Captivating Close-Up: Tom Hanks

Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor, producer, writer and director.

Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies before achieving success as a dramatic actor portraying several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title role in Forrest Gump, Commander James A. Lovell in Apollo 13, Captain John H. Miller in Saving Private Ryan, Michael Sullivan in Road to Perdition, Sheriff Woody in Pixar's Toy Story, and Chuck Noland in Cast Away. Hanks won back-to-back Best Actor Academy Awards, in 1993 for Philadelphia and in 1994 for Forrest Gump.

Hanks is working on the next film in the Toy Story franchise, Toy Story 3, reprising his role as Sheriff Woody, scheduled for release in 2010. He reprised the voice of Woody after he, Tim Allen, and John Ratzenberger were invited to see a complete story reel of the movie.

Hanks is currently ranked the #1 box office star in the world with over $3.521 billion total box office gross, an average of $100.6 million per film. He has been involved with nineteen films that grossed over $100 million at the worldwide box office.

Source: Wikipedia