Talk:Tom Hanks

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[edit] 5'10?

I think the source about him being 5'10 is inaccurate. I generally see sources creditting him at 6'1, and he appears to be quite tall onscreen.

Here' a picture of him next to 6'0 Leonardo DiCaprio

http://entimg.msn.com/i/gal/TomHanks/wood0388506210_400.jpg

[edit] Highest Grossing Actor of all time?

According to this site, Samuel L Jackson is the higher than Tom Hanks. 84.66.72.88 14:38, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

According to the sidebar on this CNN page, Harrison Ford's grosses "are the second-highest of any actor in Hollywood history, after Tom Hanks." (emphasis mine; note: no mention of Samuel Jackson). Furthermore, according to Box Office Mojo, Samuel Jackson ranks 8th on the list. That's two distinct, co-supporting, reputable sources that agree on at least the top two names on the list (and neither of them are Samuel Jackson! ;). 216.240.7.149 03:33, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

Here's the problem as I see it. Box Office Mojo doesn't count most minor roles - so a few of Jackson's bit parts in films that grossed a lot of money aren't counted. Thus the discreprancy. Mad Jack O'Lantern 03:37, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

CNN also references Hanks and Ford as #1 and #2 respectively (which mirrors Box Office Mojo's data) and, although they don't cite their source, I would take the "word" of two concurring, reputable sources over one that cites only the actor himself as the source[1]: "Jackson says he recently passed Harrison Ford". Although that article does cite IMDB as saying he's #2, it doesn't actually link to any information to support that statement.216.240.7.149 03:59, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

Well we should probably put up both accounts, and note the contradiction, if both sources are reliable. Mad Jack O'Lantern 05:25, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

Samel L. Jackson is not the highest grosing actor of all time, it is Hanks. Gross credit for films they starred in (had a major role) and should not include films with 4 minite cameos. 205.188.116.8 13:13, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

If you indeed only count for films where someone has a major role, then it is really between tom hanks and harrison ford...however if you count all films one has appeared in...still samuel jackson may be one of the top contenders but my money will be on Christopher Lee...he has appeared in star wars, lord of the rings, james bond and numerous other films....---Khernitz 05:04, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bosom breakthrough

Needs to mention "Bosom Buddies". Hanks's breakthrough role was in "Big".

[edit] His face

What happened with Tom's face during The Da Vinci Code movie prodution? He looks 20 years younger! 201.51.241.170 04:04, 22 April 2006 (UTC)PlasticMan201.51.241.170 04:04, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Family Tree

According to MSN/MyFamily.com, Hanks was related to Abraham Lincoln. His partial family tree can be found here. The terms & conditions states: "You are licensed to use the Content only for personal or professional family history research, and may download Content only as search results relevant to that research. The download of the whole or significant portions of any work or database is prohibited." I think that may just mean we can't reprint their pictures, but I'm not sure. I don't want to cause a copyright violation, so I'm not going to change the article; however, I doubt you can copyright a family tree :). -Frazzydee

I've decided to link to the msn page. This should be fine, but if anybody finds a problem with it they can go ahead and revert -Frazzydee 22:04, 27 Jun 2004 (UTC)

The MSN pedigree has some rather severe problems, the worst of which is that the identity of Nancy Hanks's father is unknown. James Hanks of North Carolina is certainly one candidate, but there are others (Abraham Hanks of Fauquier, Prince William and Campbell Cos., Virginia, and Thomas Hanks, of Ross and Washington Cos., Ohio, or ---- Hanks of Virginia, or a gentleman planter of Richmond Co, perhaps Elisha Lingan Hall). So it would be inaccurate to state that "Hanks was related to Abraham Lincoln" without further clarification. A possibility: "Hanks has claimed to be related to James Hanks, one of several possible fathers of Nancy Hanks, mother of Abraham Lincoln." -- Nunh-huh 22:18, 27 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Thanks for clearing this up. I'm glad things worked out well -Frazzydee 17:02, 28 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Infobox

