San Diego ComicCon 2004, with Lana (at the time called Larry) on the left and Andy on the right.

Lana Wachowski (born Laurence Wachowski on June 21, 1965; formerly nicknamed "Larry") and Andrew Paul "Andy" Wachowski (born December 29, 1967), siblings collectively known as The Wachowskis (formerly The Wachowski Brothers), are American film directors, writers and producers, most famous for creating The Matrix series. They are currently co-directing Cloud Atlas, based on the book by David Mitchell.

Life and career[link]

Lana Wachowski (formerly known as "Larry") was born Laurence Wachowski in Chicago in 1965. Andy Wachowski followed in 1967. Their mother, Lynne (née Luckinbill), was a nurse and painter whose brother is actor Laurence Luckinbill. Their father, Ron Wachowski, was a businessman of Polish descent.^[1][2] They went to Kellogg Elementary School, in Chicago's Beverly area, and graduated from Whitney Young High School, known for its performing arts and science curriculum, in 1983 and '86. Former students recall them playing Dungeons & Dragons and working in the school's theater and TV program. Andy then attended Emerson College in Boston, while Lana went to Bard College in New York. Both dropped out before graduating, and they ran a carpentry business in Chicago while creating comic books.^[3]

Style[link]

The siblings admit to a love for telling multipart stories. "Because we grew up on comic books and the Tolkien trilogy, one of the things we're interested in is bringing serial fiction to cinema," Lana has said. Andy puts his desire to shake up viewers a bit more bluntly, "We think movies are fairly boring and predictable. We want to screw with audiences' expectations."^[4]

Comic books[link]

Prior to working in the film industry, the Wachowskis wrote comic books for Marvel Comics' Razorline imprint, namely Ectokid (created by horror novelist Clive Barker) in 1993 as well as writing for EPIC Comics "Clive Barker's Hellraiser" and "Clive Barker's Nightbreed" comic series.

In 2003, they created Burlyman Entertainment and have released comic books based on The Matrix as well as two original bi-monthly series:

• Shaolin Cowboy – created, written, and art by Geof Darrow (with the Wachowskis contributing an opening dialogue to each issue)
• Doc Frankenstein – created by Geof Darrow and Steve Skroce, written by the Wachowskis, with art by Skroce.

Personal life[link]

Rumors that Lana was a cross-dresser or transitioning gender spread in the early 2000s, though neither sibling has spoken directly on the subject.^[5] The Hollywood Reporter and the New York Times have referred to the Wachowskis as "Andy and Lana (formerly Larry) Wachowski",^[6][7] and Deadline.com has referred to the duo as "Andy and Lana Wachowski."^[8] On some documents she appears as Laurenca Wachowski.^[5][9][10] In the 2012 documentary Side by Side, she is interviewed and credited as Lana Wachowski.^[11]

Andy has been married to Alisa Blasingame since 1991.^[12]

Filmography[link]

Future films[link]

The Wachowskis are collaborating with Tom Tykwer on Cloud Atlas, an adaptation of David Mitchell's novel of the same name, for Warner Bros. Pictures. Tykwer and The Wachowskis collaborated on the screenplay and are co-directing the film, leading their own crews that are working in parallel.^[14] The film is set for release in late 2012.

Warner Bros. have expressed interest in Hood, a modern adaptation of the Robin Hood legend, which the Wachowskis wrote and plan to direct. They also wrote an Iraq war-set gay romance conspiracy thriller titled CN-9, however the project failed to find financing.^[6] Jupiter Ascending, an original science fiction screenplay by the Wachowskis, is set to be made into a film by Warner Bros. The studio is looking for a major star to lead the cast, ahead of a planned spring 2012 start date.^[15]

Games[link]

• Enter the Matrix (2003)
• The Matrix: Path of Neo (2005)
• The Matrix Online (2005–2009) (provided the theme for the first year^[16][17])

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Wachowskis

• Lana Wachowski at the Internet Movie Database
• Andy Wachowski at the Internet Movie Database
• Die Wachowski-Geschwister, biography. (German)
• Matrix Revelations, Wired article about the Wachowski brothers.

