appearance on a 1982 episode of Happy Days ("A Case of Revenge," where he played a disgruntled former classmate of The Fonz) prompted director Ron Howard to contact Hanks. Howard was working on Splash (1984), a romantic comedy fantasy about a mermaid who falls in love with a human. At first, Howard considered Hanks for the role of the main character's wisecracking brother, a role that eventually went to John Candy. Instead, Hanks got the lead role and a career boost from Splash, which went on to become a box office hit, grossing more than US$69 million. He also had a sizable hit with the sex comedy Bachelor Party, also in 1984.

In 1983–84, Hanks made three guest appearances on Family Ties as Elyse Keaton's alcoholic brother, Ned Donnelly.^[8][9]

Period of successes and failures[link]

Hanks at Governor's Ball party after 61st Academy Awards, March 29, 1989

Hanks and Rita Wilson at the 1989 Oscars

With Nothing in Common (1986) – about a young man alienated from his parents who must re-establish a relationship with his father, played by Jackie Gleason – Hanks began to establish the credentials of not only a comic actor but of someone who could carry a serious role. "It changed my desires about working in movies," Hanks told Rolling Stone. "Part of it was the nature of the material, what we were trying to say. But besides that, it focused on people's relationships. The story was about a guy and his father, unlike, say, The Money Pit, where the story is really about a guy and his house."^{[citation needed]}

After a few more flops and a moderate success with Dragnet, Hanks succeeded with the film Big (1988), both at the box office and within the industry.^[1] The film established Hanks as a major Hollywood talent. It was followed later that year by Punchline, in which he and Sally Field co-starred as struggling comedians. Hanks's character, Steven Gold, a failing medical student trying to break into stand-up, was somewhat edgy and complex. Hanks' portrayal of Gold offered a glimpse of the far more dramatic roles Hanks would master in films to come. Hanks then suffered a pile of box-office failures: The 'Burbs (1989), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), and The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990),^[1] as a greedy Wall Street type who gets enmeshed in a hit-and-run accident. Only the 1989 movie Turner & Hooch brought success for Hanks during this time. In a 1993 issue of Disney Adventures, Hanks said, "I saw Turner & Hooch the other day in the SAC store and couldn't help but be reminiscent. I cried like a baby." He did admit to making a couple of "bum tickers," however, and blamed his "...deductive reasoning and decision making skills."

Progression into dramatic roles[link]

Hanks climbed back to the top again with his portrayal of a washed-up baseball star turned manager in A League of Their Own (1992).^[1] Hanks has admitted that his acting in earlier roles was not great and that he has improved. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Hanks noted his "modern era of moviemaking ... because enough self-discovery has gone on.... My work has become less pretentiously fake and over the top". This "modern era" began in 1993 for Hanks, first with Sleepless in Seattle and then with Philadelphia. The former was a blockbuster success about a widower who finds true love over the airwaves. Richard Schickel of TIME called his performance "charming," and most critics agreed that Hanks' portrayal ensured him a place among the premier romantic-comedy stars of his generation.^{[citation needed]}

In Philadelphia, he played a gay lawyer with AIDS who sues his firm for discrimination.^[1] Hanks lost thirty-five pounds and thinned his hair in order to appear sickly for the role. In a review for People, Leah Rozen stated "Above all, credit for Philadelphia's success belongs to Hanks, who makes sure that he plays a character, not a saint. He is flat-out terrific, giving a deeply felt, carefully nuanced performance that deserves an Oscar." Hanks won the 1993 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Philadelphia.^[1] During his acceptance speech he revealed that his high school drama teacher Rawley Farnsworth and former classmate John Gilkerson, two people with whom he was close, were gay.^[10]

Hanks on the film set of Forrest Gump in 1994

Hanks followed Philadelphia with the 1994 summer hit Forrest Gump. Of the film, Hanks has remarked: "When I read the script for Gump, I saw it as one of those kind of grand, hopeful movies that the audience can go to and feel ... some hope for their lot and their position in life... I got that from the movies a hundred million times when I was a kid. I still do." Hanks won his second Best Actor Academy Award for his role in Forrest Gump, becoming only the second actor to have accomplished the feat of winning consecutive Best Actor Oscars. (Spencer Tracy was the first, winning in 1937–38. Hanks and Tracy were the same age at the time they received their Academy Awards: 37 for the first and 38 for the second.)

