Univision

Type	Broadcast Television Network
Country	United States Production: Doral, Florida
Availability	throughout the United States
Slogan	• Todos estamos con Univision ("We all are with Univision")  • Estás en Casa ("You are at Home"; used in Puerto Rico)  • Siempre Contigo ("Always With You")  • La Casa de Todos ("The House of All")
Broadcast area	United States Puerto Rico
Owner	Univision Communications, Inc. 95% and Grupo Televisa 5%
Key people	• Cesar Conde, President, Univision Networks
Launch date	September 30, 1962
Former names	Spanish International Network (1962–1986)
Official website	univision.com
Language	Spanish

Univision (Spanish pronunciation: [uniβiˈsjon]) is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish-language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, (CEO as of June 29, 2011) COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva in April 2010.^[1] In recent years the network has reached parity with the U.S.'s five major English-language television networks, and is often a strong fifth, outranking The CW, with some fourth-place weekly placings, and as of 2012, even first place rankings for individual programs over all five English networks due to the network's consistent schedule of new telenovelas all 52 weeks of the year.

Univision is headquartered in New York,^[2] and has its major studios, production facilities, and operations in Doral, Florida, a suburb of Miami. In 2009, another television studio was announced, Univision Studios, to be built in Doral.^[1][3] Univision is available on cable and satellite in most of the country, with local stations in over 50 markets with large Hispanic and Latino populations and a national cable network feed distributed in markets without either the availability or the demand for a locally-based station. Most of these stations air full local news and other local programming in addition to network shows, and in major markets such as Los Angeles, New York, and Miami, Univision owned-and-operated station (O&O) newscasts are equally competitive with their English-language counterparts ratings-wise.

Univision was acquired on March 29, 2007 by a consortium led by Haim Saban's Saban Capital Group (who had previously owned the entity Saban Entertainment), TPG Capital, L.P., Providence Equity Partners, Madison Dearborn Partners, and Thomas H. Lee Partners for $13.7 billion or $36.25 per share plus $1.4 billion in acquired debt.^[4][5] The buyout left the company with a debt level of twelve times its annual cash flow, which was twice the norm in buyouts done over the previous two years.^[6]

History[link]

Beginnings as Spanish International Network[link]

In 1955, Raul Cortez founded KCOR-TV, Channel 41, in San Antonio, Texas. The call letters were later changed to KUAL-TV. The station was not profitable, and in 1961 Cortez sold it to a group headed by his son-in-law Emilio Nicolas, Sr. and Mexican entertainment guru Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta. Nicolas had helped produce channel 41's variety shows, while Azcárraga was the owner of Telesistema Mexicano, forerunner of Televisa.

The new owners turned the station around, and in 1962 signed on KMEX-TV, channel 34 in Los Angeles and in 1968 signed on WXTV channel 41 in Paterson, New Jersey, serving the New York metropolitan area. This was the beginning of the Spanish International Network, the first non-English-language television network in the United States.

Over the next 20 years, SIN would acquire other high-rated Spanish-language television stations throughout the Western United States, and then expand the market to WLTV in Florida, KDTV in San Francisco, and WSNS-TV in Chicago. In the mid-1970s the network also began to distribute their national signal via satellite, first as a 'super-station'-type feed of KWEX-TV San Antonio, then as a general feed allowing cable television operators to carry the network at little cost on their systems.

Rename to Univision[link]

1986 was a pivotal year for the station group and the network. Nicolas sold his stake in the network to a partnership of Hallmark Cards and Televisa. The FCC had long wondered (and competitors to SIN had long proposed)that the relationship between SIN/SICC and the owners of Televisa was impermissably tight. Questions were asked and answered and the outcome was that the FCC and Justice department encouraged a sale of the service to a properly consitituted domestic organization. Thus began talks that ended with Hallmark Cards buying the stations, and forming a new relationship withg Televisa for programs.

