The Americas Narrator Tom Hanks Has a Robust Family Life
Tom Hanks has been called "America's dad" thanks to roles he's played onscreen. Find out more about his offscreen family life.
Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks has made marvelous discoveries about the great outdoors while narrating NBC’s 10-part nature series The Americas.
“There are times I cannot believe what I am looking at,” he told Today.
RELATED: The Americas: Why Do Some Trees Lose Their Leaves in Winter?
But when it comes to the wonders and fragility of family, Hanks’ eyes are already wide open. As the NBC series continues, it’s a perfect time to learn more about "America’s dad," Tom Hanks and his real-life husband and dad duties.
Tom Hanks’ enduring marriage to Rita Wilson
Born in Concord, Calif., Hanks’ parents divorced when he was young. He eventually studied theater at Chabot College and California State University, Sacramento.
Hanks’ first marriage to college sweetheart Samantha Lewes, with whom he had two children, Colin and Elizabeth, ended in 1987.
"I was just too young and insecure for marriage,” Hanks has said about his first trip to the altar, Parade reported.
Hanks married actress and singer Rita Wilson in 1988. The two first met in 1981 when she had a guest spot in Hanks’ sitcom Bosom Buddies.
Four years later, they played love interests in the 1985 film Volunteers. Eight years later, they played besties in Sleepless in Seattle.
Hanks has told GQ that acting like he was interested in Wilson on screen wasn’t difficult, according to PEOPLE.
"Rita and I just looked at each other and — kaboing — that was that," Hanks said. "I asked Rita if it was the real thing for her, and it just couldn't be denied."
Decades into the Hanks-Wilson union, he’s asserted that there’s no magic formula to a lasting marriage.
"I wish there was a secret, you know. We just like each other. You start there," Hanks said in another PEOPLE report. He added a tip: "No one should get married before they're 30."
Who are Tom Hanks’ four kids?
Hanks has two children from his first marriage including son, Colin Hanks, 47, an actor known for Fargo, and The Good Guys, and Elizabeth Hanks, 42, a writer.
Hanks and Wilson have two sons, Chester "Chet" Hanks, 34, an actor and rapper, and Truman Theodore Hanks, 29, who played a younger version of his father’s character in the film A Man Named Otto.
Hanks, who has three siblings, has said his own childhood wasn’t ideal and that he was forced to move around a lot.
“My parents were very preoccupied with the positives and miseries of their lives,” Hanks said while on the podcast On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Today reported.
Asked if he’s worked to be a different kind of parent, he gave a refreshingly honest answer. “I try to, but I made every mistake.”
The Americas airs Sundays 7 p.m. ET/PT. on NBC and next day on Peacock.