Hanks' next role—astronaut and commander Jim Lovell, in the 1995 movie Apollo 13--reunited him with Ron Howard.^[1] Critics generally applauded the film and the performances of the entire cast, which included actors Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, and Kathleen Quinlan. The movie also earned nine Academy Award nominations, winning two. The same year, Hanks starred in the animated blockbuster Toy Story as the voice of the toy Sheriff Woody.

1996 – present: Directing, producing and acting[link]

Hanks turned to directing with his 1996 film That Thing You Do! about a 1960s pop group, also playing the role of a music producer. Hanks and producer Gary Goetzman went on to create Playtone, a record and film production company named for the record company in the film.

Hanks executive produced, co-wrote, and co-directed the HBO docudrama From the Earth to the Moon. The twelve-part series chronicles the space program from its inception, through the familiar flights of Neil Armstrong and Jim Lovell, to the personal feelings surrounding the reality of moon landings. The Emmy Award-winning project was, at US$68 million, one of the most expensive ventures taken for television.

Hanks's next project was no less expensive. For Saving Private Ryan he teamed up with Steven Spielberg to make a film about a search through war-torn France after D-Day to bring back a soldier. It earned the praise and respect of the film community, critics, and the general public. It was labeled one of the finest war films ever made and earned Spielberg his second Academy Award for direction, and Hanks another Best Actor nomination. Later in 1998, Hanks re-teamed with his Sleepless in Seattle co-star Meg Ryan for You've Got Mail, a remake of 1940's The Shop Around the Corner.

In 1999, Hanks starred in an adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Green Mile. He also returned as the voice of Woody in Toy Story 2. The following year he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor and an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of a marooned FedEx systems analyst in Robert Zemeckis's Cast Away. In 2001, Hanks helped direct and produce the acclaimed HBO mini-series Band of Brothers. He also appeared in the September 11 television special America: A Tribute to Heroes and the documentary Rescued From the Closet.

Next he teamed up with American Beauty director Sam Mendes for the adaptation of Max Allan Collins's and Richard Piers Rayner's graphic novel Road to Perdition, in which he played an anti-hero role as a hitman on the run with his son. That same year, Hanks collaborated with director Spielberg again, starring opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the hit crime comedy Catch Me if You Can, based on the true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. The same year, Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson produced the hit movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. In August 2007, he along with co-producers Rita Wilson and Gary Goetzman, and writer and star Nia Vardalos, initiated a legal action against the production company Gold Circle Films for their share of profits from the movie.^[11][12][13] At the age of 45, he became the youngest ever recipient of the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award on June 12, 2002.

In 2004, he appeared in three films: The Coen Brothers' The Ladykillers, another Spielberg film, The Terminal, and The Polar Express, a family film from Robert Zemeckis. In a USA Weekend interview, Hanks talked about how he chooses projects: "[Since] A League of Their Own, it can't be just another movie for me. It has to get me going somehow.... There has to be some all-encompassing desire or feeling about wanting to do that particular movie. I'd like to assume that I'm willing to go down any avenue in order to do it right". In August 2005, Hanks was voted in as vice president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.^[14]