The new group changed the network's name to Univision. Univision's new CEO, Joaquin Blaya, was to sign the contracts for two programs that would change the network. Blaya signed Cristina Saralegui, who became a famous talk show host, and Mario Kreutzberger, better known as Don Francisco, who brought from Chile his famous program Sábado Gigante. Also, the network began production of its first morning television show. The program was Mundo Latino, anchored by Lucy Pereda and Frank Moro, who were both Cuban. Moro left for Mexico to continue his career as a soap opera actor and the network brought in Jorge Ramos.

In 1988, the network began to produce television shows with a national audience in mind. The first production was titled TV Mujer (Woman TV), a magazine-styled show aimed at Hispanic women in the United States. At first anchored by Lucy Pereda and Gabriel Traversari, the program was a mix of cooking and entertainment segments.

Pereda was replaced shortly after finishing her first year by Mexican-American Lauri Flores, who hailed from KXLN-TV in Houston, Texas, where she was director of programming, promotions, special events, and public information as well as producer and host of the local community affairs show Entre Nos. During Ms. Flores' time as host of TV Mujer, the show remained the number one daytime show on Spanish-language television,^[7] outperforming its time period competition by 33 percent. Telemundo's Dia a Dia, launched before the arrival of TV Mujer, saw its ratings diminishing.

A model from Sábado Gigante, Jackie Nespral became the add-on host in TV Mujer's last year, hired to sit in while Flores was on maternity leave. Nespral became a formal host during the show's final season. TV Mujer begat a series of other programs, namely Hola, America and Al Mediodia, which never got the ratings of the original concept and were cancelled.

Revamp and competition with Telemundo in the 1990s[link]

Univision then decided to expand its news programming in the afternoon and launched Noticias y Mas (News and More), with Nespral, Ambrosio Hernandez, Myrka Dellanos, and Raul Peimbert. In the early 1990s, Hernandez and Peimbert left Univision and joined Telemundo, while Nespral joined the weekend edition of NBC's Today show. Univision had other plans for the moribund show—They revamped it, changed the name and the theme music, and installed a weekend reporter to be Dellanos' partner: Puerto Rican born María Celeste Arrarás, who joined the now news program called Primer Impacto.

In 1993, having purchased Univision from Hallmark a few months earlier, Jerry Perenchio appointed Miguel Banojian to turn around the operations of KMEX-34 in Los Angeles, the company's flagship station in the West Coast, which generated a big portion of the company's revenue. Banojian was then a 25-year-old executive from Univision's New York City headquarters, where he helmed the East Coast flagship station WXTV's (channel 41) newscasts. His outstanding results in Los Angeles positioned KMEX as the first Spanish-language television station ever to outperform the English-language networks, including NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox, and overcame what had been Telemundo's competitive edge against Univision.

2000s[link]

In 2002, Univision entered into a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Raycom Media to operate two television stations in Puerto Rico: WLII in Caguas and WSUR in Ponce. At the time, WLII had a longtime LMA with another Puerto Rican station, WSTE, which Univision honored. It was also around this time that Univision resumed broadcast expansion by signing affiliation agreements with Univision Owned and Operated stations in Raleigh, North Carolina (WUVC), Cleveland, Ohio (WQHS), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (WUVP), and Atlanta, Georgia (WUVG), among many others — most of which were acquired from USA Broadcasting and had previously been affiliated with the Home Shopping Network. Both WLII and WSUR were sold to Univision in 2005. Plans for the network are that Univision will resume broadcast expansion by signing affiliation agreements with new Univision Owned and Operated stations in Indianapolis, Indiana, Detroit, Michigan, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Nashville, Tennessee.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2002 it was announced that Univision would acquire Dallas, Texas-based Hispanic Broadcasting Corp., a multiple-station operation specializing in Spanish Radio stations like WADO New York, KLVE Los Angeles, KGSX San Antonio, and KESS Dallas. The approval was long and hard. The acquired group was renamed Univision Radio. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univision_Radio) The negotiations to merge the two companies followed years of on again/off again negotiations in which each company would make a run at the other, as well as occasional stabs at other groups (HBC once attempted to broker a deal to merge with Spanish Broadcasting System, and HBC once tried to acquire Telemundo outright before Sony and Liberty actually pulled off a deal).

