Before Tom Hanks became a famous actor, he grew up in Northern California with his three siblings: brothers Jim Hanks and Larry Hanks, and sister Sandra Hanks Benoiton.
According to New York Times, their father, Amos, worked in several restaurants and wandered around frequently. The children were often alone at home and told the time according to what was on the TV.
These days, all of Tom’s siblings have made careers out of their own passions: Sandra is a writer; Larry is a professor of entomology; and Jim is an actor and filmmaker. Jim was actually twice Tom’s body. Forrest Gumpand voiced Tom’s character Sheriff Woody in several movies. Toy Story furniture.
So who are Tom Hanks’ siblings? Read on to learn all about Jim Hanks, Larry Hanks, and Sandra Hanks Benoiton.
They grew up in Northern California
Tom and his siblings grew up in several towns in Northern California. The actor was 5 years old when his parents divorced, and the children were separated: Tom, Larry and Sandra lived with their father, and Jim with their mother Janet. Amos and Janet struggled financially and often worked long hours.
“No one told me how to brush my teeth,” said Tom. New York Times. Still, he is not angry with his deceased family. “They were so devastated by self-hatred and guilt and all that stuff and all that and for God’s sake we were four and they, you know, couldn’t do it,” he thought.
Tom used Larry’s tape recorder to make radio news reports.
In 1984, Larry Washington Post that she hasn’t changed much since her younger brother’s success in Hollywood. She shared that Tom has “always been an extrovert, always loves talking to people.” She also noted that Tom is a creative kid.
Larry remembered that when he was younger, Tom had borrowed the tape recorder to make radio reports. “They were pretty awful,” Larry said. “I’ll find it later. It’s like announcing an earthquake is coming, ‘leave the city now’ or something.”
The entomologist joked: “I still have the tapes – a great bribe material that will probably come in handy one day.”
Jim joked about being Tom’s brother during stand-up comedy routines
During an interview with the podcast in April 2022 Canned Air, Jim shared that he did stand-up comedy in the 80s and made some jokes about Tom. “When I first started doing this … I refused to address the elephant in the room because I was the famous guy,” he recalled, referring to his brother. Jim explained that there were always whispers and curious expressions in the crowd as he looked so much like his older brother when he took to the stage.
Jim began accepting his brother in routines after doing stand-up shows for a year without ever mentioning Tom. “I would be introduced, I would go out and I would literally not say a word. “I would stand there for about 30 seconds,” he said.
He would let the audience speculate before answering their questions with his opening sentence: “I know what you’re thinking.” Everyone would laugh and then Jim would tell a few jokes about being Tom’s brother before moving on to the rest of his set.
Jim is also an actor and filmmaker.
Jim’s first major role in a movie was as Jeeter Buford in the 1993 comedy. Buford’s Beach Bunnies. He actually auditioned under the name Jim Matthews so he was hired on his own merit. In addition to starring in various movies and TV shows, Jim has written, directed and produced short films with his production company Feet First Films.
The actor collaborated with Tom several times, as their physical and vocal similarities often worked. Jim often voices Tom’s Toy Story for character, Sheriff Woody, dolls, video games and other products. In 2011, Tom appeared This The Graham Norton Showwhere presenter Graham Norton pulled the string of a Woody doll and asked the actor if it was his own voice.
“No, that’s my brother Jim,” Tom laughed. “There are a lot of video games and video events and Jim has been working on them all year.”
Jim also served as Tom’s body stuntman in the 1994 movie. Forrest Gump. “Tom had other stunts but they couldn’t make the run,” Jim told PEOPLE in 1995. “This is a stupid Hanks thing.”
Larry is a professor of entomology.
Tom’s older brother, Larry, is a professor of entomology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he began working in 1996. Late Show with Stephen Colbert In 2017, she insists her brother be “called Professor Lawrence” around the house.
Larry has won several awards for his work in this field, including the National Recognition Award for Urban Entomology from the Entomological Society of America in 2000. According to the lab page Larry, insect ecology and behavior, chemical ecology, plant-insect interactions and invasive species.
Sandra is a writer and a world traveler.
Although Sandra has had a variety of different jobs over the years, including bartending, radio show host, rock band manager, and more, in 2016, she told the Seychelles News Agency that her favorite thing to do is to write.
Tom’s sister worked as a writer for several companies before starting her own blog, Paradise Preoccupied, which covered topics from adoptions to celebrities to politics.
Sandra also opened up about her upbringing. “We lived in England for a while, then we moved here, opened a cafe in Baie Lazare, built a house and called it home.”
told in 2020 daily mail currently living in Italy.
Tom was humiliated by college students who knew Larry
When Tom and his wife, Rita Wilson, celebrated their anniversary one year in Joshua Tree National Park, the actor was unexpectedly humiliated by several students he met there. The actor told the story during his appearance in April 2017. Late Show.
“We saw these college students who had these weird little suction cup things and they were at the bottom of the cacti,” he recalled.
When the couple asked about their project, the students explained that they were entomology students at the University of California, Riverside, where Tom’s brother Larry earned his PhD and previously taught. This A Man Named Otto “You know, my brother is an entomologist,” star said excitedly to the group. He then added, “I am Tom Hanks,” and the students replied, “Yes, and your brother Dr. Larry Hanks.”
“So I’m the famous man BrotherTom told presenter Stephen Colbert. He joked, “And it shook me up a bit.”