Actors Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson have some of Hollywood’s long-lasting marriages and have been referred to as “king and queen of the ball.” Hanks once told millions of people on national TV that the woman in his life had taught and showed him what love meant on a daily.
In February 1996, acclaimed actor Tom Hanks earned his second Best Actor Oscar Award at the Academy Awards. He gave a heart-warming acceptance speech which included his beautiful wife, actress Rita Wilson.
With 81 million viewers tuned in to the program, Hanks revealed how Wilson’s presence had impacted his life, sharing that he knows what love is because of her.
“I’m standing here because the woman I share my life with has taught me and demonstrates to me every day just what love is,” said the filmmaker.
“Apollo 13” producer Brian Grazer revealed how head over heels the couple was. “They are madly in love. They are king and queen of the ball,” he stated.
Hanks and Wilson’s romance started with a crush he had on her in 1972. The “Cast Away” star first saw the singer on “The Brady Bunch.”
Wilson made her acting debut on the American sitcom as cheerleader Pat Conway and apparently, 16-year-old Hanks fell in love with her pom-pom skills. He told reporters at the 2016 New York City premiere of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” what he thought of his future wife:
“I was actually at a friend of mine’s house when it aired, and I remember thinking, ‘that girl’s cute.’”
However, Hanks did not act on his feelings until the mid-1980s. The universe brought the pair together when they met on the set of the ABC TV series, “Bosom Buddies,” in 1981 that he starred in for two seasons.
Wilson appeared as a guest on an episode about a video dating service, and Hanks instantly felt a connection between them. Hanks asked her whether she felt it too:
“Rita and I just looked at each other and –kaboing, that was that. I asked Rita if it was the real thing for her, and it just couldn’t be denied.”
Once again, their lives crossed paths when they were cast in their first film together in 1985 in “Volunteers.” After filming ended, Hanks raved about Wilson, saying when they first locked eyes, they internally knew they were in the right place, emphasizing that he felt it:
“I think the result is that we got married for all the right reasons.”
Even then, Wilson and Hanks remained friends. At the time, he was still legally married to Samantha Lewes, with whom he welcomed two children, but they divorced in 1987. Sadly, Lewes died in 2002 from bone cancer.
Nonetheless, Hanks and Wilson went public with their relationship in December 1986 during his separation from Lewes. The “Greyhound” star told UK Express that he was looking for something he had never found as a child. Hanks explained that being in a broken marriage meant he would be sentencing his kids to what he experienced as a child. He was only 23 and was insecure about marriage.
However, he walked down the aisle for the second time when he wed Wilson in April 1988. Since then, Hanks revealed the success of their union was a matter of timing, maturity, and willingness to explore their connection.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in September 2001, the media mogul asked him whether he would have been ready for matrimony if he married Wilson first.
Deemed a cultural icon, Hanks said that he knew he had to change when he married his lovely spouse. They had to discover each other, and he noted their relationship was not perfect like in the movies:
“In real life, our connection is as concrete as me sitting here. Not that marriage doesn’t come close to being hell in a handbasket sometimes. But we both know that no matter what, we’ll be with each other and we’ll get through it.”
Hanks disputed the notion that marriage takes hard work. “No, it’s not,” he said while explaining that from time to time, one needs to get over some things and that life has its challenges.
The Hollywood leading man added that it was pleasing to go home with someone he liked to spend time with and get on with everything else.
Hanks has four children, two from his first marriage and another two from his union with Wilson. The couple welcomed their first child together, Chet, in August 1990.
Chet is a rapper and an actor who has struggled with substance addiction. But after going into rehab, he became sober. Since getting his life together, Chet bagged a recurring role in “Empire.”
Hank and Wilson’s youngest son is Truman, who arrived in December 1995. Though he has kept a relatively low profile, his IMBD credits suggest he has his eyes set on showbusiness. Truman was a production assistant on the 2018 film “The Cloverfield Paradox” and the 2019 remake of “Charlie’s Angels.”
Hanks has two older children, son Colin and daughter Elizabeth, with his late ex-wife Lewes. His eldest son Colin is the spitting image of him and the most popular of all the siblings.
Colin followed in his father’s footsteps when he made his acting debut in “Get Over It” and “Orange County” before starring in “Dexter” and “Fargo.”
Meanwhile, his sister Elizabeth is an LA-based writer who worked as a Vanity Fair staffer and a HuffPost associate news editor. She has also contributed to Time and The New York Times. The brunette beauty has an English degree.
In February 2022, her younger brother Chet dropped a bombshell when he criticized their father’s parenting skills. The musician claimed he did not have a “strong male role model” as he struggled with having famous parents during his teenage years.
Though he assured fans that he had nothing but love for his parents and would not trade them for anything, Chet confessed that coming from a well-known family is a “double-edged sword.”
He said many people derided him for being a movie star’s child. While trying to maneuver through the situation, he realized that he needed a firm role model who could have told him to ignore the naysayers because they were jealous of him.
Moreover, he revealed that Hanks and Wilson did not give him an allowance growing up, adding people assumed that he lived a privileged life which was the opposite.
In September 2015, his brother Colin appeared on “NotSam” and revealed that he gave him advice as the older sibling. Colin stated his younger brother should think twice about his actions.
The movie star acknowledged that Chet was a grown man who would do whatever he wanted and that as his big brother, he loves him, supports him, and wants him to be happy.
In December 2016, Chet took to Instagram to reveal that he had fathered a daughter named Machaiah after numerous media speculations. He shares his child with Tiffany Miles.
The California native said his child was the best thing that has ever happened to him and the main reason why he turned on a new leaf:
“I do have a daughter. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. She’s the reason why I turned my life around and got sober. I’ve been sober for over a year and a half from everything.”
In June 2018, Chet told Entertainment Tonight that his parents had supported his sobriety journey: “Every step of the way. They’ve always been there for me, and I’m lucky,” he said.
He also shared his mom and dad enjoyed being his daughter’s grandparents. The father of one loves seeing them grandparenting because he was close with his grandparents, and now his child gets to have the same experience. Chet revealed his parents always offer to babysit the little one all the time.
Wilson and Hanks became grandparents for the first time when Colin and his wife Samantha Bryant welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Olivia, in 2011. Even as a grandfather, Hanks revealed he still played with his kids’ toys:
“I play with toys all the time. I play with goofy things my kids still have like cars and planes, and I hold them and imagine the same stories I did when I was a kid.”
Colin and Bryant had a second child Charlotte in 2013. In March 2019, the “Untraceable” star revealed his kids had no idea that their grandfather was famous. “They don’t care about him at all,” he joked.
Colin explained his daughters had no interest in their father’s fame and that anytime they spent time with his dad, it was like any other playdate with a grandparent. In an interview with ET, Wilson and Hanks talked about their experience as grandparents.
She revealed they are cool grandparents, and Hanks echoed the same sentiments stating they were the coolest grandma and grandpa. In addition, being with his grandkids meant no TV, no book, or radio because they entertained him.
Wilson added, “Sometimes they look at us like, ‘What?’ Could you imagine being like ‘Grandpa, Tom Hanks, stop being so silly!’” she said.
The couple became grandparents for the third time when Chet welcomed Machaiah. Her existence resulted from Chet’s “drug-fueled one-night stand” with Miles, who won full custody of their child.
Nonetheless, a source revealed Hanks and Wilson fell in love with their biracial granddaughter. “They adore that baby and even spent Halloween with her. She will always be loved and taken care of by the Hanks family.”
