The last episode of the series ( narrated by Blythe Danner — this is the only episode which Hanks does not introduce, although he does appear in it ) begins with a look at the making of Georges Méliès ' film based upon the book.

Denton, along with James Stockdale ( another Navy officer who became the vice-presidential running mate of H. Ross Perot during his 1992 presidential campaign ), Larry Guarino ( an Air Force Major ) and James Robinson Risner ( an Air Force colonel ), distinguished themselves as members of the American POW resistance from 1965-1973, and helped their men accomplish their sworn goal to " return with honor " – a POW battle cry that later was used as the title of a documentary film narrated and produced by Tom Hanks.

Hanks made public his presidential candidate choice in the 2008 election when he uploaded a video to his MySpace account in which he announced his endorsement of Barack Obama.

On October 20, 2011, CELIA was designated an Ohio Center of Excellence by Jim Petro, Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents at a press conference on the campus of Wright State University, in which Tom Hanks congratulated the Wright State University arts programs via a video message.

Anthropological linguist William Hanks, for example, identifies hunab ku as an expression created in the context of maya reducido, a form of Yucatec created in the context of missionization.

* Tabu the Jungle Wizard, a superpowered jungle hero comic book character created by Fletcher Hanks

Bosom Buddies is an American sitcom starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari created by Robert L. Boyett, Thomas L. Miller and Chris Thompson.

The New York Times review says that Winston Groom may have created the character of Forrest Gump, but he was a very different creature before Tom Hanks made him into an icon.

* Transportation in Antarctica by Matt Hanks

However this rumor was quickly debunked by Hanks.

He was influenced by very few people ; but does recall an elderly, unrecorded, blues singer from that area, Rufus Hanks, who played twelve-string guitar and harmonica.

Although the character was written with Cromwell in mind, Tom Hanks, a big fan of Star Trek, was approached for the role by Paramount first, but he had already committed to the film That Thing You Do!

Additionally, he has written a script for Tom Hanks ' Playtone Productions and Universal Pictures called They Marched into Sunlight based upon the Pulitzer nominated novel of the same name and an outline by Paul Greengrass, for Greengrass to direct, should it get a greenlight.

Early in 1979, Hanks was cast in the lead role of Callimaco in the Riverside Shakespeare Company's production of Niccolò Machiavelli's The Mandrake, directed by Daniel Southern.

With Nothing in Common ( 1986 ) – about a young man alienated from his parents who must re-establish a relationship with his father, played by Jackie Gleason – Hanks began to establish the credentials of not only a comic actor but of someone who could carry a serious role.

Hanks next starred in the highly anticipated film The Da Vinci Code, based on the bestselling novel by Dan Brown.

For the documentary, Hanks did voice work, reading excerpts from World War II-era columns by Al McIntosh.

In 2006, Hanks topped a 1, 500-strong list of ' most trusted celebrities ' compiled by Forbes magazine.

In 2007, Hanks starred in Mike Nichols's film Charlie Wilson's War ( written by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin ) in which he plays Democratic Texas Congressman Charles Wilson.

Hanks is producer of the Spike Jonze film Where The Wild Things Are, based on the children's book by Maurice Sendak.

Hanks will be playing Walt Disney in the film Saving Mr. Banks co-starring Emma Thompson and Colin Farrell and directed by John Lee Hancock.

" Hanks is a member of the National Space Society, serving on the Board of Governors of the nonprofit educational space advocacy organization founded by Dr. Wernher Von Braun.

Cast Away is a 2000 drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks as a FedEx employee stranded on an uninhabited island after his plane crashes in the South Pacific.

Directed by Steven Spielberg and co-starring Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken, the film was shot in 147 different locations in only 52 days, making it " the most adventurous, super-charged movie-making " DiCaprio had experienced yet.

The Tri-County Leader published a series of articles by Acker Hanks called " Growing up in Whitehouse.

