Showing posts with label Academy Award for Best Actor. Show all posts

25 Little Known Nifty And Cool Facts About Tom Hanks

On this day, one of the greatest and most popular American actors; Tom Hanks, will be celebrating his 60th birthday. Whether you liked him in his role as Jimmy Dugan in the 1992 comedy-drama A League of Their Own, as Jim Lovell in the 1995 documentary drama space adventure film, Apollo 13, as Richard Phillips in the 2013 American biographical survival thriller Captain Phillips, as Andrew Beckett in the 1993 American drama Philadelphia, or in his iconic role as Forrest Gump in the 1994 American epic romantic-comedy-drama film Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks is undoubtedly one of the most successful, popular and critically acclaimed Hollywood actors of all time. Renowned for his exceptional acting talent, Tom Hanks has appeared in over a hundred of films, television series, and stage performances. We have seen him fight in wars, survive on an uninhabited island, search for the legendary Holy Grail and even travel to space. As Tom has been constantly in the spot light, we are sure you are somewhat familiar with this amazing actor, but we bet there is a handful of things and cool facts you do not know about him. To pay tribute to this Hollywood icon on the occasion of his 60th birthday, we took our time to compile a list featuring 25 Little Known Nifty And Cool Facts About Tom Hanks. Happy birthday Tom!



25


A proud American, Tom Hanks was born in Concord, California, but his mother, Janet Marylyn, was of Portuguese descent, while his father, Amos Hanks, had English ancestry.




Tom Hanks

Source and image: en.wikipedia.org





24


Just 4 years after Tom was born, his parents divorced. Young Tom and his older sister, Sandra, and brother, Larry, went with their father while the youngest child, Jim, stayed with their mother. In his childhood, Tom´s family moved often. By the age of ten, Hanks had lived in ten different houses.




Tom Hanks

Source: en.wikipedia.org, image: flickr.com





23


Tom Hanks is a third cousin, four generations removed, of former President Abraham Lincoln. Their common ancestor is John Hanks (1680 – 1740), who was the great-great-grandfather of Lincoln and the six-time great-grandfather of Tom Hanks.




Abraham Lincoln

Source: moviefone.com, image: commons.wikimedia.org





22


Before he played a gay lawyer with AIDS in the famous 1993 drama “Philadelphia,” Hanks lost 35 pounds (16 kilograms) and even thinned his hair in order to appear sickly for the role.




Tom Hanks

Source: en.wikipedia.org, image: youtube.com





21


The movie´s iconic song, “The Streets of Philadelphia,” written and sung by Bruce Springsteen, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and four Grammy Awards. Hanks and Springsteen have been close friends since their childhood.




Bruce Springsteen

Source and image: en.wikipedia.org





20


Tom Hanks is a keen fan of the English soccer club Aston Villa. He first revealed he was a Villa supporter in 2001 and has frequently sported the club´s claret and blue scarf while attending red carpet events.




Aston Villa

Source: dailymail.co.uk, image: commons.wikimedia.org





19


Talking about English soccer, Tom Hanks might be one of the most successful bettors ever. In April 2016, he said he had bet £100 on Leicester to win the Premier League at the beginning of the season when the odds were 5000/1 as Leicester were the league´s biggest outsiders. Incredibly, Leicester won the league, but it remains a mystery if Hanks had really placed the bet or not.




Leicester

Source: telegraph.co.uk, image: en.wikipedia.org





18


Tom Hanks shares his birthday, July 9th, with musicians Jack White, David O’Hara, Courtney Love, actor Chris Cooper, and politician Donald Rumsfeld.




Donald Rumsfeld

Source: moviefone.com, image: commons.wikimedia.org





17


On October 7, 2013, on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” Tom Hanks announced that he has Type 2 diabetes.




David Letterman

Source and image: en.wikipedia.org





16


Tom Hanks cited the help of a nearby ice cream shop which helped him gain 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms) for his role in the famous 1992 American comedy-drama, “A League of Their Own.”




A League of Their Own

Source: imdb.com, image: youtube.com





15


He was not always the cool, confident Tom Hanks we are all so familiar with. He told the Rolling Stone Magazine that when he was growing up, “I was a geek, a spaz. I was horribly, painfully, terribly shy.”




Tom Hanks

Source: neatorama.com, image: en.wikipedia.org





14


Before marrying his second wife, actress Rita Wilson in 1988, Tom Hanks converted to the Greek Orthodox Church, the religion of Wilson and her family.




Rita Wilson

Source and image: en.wikipedia.org





13


Tom Hanks has been involved in politics. He has donated to many Democratic politicians, and during the 2008 United States presidential election, he uploaded a video to his MySpace account endorsing Barack Obama. Hanks also supports same-sex marriages.




Tom Hanks

Source: en.wikipedia.org, image: commons.wikimedia.org





12


Tom Hanks has 4 children. With his first wife, actress Samantha Lewes, he has son Colin Hanks (born 1977) and daughter Elizabeth (born 1982). With his second wife, actress Rita Wilson, he has sons Chester Marlon (born 1990) and Truman Theodore (born 1995).




Colin Hanks

Source: en.wikipedia.org, image: commons.wikimedia.org





11


Tom Hanks has played a captain in 3 different movies: Apollo 13 (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), and Captain Phillips (2013).




Tom Hanks

Source: imdb.com, image: youtube.com





10


His films have grossed more than $4.3 billion at American and Canadian box offices and more than $8.5 billion worldwide, making him the 4th highest-grossing actor of all time (after Harrison Ford, Samuel L. Jackson, and Morgan Freeman).