Tom Hanks
Actor
225 px\|Tom Hanks, Academy Award winning actor
Given name	Thomas Jeffrey Hanks
Born	July 9, 1956
Nationality	American
Marriages
Since 1988	actress Rita Wilson
January 1978 - 1987	Samantha Lewes
Children
With Lewes	Colin Hanks (born 1977)
With Lewes	Elizabeth Hanks (born 1982)
With Wilson	Chester Marlon (born 4 August 1990)
With Wilson	Truman Theodore (born 26 December 1995)
Awards
Academy Award for Best Actor, Philadelphia
Academy Award for Best Actor, Forrest Gump

What about this as an infobox for Hanks? The image, of course, would need to be replaced with a headshot of him. It could be omitted if need be. Many other articles, such as video games and airplanes, have such infoboxes to give basic facts about the topic. I like it because it gives essential info without requiring the reader to dig through the article's prose. I think this one covers the basics. Any suggestions for additional info it should include? Remember, we're just trying to cover the basics here, not replicate the article in the infobox. :-) — Frecklefoot | Talk 21:14, Jan 20, 2005 (UTC)

That image sucks so anything that will change the image I am for. Rentastrawberry 22:27, July 26, 2005 (UTC)

Actually, since I wrote this, I've discovered that a WikiProject has created an infobox for people. I don't like it as much as the one I proposed above, but a group of editors has agreed upon it. I can't find it now, but if someone does find it, use it instead of this proposed one.

Also, inserting the infobox wouldn't change the image. When I originally proposed this, the image was much larger with a great deal of unnecessary content. Another user cropped the image, however, to what is now in the article. It's not fantastic, but its not bad—especially for an image in a Wikipedia article. Since we can't use copyrighted images, this one is probably the best we'll get. — Frecklefoot | Talk 13:55, July 27, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] error in text

The following sentence in the early life section of the article does not make sense. "a Southern cook of British and Welsh heritage".
Wales is part of Britain(the British isles and more specifically the island of Great Britain) and therefore anyone of Welsh decent must also be of British decent.
Is it meant to read "a Southern cook of English and Welsh heritage"?

It probably does. The person who originally wrote that text also wrote that his mother was of Portuguese descent (I changed that later). I'm pretty sure the Portuguese descent thing is a web rumour; I've looked over a book bio of Hanks which traced his ancestry way back, and there wasn't a single non-English sounding name as far as I could see. Anyone know for sure? (Besides me, I mean) Vulturell 02:40, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Actually in high school and college he did claim Portuguese heritage. I think that was his understanding perhaps from his mom. I went to high school with him and we kidded a lot about our heritages. He and another guy were known as the "Crazy Portugies"

[edit] Tom Hanks a Croatian?

Its a joke or what? Could it be, that Tom Hanks is a little bit croatian????

The article says his mother Janet is "Mostly English descent" MOSTLY ENGLISH meaning not all English..she is part Croatian too.

Jagoda 1 06:16, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hanks and Springsteen

Does anybody know how Hanks might have known Bruce Springsteen? It's listed in the Trivia section that they were "childhood friends." I didn't think that Springsteen went West until the mid-70s, when he would have been 26. I'm tagging it for a citation. Runnerupnj 18:17, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm deleting it. They grew up on opposite coasts. It was added by some a-none on Groundhog Day and I'm sure it was a joke somebody put in to see how long before anyone would notice. Wahkeenah 19:40, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Something missing.

I think there is a section missing after the first paragraph (some text deleted).

[edit] Best, most versatile actor to grace screen

"Hanks is regarded by some as one of the best and most versatile actors ever to grace the screen."

May be true, but I think that almost every notable actor of the 20th century has some people who think he/she is one of the best actors in some form or another. The statement itself in uneccesary, unencyclopedic, not very neutrally written, and too general all at the same time. I've taken the liberty of deleting it.

[edit] Does Tom Hanks have some Portuguese ancestry?

According to the website www.portuguesefoundation.org/newspage2.htm Tom Hanks "has Portuguese roots on his mother's side, from the Azores". Vivaldi4Stagioni 09:00, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

---

Yes he does. Ive read it in more than one source. In a Reader's Digest (iirc) he said so and said he doesnt know much about it.

Lusitano Transmontano 07:31, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia too trivial

Is it just me, or do two of the trivia items seem pointless? Socks played some sort of role in three of his movies. So what? Why does that need to be mentioned? It's not that big of a deal.