In late 2004, a feud began between Perenchio and the head of Televisa, Emilio Azcárraga Jean.^{[citation needed]} The dispute was about Univision's continual editing of Televisa's programming, and failure to pay for transmission of Televisa-produced sports and specials. The feud intensified to the point where Televisa's most famous stars have been banned from appearing on any Univision-produced shows and specials. In addition, Televisa has filed a lawsuit against Univision for breach of contract. In recent years, Univision also lost several key on-air personalities to Telemundo, including long time weekend news anchor Maria Antonieta Collins, tabloid news anchor María Celeste Arrarás, and sports announcer Andrés Cantor.

Univision previously overtook the now-defunct English-language networks UPN and the WB, now the CW Television Network, as the fifth-most popular network overall, and in the 18-to-34-year-old and 18-to-49-year-old demographics it sometimes ranks higher than that. More advertising on TV is targeted toward those age groups than toward any other part of the viewing audience.

In the first week of September 2010 the network reached a milestone with a first-place ranking in the 18-49 demographic among all networks, English and Spanish, assisted by a primetime Mexico/Ecuador match and the finale of a popular telenovela, along with the English networks having traditionally weak programming that time of year.^[8]

On April 7, 2005, Univision held a three-hour tribute concert for singer Selena, entitled Selena ¡VIVE!. The concert would earn a 35.9 Nielsen household rating, not only being the highest rated show of the night, but also being the highest-rated and most-watched Spanish-language program in American television history.^[9]

A Univision float in the 2010 North Hudson Cuban Day Parade in Union City, New Jersey.

On February 9, 2006, Univision Communications confirmed that it was putting itself up for sale. Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, stated that his company was considering buying Univision, but backed off that position.^[10] Other expected bidders announced were Time Warner, CBS, Disney, Grupo Televisa of Mexico (under a partnership, due to foreign ownership laws in the U.S.), Bill Gates, and several private equity firms. Tribune Company was rumored to be interested in buying TeleFutura, a subsidiary network of Univision.^[11]

On June 27, 2006, Univision announced that it accepted a $12.7 billion bid from a group of private equity investors led by TPG Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners. The investor group also included Madison Dearborn, Providence Equity, and children's television mogul Haim Saban. On March 27, 2007, federal regulators approved the sale.^[12] According to the Los Angeles Times, the deal was closed and the ownership change was made official on that same day.^[13]

However, Univision's shareholders filed two class-action lawsuits against the company and its board members to stop the buyout. One lawsuit claims that the board members structured the deal to only benefit the company's insiders and not the average stockholders. The other lawsuit was filed on behalf of a shareholder identified as L A Murphy, who claims that the board put its own personal interests and the interests of the winning bidder ahead of shareholders, and also failed to adequately evaluate the company's worth. In the meantime, more lawsuits were filed: one against Univision's records division for heavy-handed tactics, and the other by a winner of a ¡Despierta América! $30,000 makeover contest who alleged that Univision broke its own contest rules. A long-awaited trial, it's expected to start in April 2008, at a Los Angeles court.^[14]

Univision continues to gain broadcast penetration and has done so since 2004, with stations in Detroit, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, Minneapolis and Nashville, among many others.

On June 25, 2007, with the finale of La Fea Más Bella, Univision led all U.S. television broadcasting networks, including English-language ones, with a 3.0 rating out of 9 share, which also made the show the second most watched of the week.^[15] Later that year, Univision hosted the first Spanish-language presidential debate in the United States at the University of Miami.^[16]

On April 5, 2008, Univision introduced a new Saturday morning cartoon block, Planeta U, which features "educational and informative" programming such as Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks, Inspector Gadget's Field Trip, and Beakman's World, all dubbed in Spanish. The following month, Univision Music Group was sold to Universal Music Group and combined with the latter's Latin music label to become Universal Music Latin Entertainment.

