LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tom Hanks is known for maintaining a tight-knit family, probably after his experience of growing up in a broken home. The Hollywood icon, who is best known for playing Forrest Gump in the 1994 hit movie of the same name, had a difficult childhood.
Before achieving timeless fame in Tinseltown, Hanks had very humble beginnings. The acclaimed thespian struggled for years trying his luck at various theater circuits before enjoying any success. He tied the knot with late actress Samantha Lewes for nine years before splitting in 1987, with the actor noting that the divorce was reminiscent of his parents' breakup.
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Hanks opened up about being a child of divorce in a 2019 interview with The New York Times. The Concord, California, native recalled that he was only five when his parents, Amos and Janet, went their separate ways. The 'Saving Private Ryan' star had a rather rough childhood, with his older brother and sister living at their fathers' home and his other sibling staying at their mother's residence.
According to Hanks, his parents had a tough life and he never complained nor felt frustrated about their divorce. "They were so racked with self-loathing and guilt and et cetera, all that stuff that went along, and there were four of us, for God’s sake, and they just, you know, couldn’t do it," the veteran actor said. He also recalled how his hardworking parents did not have the right words to explain to him or his siblings why their marriage fell apart.
Hanks said his father Amos worked in various small restaurants, remarried several times, and moved a lot. Amos grew up a broken man after the trauma of witnessing his own father being murdered by a stranger. He was one of four children who saw their own father's death at a barn in Willows, California.
Hanks noted how his father was devastated about the murder and couldn't get past the trauma since he had to testify three times in court with lawyers and a judge nearby. The man involved in the murder case was acquitted, according to Hanks, and the case's injustices were difficult for Amos to comprehend as he was still very young at the time.
The 'Castaway' star said the grueling experience robbed his father of a carefree life, despite having artistic aspirations and dreams of becoming a writer someday. Amos' life did not go according to plan as he died in 1992 at 67. Hanks said his father's sad childhood echoed his own.
In a 2016 interview on the BBC Radio 4 show 'Desert Island Discs', Hanks revealed how his lonely childhood was worsened by his parents' divorce. The 'Greyhound' star lost his sense of direction and purpose and became clueless about what he should do in life. "What it was, it was the vocabulary of loneliness," he recalled.
According to Hanks, he could never hold on to important items because his family moved from one house to another. He said he did not have anything when he was a toddler. He revealed that he married Lewes for the first time at 21 only to "quell the loneliness." The former couple had two children together, son Colin, 44, and daughter Elizabeth, 40.
Despite tying the knot at a young age, Hanks said having children was the best thing to happen to him because he did not do drugs or go to parties. When he was 27, he crossed paths with actress Rita Wilson, whom he would wed in 1988. He said he never felt lonely after marrying Wilson.
It's worth noting that Hanks and Wilson have been happily married for 34 years and share two sons, Chet, 32, and Truman, 26, who have followed in their footsteps in Hollywood. Meanwhile, Hanks' children with Lewes also realized their artistic dreams. Colin has worked as an actor while Elizabeth is an established author.
