Tom Hanks was born on July 9th, 1956 and raised in Oakland, Ca. where he took part in the Bay Area theatrical scene all throughout high school. While in college at California State University at Sacramento, he continued to act in near-by community theaters. Hanks made his professional acting debut with the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival and traveled with the group before he appeared in 1980 in his first film He Knows You’re Alone, a teen slasher film. Shortly afterward, he landed a co-starring role on the TV sitcom Bosom Buddies. He also made several guest appearances on such TV series as Taxi, Family Ties, and Happy Days.

His brief role on Happy Days introduced him to Ron Howard who played Richie Cunningham on the show. Two years later Howard remembered him for the leading role in Splash, which became the sleeper hit of 1984. The film catapulted Hanks to superstar status. His laid-back comedic timing charmed audiences. After a string of mostly unsuccessful comedies (Bachelor Party [1984], Volunteers [1985], The Money Pit [1986]), he returned to the limelight again in the 1988 hit Big. In 1992, he played the loveable rogue of a coach in Penny Marshall’s A League of Their Own. This role lead to his lead in the romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle (1993), another smash hit.

Although considered more of a comedic actor, Hanks took a chance in 1994 when he played the homosexual AIDS-afflicted lawyer opposite Denzel Washington in Philadelphia. His performance won great critical acclaim as well as the Oscar for Best Actor. He won again the next year with the film Forrest Gump as the dim-witted and loveable title character. Hanks then proved he had multiple talents; he wrote, directed, and starred in the upbeat comedy That Thing You Do! in 1996. He continued his success throughout the '90s and into the new millennium with such films as Apollo 13 (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), You’ve Got Mail (1998), Cast Away (2000), and Road to Perdition (2002).

The films in TCM’s Birthday Tribute to Tom Hanks include Splash, A League of Their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, and Philadelphia.