The request came from Chicago to celebrate the birthday today of a screen icon, Tom Hanks. I'm happy to allow Spencer Blohm to contribute in this way below as I have always had a particular soft spot for Tom Hanks. Not only has he played iconic roles in films that spanned my childhood and adolescence, but he also, quite marvelously...an Aston Villa fan!!
So, take it away Spencer...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When Tom Hanks comes to mind so do the many
iconic characters he has portrayed over his more than 30 year long career. The
man has proven to be talented and versatile with roles as legendary as Forrest
Gump to voice work as clever as Woody the Cowboy from Toy Story.
Hanks’ film career started in 1980 with a
low-budget movie called He Knows You're Alone. Hanks moved to New York City to
be a part of the film. Not long after this Hanks was able to get his first
leading role on a television show called Bosom Buddies. Unfortunately his first
big show was cancelled after only two seasons in 1982. Tom's first big
breakthrough in movies took place two years later in Splash, a box office smash
directed by Ron Howard. This success led to more offers for bigger roles and
Hanks’ career started into its upward trajectory.
On December 14, 1985 Hanks was honored to
host Saturday Night Live for the first time (he would eventually go on to host
the show seven more times and make two surprise guest appearances). Continuing
on with the comedy gold, Hanks landed the lead role in the smash hit Big in
1988. The film, which established Hanks as a major talent in Hollywood, remains
a favorite of many fans to this day. Hanks won a number of awards for his role
in Big, including the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.
Hanks began to step into more serious roles
as time went on, and he was very successful in them, eventually shedding his
comedic image and becoming known instead as a “serious” actor. The 90s were some
of Hanks's best years, and this is when he began to collect a string of awards
for films A League of Their Own, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Saving Private
Ryan, and Apollo 13. Possibly his most well-known film, Forrest Gump and its
titular character are both major pop culture icons to this day. The film even
spawned the restaurant chain “Bubba Gump Shrimp Company”, named after a
fictional business. Hanks wasn’t the initial choice for the role. Actors Bill
Murray, John Travolta, and Chevy Chase all passed on the role. Travolta even
admits passing on the role was a mistake.
After the huge success of Forrest Gump,
Hanks was reunited with the director that gave him his big break. Ron Howard’s
Apollo 13 was another box office winner. In addition to being a critical
success, the film also allowed Hanks to explore his childhood dream of being an
astronaut. Hanks claims he gave up the dream because he “didn’t have the math,”
but the truth is that Hanks is simply too tall to be an astronaut (he’s 6’1”
and the cut off is 6’). Following his
major dramatic successes, Tom made the unlikely move to children’s animated
films in 1995. He has provided the voice for Woody in the Toy Story franchise
for 18 years, helping to establish a whole new fan base with the younger generations.
More recently Hanks was in Cloud Atlas,
which came out in late October of last year. Hanks also portrays Walt Disney in
Saving Mr. Banks, which is scheduled to
come out later this year right around Walt Disney’s birthday and the
anniversary of his death in December. Continuing with his past successes, Hanks
will once again play the lead in a true story that was a front-page news item
at the time when he plays Captain Richard Phillips in Captain Phillips. The
film is about the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk
Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years. The
film will also come out later this year in October. There have also been rumors
of a Toy Story 4 although little has been confirmed.
Hanks has grown from a small-time comedic
actor into an Oscar-winning leading man right in front of America’s eyes. His
talent has entertained viewers and inspired up and coming actors for the past
three decades and it doesn’t look like he is going anywhere anytime soon. Happy
Birthday, Tom Hanks!