Hanks in 2008

Hanks next starred in the highly anticipated film The Da Vinci Code, based on the bestselling novel by Dan Brown. The film was released May 19, 2006 in the US and grossed over US$750 million worldwide. He followed the film with Ken Burns's 2007 documentary The War. For the documentary, Hanks did voice work, reading excerpts from World War II-era columns by Al McIntosh. In 2006, Hanks topped a 1,500-strong list of 'most trusted celebrities' compiled by Forbes magazine.^[15] Hanks next appeared in a cameo role as himself in The Simpsons Movie, in which he appeared in an advertisement claiming that the US government has lost its credibility and is hence buying some of his. He also made an appearance in the credits, expressing a desire to be left alone when he is out in public. Later in 2006, Hanks produced the British film Starter for Ten, a comedy based on working class students attempting to win University Challenge.^[16]

In 2007, Hanks starred in Mike Nichols's film Charlie Wilson's War (written by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin) in which he plays Democratic Texas Congressman Charles Wilson. The film opened on December 21, 2007, and Hanks received a Golden Globe nomination.

In 2008's The Great Buck Howard, Hanks played the on-screen father of a young man (Hanks' real-life son, Colin Hanks) who chooses to follow in the footsteps of a fading magician (John Malkovich). Tom Hanks's character was less than thrilled about his son's career decision.

Hanks's next endeavor, released on May 15, 2009, was a film adaptation of Angels & Demons, based on the novel of the same name by Dan Brown. Its April 11, 2007, announcement revealed that Hanks would reprise his role as Robert Langdon, and that he would reportedly receive the highest salary ever for an actor.^[17][18] The following day he made his 10th appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live, impersonating himself for the Celebrity Jeopardy sketch.

Hanks in April 2009

Hanks is producer of the Spike Jonze film Where The Wild Things Are, based on the children's book by Maurice Sendak.^[19]

In 2010, Hanks reprised his role as Sheriff Woody in the third film in the Toy Story franchise, Toy Story 3, after he, Tim Allen, and John Ratzenberger were invited to a movie theater to see a complete story reel of the movie.^[20]

In 2011, he directed and starred opposite Julia Roberts in the title role in the romantic comedy Larry Crowne.^[21] The movie has received generally bad reviews with only 35% of the 175 Rotten Tomatoes reviews giving it high ratings.^[22] Also in 2011, he starred in the drama film Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Hanks is slated to play Walt Disney in the film Saving Mr. Banks co-starring Emma Thompson and directed by John Lee Hancock. Hanks will be the first actor to portray Disney in film. The film is scheduled to be released in 2014.^[23] He has also been cast in a film based on the Maersk Alabama hijacking as Captain Richard Phillips. The film will be written by Billy Ray, and produced by the team behind The Social Network.^[24]

Hanks is ranked the highest all time box office star with over $3.639 billion total box office gross, an average of $107 million per film.^[25] He has been involved with seventeen films that grossed over $100 million at the worldwide box office, the highest grossing of which was 2010's Toy Story 3.^[26]

Personal life[link]

Hanks was married to American actress Samantha Lewes^[27] (née Susan Jane Dillingham) from 1978 to 1987. The couple had two children, son Colin Hanks (also an actor) and daughter Elizabeth Ann.^[28][29]

In 1988, Hanks married actress Rita Wilson. The two first met on the set of Hanks's television show Bosom Buddies but later developed a romantic interest while working on the film Volunteers. They have two sons: Chester, or "Chet" (who has a small part as a student in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and released a rap single in 2011),^[30] and Truman.

Hanks became a grandfather when his son Colin and daughter-in-law Samantha gave birth to granddaughter Olivia Jane Hanks on February 1, 2011.^[31]

Regarding his religious views, Hanks has said, "I must say that when I go to church – and I do go to church – I ponder the mystery. I meditate on the 'why?' of 'Why people are as they are' and 'Why bad things happen to good people,' and 'Why good things happen to bad people'... The mystery is what I think it is, almost, the grand unifying theory of mankind."^[5]

Politics[link]

Hanks has made donations to many Democratic politicians and has been open about his support for same-sex marriage, environmental causes and alternative fuels. Hanks made public his presidential candidate choice in the 2008 election when he uploaded a video to his MySpace account in which he announced his endorsement of Barack Obama.^[32]