In 2009, the network sponsored a countdown in Times Square, similar to the New Year's Eve event. On the night of June 12, at 11:59 PM (23:59) EDT, the Jumbotron-size screen ticked off the last 60 seconds of full-power analog TV in the Eastern time zone, culminating in the message "BIENVENIDOS A LA ERA DIGITAL" ("welcome to the digital era"). This was aired live by the network during Ultima Hora: Una Nueva Era. The ball was lighted in white but was not dropped, remaining at the bottom where the lighted "2009" sign also remained, despite the four-month delay from February 17.

In October 2010, Televisa agreed to take a 5% stake in Univision, which it can grow in the future, and to extend and expand the companies' long-term program license agreement. The new program license agreement will include Internet and mobile rights and cover key Mexican football (soccer) rights. The agreement will run through at least 2020, but more likely 2025 or later, compared with the previous deal's 2017 expiration.^[17]

Univision HD[link]

Univision HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast feed of the main Univision network that began operations on January 1, 2010 at 12:02 a.m./ET on its New York and Los Angeles affiliates WXTV-DT and KMEX-DT, respectively. Univision's first program to be televised in high definition was the Tournament of Roses Parade, later that day.^[18] On January 18, 2010 Univision began airing Hasta que el Dinero nos Separe in high definition, it becoming the first telenovela on the network to be so transmitted. The telenovelas Un Gancho Al Corazon and Sortilegio also began airing in high definition on that date. Most other telenovelas now air in HD as well. All of Univision's 2010 FIFA World Cup coverage was also in HD. Noticiero Univision, Primer Impacto, ¡Despierta América!, Al Punto, Mira Quien Baila, and ¡Viva la Familia! have began airing in HD as well. Some movies also air in HD. DirecTV added the East Coast HD feed on April 28, 2010.^[19] Dish Network has been broadcasting the HD feed since May 12, 2010.^[20]

Programming[link]

The majority of Univision's programming consists of telenovelas and series produced by Televisa and broadcast on Canal de las Estrellas in Mexico. Prior to 2009, Univision formally broadcasted telenovelas produced by Venezuelan broadcast network Venevision. The network's signature program, the Saturday night variety show Sabado Gigante, hosted by Don Francisco, has aired on Univision since April 12, 1986. As such, Univision is one of only three American television networks that airs a first-run program during Saturday primetime (Fox and CBS are the only others). Situation comedies and variety shows, such as Parodiando, ¡Q'Viva! The Chosen, Vecinos, Una Familia de Diez, etc. largely make up Univision's weekend lineup.

Univision produces a moderate amount of original programming, including Sabado Gigante, Don Francisco Presenta, the daily morning music video program Tu Desayuno Alegre, the reality competition series Nuestra Belleza Latina and Mira Quien Baila, national news programming including the flagship Noticiero Univision newscast, Primer Impacto, Al Punto, and the morning news program Despierta America, entertainment news shows El Gordo y La Flaca and Sal y pimienta, and sports news República Deportiva. Univision also operates its own television production firm launched in 2009, called Univision Studios, which produces original content for the network.^[21]

The network's weekend daytime schedule features a morning children's program block called Planeta U, consisting of Spanish-dubbed versions of American children's programs that comply with the FCC's E/I guidelines;^[22] and also typically airs telenovelas that appeal to teen or pre-teen audiences on early Saturday afternoons. The network also airs some films, generally in weekend timeslots; but unlike Telefutura and Telemundo, Univision does not air Spanish-dubbed English-language films. While Univision largely programs its affiliates schedules in a sense since the network's affiliates air the large majority of its programming, some Univision affiliates do produce locally-produced programs such as local evening newscasts and public-affairs programs; many affiliates that do produce newscasts generally air them only on Monday through Friday evenings and with only a few exceptions, do not carry weekend newscasts.