Tom Tykwer
Tom Tykwer, Biberach/Riß, 2006
Born	(1965-05-23) 23 May 1965 (age 47) Wuppertal, West Germany
Occupation	film director, screenwriter, film composer

Tom Tykwer (German pronunciation: [ˈtɪkvɐ]; born 23 May 1965) is a German film director, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing Run Lola Run (1998), Heaven (2002), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), and The International (2009).

Early life[link]

Tykwer was born in Wuppertal, West Germany. He was fascinated by film from an early age. He started making amateur Super 8 films at the age of eleven and later helped out at a local arthouse cinema to see more films, including those he was too young to buy tickets for. After graduating from high school, he unsuccessfully applied to numerous film schools around Europe and moved to Berlin, where he worked as a projectionist. In 1987, at the age of 22, he became the programmer of the Moviemento cinema and was known to German directors as a highly respected film buff.^[1]

Career[link]

In Berlin, Tykwer met and befriended the filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim, who urged him to create stories from his own experience and suggested that Tykwer record arguments with his girlfriend at the time, and turn them into a short film. Because (1990) was screened at the Hof Film Festival^[2] and well-received by the audience, which inspired Tykwer to continue pursuing filmmaking. He made a second short film, Epilog (1992), that plunged him into personal financial debt, but gained him valuable technical filmmaking experience. Tykwer wrote the screenplay for—and directed—his first feature film, Deadly Maria, which aired on German television and saw a limited theatrical release in Germany and the international film festival circuit.

In 1994, Tykwer founded the production company X Filme Creative Pool with Stefan Arndt, Wolfgang Becker, and Dani Levy. Tykwer and Becker wrote the screenplay for Life Is All You Get while working on Tykwer's second feature, Winter Sleepers (1997), a much bigger and more complex production than Deadly Maria. Winter Sleepers brought Tykwer to the attention of German cineastes and film festivals, but Tykwer was struggling financially. He knew he needed a new film, and the result was Run Lola Run (1998), which became the most successful German film of 1998, scored $7 million at the US box office, and elevated Tykwer to international fame. As Lola was becoming a success worldwide, Tykwer was already at work on his next film, The Princess and the Warrior, shot in his home town of Wuppertal. The film centered on a love story between a nurse and a former soldier.

Miramax produced his next film, Heaven (2002), based on a screenplay by the late Polish filmmaker, Krzysztof Kieślowski. It was shot in English, starred Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi, and filmed in Turin and Tuscany. He was approached by French producers to film a short contribution to Paris, je t'aime (2006), a film comprising 20 short films by many famous directors depicting love in Paris. Tykwer shot the 10-minute short film, True, with Natalie Portman and Melchior Beslon. He shot the film quickly with almost no pre-production, and the result was a tiny masterpiece that Tykwer later said, "symbolises an entire life for me, in just ten minutes."^[3] Tykwer's next film was an adaptation of the novel Perfume by the German novelist Patrick Süskind, and was filmed in the Spanish cities of Figueras, Girona and Barcelona. Tykwer later made his Hollywood debut with the big-budgeted 2009 conspiracy thriller The International, starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, which was shot in several locations ranging from Berlin, Milan, New York, and Istanbul. The film received a lukewarm reception from the public to critics alike.

Pale 3[link]

Since Winter Sleepers, the music for all of Tykwer's films (with the exception of Heaven) have been composed by Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil, and Tykwer himself, unusual for a film director. The trio named Pale 3, originally a film scoring group, expanded to produce music unrelated to film.

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

• 1994: Bavarian Film Awards, Best New Director
• 1998: Bavarian Film Awards, Best Production^[4]
• 2005: State-Award of the Film Commission NRW^[5]
• 2006: Bavarian Film Awards, Best Director^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tom Tykwer

• Official website
• Tom Tykwer at the Internet Movie Database
• Tom Tykwer at the Filmportal.de
• Stumped? Interview
• KnightattheMovies.com Tom Tykwer interview about Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

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

	Biography portal
	Film portal

• Tom Hanks at the Internet Movie Database
• Tom Hanks on Twitter
• Tom Hanks' Facebook Page
• Tom Hanks's channel on YouTube
• 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