A proponent of environmentalism, Hanks is an investor in electric vehicles and owns both a Toyota RAV4 EV and the first production AC Propulsion eBox. Hanks was a lessee of an EV1 before it was recalled, as chronicled in the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?^[33][34] He is on the waiting list for an Aptera 2 Series.^[35]

Hanks was extremely outspoken about his opposition to Proposition 8, an amendment to the California constitution that defined marriage as a union only between a man and a woman. Hanks and others who were in opposition to the proposition raised over US$44 million in contrast to the supporters' $39 million,^[36] but Proposition 8 passed with 52% of the vote.^[37]

While premiering a TV series in January 2009, Hanks called supporters of Proposition 8 "un-American" and criticized the LDS (Mormon) church members, who were major proponents of the bill, for their views on marriage and their role in supporting the bill.^[38][39] About a week later, Hanks apologized for the remark, saying that nothing is more American than voting one's conscience.^[40]

Hanks narrated a video created by Obama for America, entitled The Road We've Traveled.^[41]

Other activities[link]

Hanks with Steven Spielberg (left) at the National World War II Memorial in March 2010

A supporter of NASA's manned space program, Hanks has said that he originally wanted to be an astronaut but "didn't have the math." Hanks is a member of the National Space Society, serving on the Board of Governors of the nonprofit educational space advocacy organization founded by Dr. Wernher Von Braun. He also produced the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon about the Apollo program to send astronauts to the moon. In addition, Hanks co-wrote and co-produced Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D, an IMAX film about the moon landings. Hanks also provided the voice over for the premiere of the show Passport to the Universe at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

In 2006, the Space Foundation awarded Hanks the Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award.^[42] The award is given annually to an individual or organization that has made significant contributions to public awareness of space programs.

In June 2006 Hanks was inducted as an honorary member of the United States Army Rangers Hall of Fame for his accurate portrayal of a Captain in the movie Saving Private Ryan; Hanks, who was unable to attend the induction ceremony, was the first actor to receive such an honor.^[43] In addition to his role in Saving Private Ryan, Hanks was cited for serving as the national spokesperson for the World War II Memorial Campaign, for being the honorary chairperson of the D-Day Museum Capital Campaign, and for his role in writing and helping to produce the Emmy Award-winning miniseries, Band of Brothers.^{[citation needed]}

Hanks is one of several celebrities who frequently participates in planned comedy bits on Conan O'Brien's talk shows, including Late Night, The Tonight Show, and Conan while a guest. On one visit, Hanks asked Conan to join his run for president on the "Bad Haircut Party" ticket, with confetti and balloons and a hand held sign with the slogan "You'd be stupid to vote for us". On another episode, O'Brien, noting that Hanks was missing Christmas on his promotional tour, brought the season to him, including a gift (the skeleton of Hooch), and a mass of snow burying them both. On yet another episode, Conan gave Hanks a painting he had commissioned reflecting two of his interests: Astronauts landing on the beach at Normandy. On March 10, 2008, Hanks was on hand at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to induct sixties band The Dave Clark Five.^[44] Asteroid 12818 Tomhanks is named for him.^[45]

Filmography[link]

Other accolades[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Gardner, David, Tom Hanks: The Unauthorized Biography, London, England 1999
• Gardner, David, Tom Hanks: Enigma 2007
• Pfeiffer, Lee, The Films of Tom Hanks, Secaucus, New Jersey, 1996
• Salamon, Julie, The Devil's Candy: The Bonfire of the Vanities Goes to Hollywood, Boston, 1991
• Trakin, Roy, Tom Hanks: Journey to Stardom, 1987; rev. ed.1995
• Wallner, Rosemary, Tom Hanks: Academy Award-Winning Actor, Edina, Minnesota, 1994

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tom Hanks

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• Tom Hanks at Yahoo! Movies
• Tom Hanks's thoughts on Earth Day 2006
• Interview from 1989 issue of Film Comment
• Tom Hanks's films of the 1980s