Tom Hanks

Source: imbd.com, image: commons.wikimedia.org





9


Before Tom Hanks kicked off his acting career, one of his jobs was a hotel bellman. Some of the celebrity guests whose bags he carried were Cher, Sidney Poitier, Slappy White, and Bill Withers.




Cher

Source: imbd.com, image: en.wikipedia.org





8


Apart from soccer, Tom Hanks is a huge fan of football and baseball. He supports the Oakland Raiders in football and the Cleveland Indians in baseball.




Oakland Raiders

Source: neatorama.com, image: en.wikipedia.org





7


He has played with Meg Ryan in 3 movies as love interests: Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), and You’ve Got Mail (1998). In reality, Tom and Meg are close friends.




Meg Ryan

Source: imbd.com, image: en.wikipedia.org





6


Tom Hanks is not just a great actor. He is also a successful film producer. He has produced over 20 films including the 2002 Canadian-American romantic comedy, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” and the 2004 American 3-D animated musical fantasy film, “The Polar Express.”




Tom Hanks

Source and image: en.wikipedia.org





5


Tom Hanks is an avid collector of typewriters. He has purchased over 80 typewriters from around the world and has been collecting them “for no particular reason” since 1978.




typewriters

Source: whatculture.com, image: commons.wikimedia.org





4


A dedicated proponent of environmentalism, Hanks is an investor in electric vehicles and owns a Toyota RAV4 EV and the first production AC Propulsion eBox.




Toyota RAV4 EV

Source and image: en.wikipedia.org





3


A supporter of NASA’s manned space program, Hanks said he originally wanted to be an astronaut. In fact, the asteroid 12818 Tomhanks was named after him.




astronaut

Source: en.wikipedia.org, image: commons.wikimedia.org





2


Tom Hanks is a big fan of Monty Python, the famous British surreal comedy group. He even became a member of the group for one night – at the 2002 memorial concert for George Harrison.




Monty Python

Source: imbd.com, image: en.wikipedia.org





1


Tom’s all-time favorite movie is “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968). His second favorite is the Beatles’ 1964 film, “A Hard Day’s Night.” He is also a fan of the British science-fiction television program, “Doctor Who.”




Tom Hanks

Source: neatorama.com, image: commons.wikimedia.org



These Are The Ten Most Overpaid Actors In 2015



Forbes has published a list of the most over paid actors of 2015. They worked out who was the worst value for money by comparing how much an actor was paid to appear in a film against how much the film actually made.


Each of an actor’s three major films up to June 2015 are counted in the list.


The results are incredibly surprising, you’ll never guess who was at number one.


At number 10 in the worst value for money actors is 2015 is…Duh, du, du daaaaaaa


Tom Cruise


Tom Cruise has made over $100,000,000 for his work on the Mission Impossible franchise, but the return the producers got back from ‘rogue nation’ this year was poor. They got $13 for every $1 dollar spent. That might sound quite a lot, but in film world that’s pittance.


maxresdefault


9. Ben Affleck


Affleck would have got paid a handsome fee for ‘Gone Girl’ – but the actor only returned 12.30 dollars per $1 spent on the films he made in 2015.


Gone-Girl-poster-31


8. Brad Pitt


Although ‘The Big Short’ was a critical success it’s outlay on massive stars like Ryan Gosling and Christian Bale, along with Pitt meant that it was not a financial success. Pitt made back $12 for every $1 spent on his 2015 releases.


pitt.png.CROP.promo-xlarge2


 

7. Channing Tatum


Tatum played the leading role in Jupiter Ascending, which was one of this years biggest flops. He made back $10.80 for every dollar spent. Channing does however have one of the leading roles if the ‘The Hateful Eight’ which is the new Tarantino film which is due for release this week. It might boost his numbers a little!


Jupiter-Ascending-8-Channing-Tatum


6. Christian Bale


Bale is known for his astronomical fees and this means it’s hard for the producing houses to recoup their money. The ‘Knight Of Cups’ came out to mediocre reviews considering it’s star filled cast. His 2015 releases resulted in $9.20 for every $1 spent.


knight_of_cups_malick_14


5. Will Smith


Will Smith didn’t seem to have his usual pulling power in 2015. His film ‘Focus’ did not set the box office alight meaning he returned $8.60 for every $1 spent.


Loree-Rodkin-Hunter-by-Sama-Slate-Will-Smith-Focus


 

4. Liam Neeson 


Neeson had an incredible amount of releases out during 2015, he was involved in seven film and tv shows all together. But it would seem that the producers are not getting value for money, while Liam is laughing all the way to the bank. He returned $7.80 dollars for every $1 spent.


Liam_Neeson_pointing


3. Will Ferrell


Ferrell had three releases in 2015 and most of them did badly. The worst of which was ‘Get Hard’ where he starred alongside Kevin Hart. He managed to return a meagre $6.80.


maxresdefault (1)


2. Denzel Washington


It seems Denzel maybe loosing his touch for box office smash hits. ‘The Equalizer’ didn’t do very well when you compare it to the veteran actors astronomical fee. He returned just $6.50


denzel-greys


 

1. Johnny Depp


By far the worst performer of 2015 was Johnny Depp. He had some serious flops and some of the films he made only just managed to recoup their investment.


Depp’s comedy Mortdecai only made back $47.4m of its $60m production budget. While the actor’s 2014 sci-fi thriller Transcendence didn’t make any money at all.


Johnny-Depp


Does this mean the end of Jonny Depp? Only time will tell. What is interesting to note is there are no females on this list. This is because they tend to be paid far less than their male counterparts. This is surprising when you consider 4 out of 5 actresses appeared in the best value list:


Screen Shot 2015-12-23 at 14.36.13


(BBC)


Perhaps it’s time for production houses to start reconsidering their fees and start paying woman more, they’re obviously better value for money.