In 2004 Univision had a list of words it edited from programming to comply with United States federal regulators. The words affected had no negative connotations in some Spanish-speaking countries, but had obscene connotations in other countries.^[23] In June 2005 Grupo Televisa filed a lawsuit against Univision in a U.S. federal court accusing the network of several actions, including "unauthorized editing" of Televisa programming.^[24]

English subtitles[link]

As of January 30, 2012, Univision is providing English subtitles of its weekday primetime telenovelas airing between 7-11 p.m. Eastern/6-10 p.m. Central time. Some weekend evening programming (such as Sabado Gigante) also utilize English captions, in addition to the native Spanish-language captions on CC1. The network joins Telemundo, which has carried its entire weeknight primetime schedule with English subtitles, from September 2003 to October 2008 and again since March 2009. The subtitles appear as closed captions on CC3. The network intends the subtitles to attract Hispanic viewers who may not be fluent in Spanish and other non-Spanish speakers.^[25] Programs which include English-language captions during their original broadcast may also include them in future repeats airing outside of the primetime schedule.

See also[link]

• List of Univision affiliates
• List of United States television networks
• TeleFutura
• Univision Communications

References[link]

External links and sources[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Univision

• Official website (in Spanish)
• Official Corporate Site (in English)
• Spanish International Network Historical site (in English)
• Univision, from the Museum of Broadcast Communications website
• Univision Blows Competition Away with Explosive February Sweep Results, a March 2005 press release

v t e Univision Communications, Inc. Corporate directors: Joe Uva, Cesar Conde, Andrew W. Hobson, C. Douglas Kranwinkle, Peter H. Lori Broadcast television networks TeleFutura · Univision Cable television networks Galavisión · Univision Deportes · Univision Noticias · Univision tlnovelas Univision Radio: KAMA · KAMA-FM · KBBT · KBNA-FM · KBRG · KBTQ · KCOR · KDXX · KESS-FM · KFLC · KFZO · KGBT · KGBT-FM · KGSX · KHOT-FM · KHOV-FM · KIOT · KISF · KJFA · KKMR · KKRG · KKSS · KLAT · KLJA · KLLE · KLNO · KLNV · KLQB · KLQV · KLSQ · KLTN · KLVE · KOMR · KOND · KOVE-FM · KPTY · KQBU · KQBU-FM · KQMR · KRCD² · KRCV² · KRDA · KRGT · KROM · KSCA · KSOL · KSQL · KTNQ · KVVF · KVVZ · KVWG-FM · KXTN-FM · WADO · WAMR-FM · WAQI · WKAQ · WKAQ-FM · WOJO · WPPN · WQBA · WQBU-FM · WRTO · WRTO-FM · WUKQ · WUKQ-FM · WVIV-FM · WVIX · WXNY-FM · WYEL Univision owned and/or operated stations: KABE-LD · KAKW-DT · KDTV-DT · KFTV-DT · KMEX-DT · KTVW-DT · KUTH-DT · KUVE-DT · KUVN-DT · KUVS-DT · KWEX-DT · KXLN-DT · WFDC-DT¹ · WGBO-DT · WLII-DT/WSUR-DT · WLTV-DT · WQHS-DT · WUVC-DT · WUVG-DT · WUVP-DT · WXTV-DT TeleFutura owned and/or operated stations: KFPH-DT · KFSF-DT · KTFB-CA · KTFD-DT¹ · KTFF-DT · KFTH-DT · KTFK-DT · KTFO-CD · KTFQ-DT¹ · KFTR-DT · KFTU-DT · KNIC-DT · KSTR-DT · WAMI-DT · WFPA-CA · WFTT-DT¹ · WFTY-DT · WFUT-DT · WOTF-DT¹ · WTNC-LD · WUTF-DT¹ · WXFT-DT Other television stations: KUVI-DT (MNTV affiliate) · WSTE-DT (Independent) ¹ = Univision owns these station licenses, however they are operated by Entravision Communications under local marketing agreements. ² = Sale pending. Buyer is anonymous or is unannounced at this time. Annual revenue: $2.9 billion USD (2006) · Employees: 4,233 · Stock symbols: None, privately held. · Website: univision.net

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.