In the original sketches, Doug and Steve were often joined by that night's guest, credited as ' barhop ' ( including turns by Jim Carrey, Tom Hanks, Martin Short, Alec Baldwin, Jack Nicholson, and Sylvester Stallone parodying his familiar Rocky Balboa role ).

Hanks love for propane is sometimes shown in an ironic juxtaposition with his love of all things Texas, for example being introduced to mesquite, a traditional Texan barbecue wood, by his immigrant neighbor Kahn.

* 2004: Wicked Baby by Tara Hanks ; PADB ISBN 1-904929-45-1

Big is a 1988 fantasy film directed by Penny Marshall, and stars Tom Hanks as Josh Baskin, a young boy who makes a wish " to be big " to a magical wishing machine and is then aged to adulthood overnight.

Big was received with almost unanimous critical acclaim ; based on 53 reviews collected by the film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, 96 % of critics gave the film a positive " Certified Fresh " review and the consensus stating " Refreshingly sweet and undeniably funny, Big is a showcase for Tom Hanks, who dives into his role and infuses it with charm and surprising poignancy.

Domestically in North America, it was slightly overtaken by Forrest Gump, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and a second consecutive Academy Award for Best Actor for Tom Hanks.

After this success, director Sydney Pollack hired Cuarón to direct an episode of Fallen Angels, a series of neo-noir stories produced for the Showtime premium cable network in 1993 ; other directors who worked on the series included Steven Soderbergh, Jonathan Kaplan, Peter Bogdanovich, and Tom Hanks.

In film, Abdul choreographed sequences for the giant keyboard scene involving Tom Hanks ’ s character in Big.

Afterwards, it follows Tom Hanks as United States Army Rangers Captain John H. Miller and seven other soldiers ( Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Adam Goldberg, and Jeremy Davies ) as they search for a paratrooper, Private First Class James Francis Ryan ( Matt Damon ), who is the last-surviving brother of four servicemen.

Before filming began, several of the film's stars, including Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, Giovanni Ribisi, and Tom Hanks, endured ten days of " boot camp " training and work on the film set to prepare for their roles.

Pro Bowl safety Merton Hanks led the team with 7 interceptions for 93 return yards, while Sanders had 6 interceptions for 303 return yards and 3 touchdowns, earning him the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Michael Quinion and Patrick Hanks argue that the term refers to the Dutch nickname and surname Janneke ( from Jan and the diminutive-eke, meaning " Little John " or Johnny in Dutch ), Anglicized to Yankee ( in Dutch, the letter " J " is pronounced the same as the English consonantal " Y " sound ) and " used as a nickname for a Dutch-speaking American in colonial times ".

Hanks is known for his roles in Apollo 13, Big, That Thing You Do !, The Green Mile, You've Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, Charlie Wilson's War, Catch Me If You Can, Forrest Gump, A League of Their Own, The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons and as the voice of Woody in the Toy Story movie franchise.

Hanks is also known for his collaboration with film director Steven Spielberg on Saving Private Ryan and the mini-series Band of Brothers, which launched Hanks also as a successful director, producer and writer.

In addition to having a family history of Catholicism and Mormonism, Hanks was a " Bible-toting evangelical teenager " for several years.

Hanks told New York magazine in 1986: " Acting classes looked like the best place for a guy who liked to make a lot of noise and be rather flamboyant ... I spent a lot of time going to plays.

During the same time, Hanks won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his 1978 performance as Proteus in Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona, one of the few times he played a villain.

At first, Howard considered Hanks for the role of the main character's wisecracking brother, a role that eventually went to John Candy.

Only the 1989 movie Turner & Hooch brought success for Hanks during this time.

This " modern era " began in 1993 for Hanks, first with Sleepless in Seattle and then with Philadelphia.

Hanks lost thirty-five pounds and thinned his hair in order to appear sickly for the role.

In a review for People, Leah Rozen stated " Above all, credit for Philadelphias success belongs to Hanks, who makes sure that he plays a character, not a saint.

" Hanks won the 1993 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Philadelphia.