Hanks was born on July 9th, 1956 in Concord, California to Amos Mefford Hanks, a Southern cook of English and Welsh heritage, and Janet Merilyn Frager, a hospital worker who was also of mostly English descent. He later moved to Oakland, California where he attended Skyline High School (Oakland, California).

Hanks later studied theatre at California State University, Sacramento. He couldn't get cast in a college play so he auditioned for community theater instead. He was invited by the director of that play to go to Cleveland, and it was there his acting career started.

His first gained prominence in the early eighties by landing a co-starring role in the TV series "Bosom Buddies," where he played a man forced to dress in drag in order to be able to stay at a women's-only hotel. The show was cancelled after only two seasons.

The young actor then starred in a string of unremarkable comedies such as Bachelor Party (1984), The Man with One Red Shoe (1985), and Volunteers (1985), and for a while it seemed like his career had reached a plateau. In 1988, however, Hanks starred in Penny Marshall's Big, which earned him an Oscar® nomination and many favorable reviews.

Hanks also won back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Actor for his roles in Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994). He was the youngest ever recipient of the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award on June 12, 2002.

Tom Hanks’s midas touch has spilled over into his role as producer. He co-produced "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." It made more than ten times its production cost in the U.S. market alone.

Hanks has been married to actress Rita Wilson since 1988. They met while working on the movie Volunteers (1985). They have two children together. Hanks was married previously to Samantha Lewes from 1978 to 1987. That union also produced two children (one of whom is actor/son Colin Hanks).