Also the point about the bladder problem is pointless as well (and in Forrest Gump, his character didn't have a bladder problem, he had to urinate because he had just consumed about a dozen Dr. Peppers). I vote to remove them unless someone has a compelling argument to keep them in. — Frecklefoot | Talk 19:16, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Those at least are specific. The trivia point that says "He often portrays resourceful, self-reliant, and likeable characters in his film roles" is completely useless. — KillerDeathRobot

Agreed. But I'd like to nix the two I mentioned before attacking that one. :-) — Frecklefoot | Talk 19:42, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

I would personally dump the socks reference. Since Hanks did not write or direct the films, the socks is just coincidence. If anything, we don't need specific explaination of each plot point. I would also argue that a 'mention' of the word socks does not classify as making socks 'part of the plot'. If Hanks was wearing socks in a film, isn't that just as important? If he puts on or takes off socks? I think "Women" is a theme in Hank's films. There are women visible, and mentioned in all of them, and in many he actually interacts with, and seeks out women. Also, a number of his projects are military in theme, or space-themed. I don't think I can imagine anyone reading that triva note and being fascinated by it or gaining anything; especially since the socks have little to do with Hanks himself. The bladder issue is at most mildly notable, since it was a notable point in at least one of the films (basis for a notable scene in two films, and an actual plot point in Green Mile), but it's iffy. TheHYPO 10:18, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

Unless it can be verified from a reputable source that the socks connection is intentional (i.e. an interview with Hanks, other cast member or director), I agree that the socks thing should be removed. BTW, if we decide to keep it, there's a scene in Polar Express where the Hobo pulls a sock out of the coffee pot... cluth 02:14, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hanks's first wife

Why did he and his first wife have a divorce? This isn't mentioned in the article and I am curious about it.ImmortalDragon 06:45, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Main Picture

In my opinion, that is probably the worst/ugliest picture I have seen of Tom Hanks.

Fine, add another one. Good luck finding a public domain or GFDL image, though. — Frecklefoot | Talk 14:36, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

It is indeed a very ugly picture, if you compare it to how he looks in the movie's

[edit] Da Vinci Code release

The last item of trivia says:

On August 29, 2006, Hanks appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien to publicise his new film, The Da Vinci Code...

The Da Vinci Code was released in May, so Hanks wouldn't be appearing to publicize it in August. Also, the item was added on August 29 during the day, so how could a user know what was going to happen that night before it happened? Can someone find out the facts about this item and correct it or, even, just delete it. Thx. — Frecklefoot | Talk 20:03, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

Many such shows are taped during the day. The Tonight Show, for example, is taped early afternoon. That was why the news reports of Arnold Schwarzenegger's surprise gubanatorial candidacy occurred about 3 pm (Pacific Time) even though the show doesn't air until 11:35 pm.

Thanks, but that still doesn't explain the edit. It wasn't big news, and it's doubtful that the editor was at the taping. I'm thinking it was a repeat of a previous show, but that again doesn't explain the date (how would the editor know which show was going to be rerun?). — Frecklefoot | Talk 20:49, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Toy Story

Toy Story (and Toy Story 2, I might add) was a highly successful movie. It was Pixar's first, and it was recognized, recieved at least a few awards, and has been parodied many times since its 1995 release. Shouldn't it be mentioned at least once in Tom Hanks' article, considering he was the main, or at least one of the main characters! Emily ^{(Funtrivia Freak)} 22:01, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] JesusisloveGodislaw

Could someone else deal with JesusisloveGodislaw's vandalism. Gdo01 23:19, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Is this serious?

I have removed this paragraph because I considere it out of context. The biased point of view deserves to be analysed and corrected if possible or otherwise eliminated it.

< Dan Brown and Sony was sued by Sirrano Keith Baldeo of New York (NewChristianChronicles.org) in the District Court of New York... as of 10/05/2006 the case is being appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States; The case is to challange the claims of Sony (who produced and promoted the movie - The Da Vinci Code) about the sexual content of Jesus's life with Mary and weather the information is factual, it also challanges a person's right under the constitution to bring a case base on their faith/belief's and if it can be considered defamatory. You can support Mr. Baldeo by Email: TheNCCNews@aol.com or go to his website. Mr Baldeo is also using his case to challanges the Judge's position of swearing on the Bible to gain the jobs they now have and then ruling againt Jesus whom the Bible is named after, stating "their can be no laws AGAINST God or his Son Jesus, especially if they are intentionally created by man and judges who sits under 'in God We Trust', where's the trust?". Also in the lawsuit is Tom Hanks as Principal Players in a Wrongdoing: "he promoted Jesus having sex with Mary and other manner of evil, he said they came to him with the money, well that's what they did to Judas to, he; Tom Hanks is a traitor to the Lord." >

133.87.1.152 23:20, 5 October 2006 (UTC)Rebelde- 0ctober 6, 2006.

