Tom Hanks : Versatile Actor

                                      If you haven’t seen Tom Hanks movies, you have really missed out something in your life. Tom Hanks is not a show stealer like Robert De Niro or Al Pacino , no can one imagine him doing a violent gangster. He is not a dead drop handsome guy, who can make the girls go crazy, like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt or George Clooney. Nor is he a top action hero like Sylvester Stallone or Arnold or Statham. But yet that’s where Tom Hanks appeal lies, as the guy next door, he is some one every one of us can relate to. He has been the most after-sought actor by audience allover the world and  by the movie critics. 

• Born in California 9 July 1956, Tom Hanks grew up in what he calls a "fractured" family.  Lived with a succession of step-families with a confused childhood. Hanks went to five different elementary schools, and grew up a shy child. He reinvented himself as a class clown in high school, and eventually took drama classes and began appearing in school plays.

• Sold popcorn and peanuts as a teenager. He once worked as a hotel bellman, and carried many Hollywood celebrities bags.

• He dropped out of college and auditioned for a community theater play. Hanks didn't make any real waves until 1984, when his big break came along in the Disney mermaid film Splash!

• In 1988, Hanks displayed his versatility with a acclaimed performance: as a teenager trapped in the body of an adult in "Big". It earned Hanks an Oscar nomination as Best Actor, capitalized on his youthful charm, and fixed him--perhaps permanently--with the label "boyish".

• Trade Mark : Frequently plays ordinary characters in extraordinary situations. His characters are often immensely likeable ordinary guys.

• Ranked #17 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. Premiere Magazine ranked him as #28 on a list of the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time. Received American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award, presented by fellow Oscar winner Steven Spielberg, the youngest ever to receive that award.

• Lost 30 lbs. for his role in Philadelphia (1993). Gained and later lost 50 lbs. for his role in Cast Away (2000).

•  He is an environmental conservationist and often advocates and supports natural causes. Enjoys collecting typewriters, purchasing over 80 of them around the globe.

• His performance as Josh Baskin in Big (1988) is ranked #15 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). His performance as Chuck Noland in Cast Away (2000) is ranked #46 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). His performance as Forrest Gump in Forrest Gump (1994) is ranked #43 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. 

• His top five all-time favorite films are 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), The Godfather (1972), Fargo(1996), Elephant (2003) and Boogie Nights (1997), with Stanley Kubrick's film holding the top ranking. 

• He once shared a record (with Tom Cruise and Will Smith) as the actor to star in the most consecutive $100 million-grossing movies (7).

• Publicly endorsed Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.

 Tom Hanks Quotes:

"I've made over 20 movies, and 5 of them are good."

 "At the end of the day it's got to be a good movie, it's got to be a funny movie, and it's got to make people think, 'Hey, I couldn't have spent my time any better."

"Truth is, I'll never know all there is to know about you just as you will never know all there is to know about me. Humans are by nature too complicated to be understood fully. So, we can choose either to approach our fellow human beings with suspicion or to approach them with an open mind, a dash of optimism. "

                                   Tom Hanks has played a wide variety of roles, from an AIDS victim( Philadelphia) to a war weary Captain ( Saving Private Ryan) to a gangster ( The Road to Perdition) to a FED agent ( Catch Me If You Can) to a refugee on an island ( Cast Away), and not one role is similar to another. A good actor’s performance is rated by his choice of roles, films, his body language and his ease to carry the character throughout the film. Hollywood is a world, where 9 out of 10 actors, try to put their best in the films and competition is gruesome. But still, he is one of the rarest actors, who can bring the mood of the situation with his voice.

                                     Tom Hanks, undoubtedly a versatile acting genius, is deserved to be in the Hollywood Hall of Fame.

Memorable Movies : Forrest Gump ( OSCAR ), Cast Away, Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, The Terminal, You’ve Got Mail, Philadelphia ( OSCAR ), Road To Perdition, The Green Mile, Big, Toy Story, Charlie Wilson's War.

 Tom Hanks - Wikipedia