Someone spammed this into several Da Vinci Code related items. Without support it should definitely be removed. DJ Clayworth 23:22, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dead yet?

http://tom.hanks.swellserver.com/news/top_stories/auto80.php says he died in a car accident.

True or false? — Ashmodai ^{(talk · contribs)} 23:27, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Ah, well. Apparently it's a blatant fake. Clicking on the Home button reveals it =P — Ashmodai ^{(talk · contribs)} 23:28, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm a tad concerned that you needed to go to the home page to work that out. How often is a person's first and last names included throughout an article? If you change the Tom and Hanks in the URL to your own first and last names, have a guess what happens. - Dudesleeper 00:45, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

That comes from not actually reading it but rather skimming over the headline and then pasting it somewhere for confirmation. On second thought the fake is not particularily complex or even well-crafted and also pretty blatantly obvious. Considering I don't really care much for Tom Hanks myself, I didn't really waste any thought on it. Also, it was late and I was tired (insert more excuses here).

Yeah, it's pretty bleeding obvious, but this only shows you that a prank doesn't have to particularily well executed in order to have people fall for it.

Also, as you can see from the edit times, I realised that it's a prank less than a minute after I posted this here. So, yeah, I just edit too fast. — Ashmodai ^{(talk · contribs)} 13:46, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] A typo?

At the table for highest grossing films, the Da Vinci code gross is said to be last updated 2/11/06. The movie was released in May! Could someone correct this please? Sr13 06:27, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Last updated 2nd november... what is wrong with that?... people write the date as day/month/year in much of the world —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 222.155.247.55 (talk • contribs).

That's just the problem, in much of the world, not the whole world. Wikipedia policies state that dates should be formatted like this: [[November 2]] [[2006]]. That way, the software can format it according to each user's preferences. Then, when rendered, it will look like this: November 2, 2006. — Frecklefoot | Talk 15:38, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Scrubs cameo...

I believe Tom Hanks has a small (very small) cameo in the television series Scrubs, season 4, ep. 23 (ep423), time 14:18 (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhhw7_scrubs-s04e23-my-faith-in-humanity).

This comes about from the characters making jokes about the surgeons "Turner," and "Hooch" not getting to operate together.

So am I crazy, or just blind?

N5corp 13:17, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Death

Actor Tom Hanks died while filming a movie in New Zealand early this morning - November 16, 2006. Source [[2]] 82.92.237.32 19:26, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

HOAX - Hoax Hoax Bogus Report Circulating That Tom Hanks Has Died --ArmadilloFromHell 19:53, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

As people have said before, you don't have to be smart to realize that a news story would not have the victim's name in the domain part. Seriously replace the name Tom Hanks in that link with anything. Geesh. Gdo01 21:10, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Askeladden

The askeladden link under fansites links to some clips at google video wich has nothing to do with Tom hanks at all. Just some old filmatisation of norwegian folk tales —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.212.109.221 (talk) 00:42, 9 December 2006 (UTC).

[edit] Removal of Part of Trivia

I have removed a really useless peice of information from the trivia section. It was....* Hanks, whose daughter attended Vassar College, spoke at the 2005 graduation ceremony. This has nothing to do with the article and was really quite useless. Bcody 00:27, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

That was the only piece of trivia you thought was useless?!? — Frecklefoot | Talk 19:25, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

"with an extremely painful prostatic hypertrophy" in GreenMile is a (also painfull) cystitis... <eg> --80.136.158.114 20:02, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

I have culled the trivia - a lot! I am sure there is a lot more that can be culled, but I am not an expert on this subject - I just pulled the stuff from the trivia section that was fairly easy to add into the main article. Good Luck to anyone else who has another go. Rgds, - Trident13 01:25, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

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