Tom Hanks is one of the few superstars to have remained untarnished at the top of Hollywood over the years and to have withstood the test of time.
Nobody has a harsh word to say about Hollywood’s favorite “Mr Nice Guy.” He is a legend on the screen. He appears to be the nicest man in Hollywood off-screen; a great gentleman.
But did you know that Tom has had a “silent” illness for a long time?
Tom Hank, who played Forrest Gump, is only 66 years old, though it can be difficult to believe that given how long it seems like he’s been alive.
The two-time Academy Award-winning actor has developed a reputation as a fantastic performer as well as an all-around kind guy who has never let fame and wealth get to him. In addition to being a cultural giant, Hanks is referred to as “America’s Dad” and is constantly pictured showing kindness to his followers and people he encounters outside of Hollywood.
It becomes evident why Tom Hanks has kept both feet on the ground despite his brilliant job and the millions of dollars in his bank account if we look a bit closer at his childhood and upbringing.
Tom Hanks, who was born in Concord, California, did not exactly have a happy childhood. He was a kid of divorce and had to move about a lot growing up; Tom himself described his upbringing as nomadic.
Apparently, no one instructed him on how to brush his teeth, and Tom was frequently disregarded.
In an interview with Graham Bensinger, Tom said, “Maybe there was a degree of loneliness because really no one — I kind of like fell through the cracks and didn’t really have people per per who were taking care of me.”
Tom lived in ten different homes by the time he turned ten. Tom was surrounded by stepbrothers and sisters who came and went because both of his parents had multiple relationships and had been wedded “three or four times.” He has claimed that he wouldn’t recognize some of them if he saw them now.
“When our parents got separated, our younger brother and three older children moved in with our mother and our father. We were afterwards led back and forth by a herd. I can recall instances when we all shared a bedroom at one point and a large, dispersed house at another. Other times, we went years without speaking to one another,” Tom told the Chicago Tribune in 1984.
Tom found that humor was the secret to surviving his tumultuous background. Every time he enrolled in a new school, he utilized it to gain acceptance.
I was a nerd and a spaz. I was painfully, excruciatingly shy. I was also the one who would shout out amusing captions during film strips at the same time. I avoided difficulty, though. I was a really good child and pretty responsible growing up, Tom said.
Tom started taking theatre classes in high school after attending a school production that piqued his interest in performing.
I had no idea that acting was even a possibility until that point, he admitted. I had more fun than I ever dreamed of having, he remarked.
Tom took up a new endeavor after graduating from California State University, Sacramento, and worked for the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival for three years. After learning everything there is to know about classical theater, the young actor decided he was ready for another change.
When Tom initially arrived in New York in 1979, he was cast in He Knows You’re Alone, a low-budget “hack and slash” film that was fully filmed on Staten Island. Although the movie garnered generally unfavorable reviews, it was a monetary success and gave Tom, then 24 years old, a lot of opportunities.
Tom first attracted the attention of Hollywood and reviewers when he appeared in the 1980 sitcom Bossom Buddies, but many would argue that his big break came with the Ron Howard-directed fantasy romantic comedy Splash.
Before earning back-to-back Oscars and Golden Globes for his lead roles in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump in 1994 and 1995, he went on to star in Turner and Hooch and Sleepless in Seattle.
Tom was married to American actress Samantha Lewes when he first started acting. When Tom Hanks and Samantha got married when he was only 21 years old, their family grew quickly.
Actor Colin Hanks was born to them in 1978, and Samantha gave birth to their daughter Elizabeth in 1982.
At first, Tom and Samantha were very in love and had a lot in common because Samantha had gone through a divorce. Tom claimed that his wife “had stories about having parents with lots of marriages and divorce and all that can even beat mine.
We are both incredibly pragmatic. We are aware that our marriage could end at any moment; in fact, it nearly did, he told the Chicago Tribune in 1984.
Tom and Samantha separated from one another after nine years of marriage. The couple’s difficult childhoods made the decision to file for divorce particularly difficult. Tom underwent a really dark time and sought treatment three times each week to overcome his negative thoughts. His divorce was “a tremendously traumatic time loaded with emotion and unpleasant feelings,” he has said in hindsight.
Tom believed he had failed as a father, but once he met Rita Wilson, who would eventually become his wife, he began to feel differently.
He was initially apprehensive about dating seriously another woman so soon after his divorce. Hanks discussed his feelings for Rita when they first met in an interview with the “Sooo Many White Guys” podcast.
“We got married, we made a commitment to one another, we adore one another, and we diligently work on our relationship… Not only do we love each other, but we also really like each other, like spending time together, support one another, and maintain open lines of communication. That is always crucial.
When Wilson was given a breast cancer diagnosis in 2015, it was one of the most difficult moments in their relationship. Fortunately, it was caught early enough by the doctors that she could receive therapy. Tom Hanks was undoubtedly by her side at all times.
Sadly, this was not the first instance of cancer in Tom’s family. Samantha, his ex-wife, passed away at the young age of 50 following her own struggle with bone cancer.
Fortunately, Tom has never had cancer, but he does have another illness that has plagued him for a long time.
Due to the disease’s lack of obvious symptoms, it is also difficult to detect.
Tom’s work has been hampered by the “silent” sickness, and he has been obliged to decline certain opportunities because they called for significant physical modifications or the eating of particular foods. The Hollywood celebrity first noticed the disease’s symptoms in the early 1990s, although she was unaware of its nature at the time.
The physicians eventually provided Tom with a response following examinations and tests. And in 2013, Tom came forward to share his type 2 diabetes diagnosis in the open.
The 66-year-old actor revealed during an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman that he had diabetes mellitus, a condition in which the body does not create enough or react to insulin as it should, leading to abnormally high blood sugar levels. If your lifestyle and habits are not changed to accommodate your diabetes 2, it can have disastrous and even fatal effects.
One in ten Americans, or about 37 million people, have diabetes, and 90 to 95 percent of them have type 2 diabetes. Tom, however, claims that when he was diagnosed, he was surprised.
Because many individuals with type 2 diabetes frequently experience no symptoms at first, some publications refer to diabetes as a silent killer.
“I visited the doctor, who informed me that I had been battling with excessive blood sugar levels since I was 36. Well, you’ve earned a degree! Young man, you have type 2 diabetes,” Hanks recalled.
Tom’s doctors actually forewarned him about having pre-diabetes earlier in his life. But he continued to live his life as usual, disregarded the warning sign. When the verdict was announced, Tom felt like a complete moron.
He told Radio Times, “I believed I could get away with it by taking the buns off my cheeseburgers.
“Well, it takes a bit more than that, I suppose.”
The main causes of his disease are his lifestyle and his family’s history of diabetes. It wasn’t exactly optimal for him to eat anything he wanted due to his DNA.
Tom added, “I’m a member of the American generation that has been naively dancing through the party and now finds itself with a disease.
“I weighed a lot. You have seen me in movies, therefore you are familiar with my appearance. I was a complete moron.”
Doctors recommended the beloved actor to maintain his weight from his adolescent years and thin down in order to put the sickness in remission. Medical professionals were upbeat, but Tom wasn’t so sure.
Then, he laughed, “I’m going to develop type 2 diabetes because there is no way I can weigh what I weighed in high school.”
But a lot has transpired since that 2013 David Letterman interview. Hanks’ apparent change of heart can be seen in recent photos of him. To promote his new Elvis movie, Tom made an appearance on the red carpet at Cannes in May 2022.
Many of Tom’s admirers remarked on how fantastic he looked and how trim he was. I think he has obviously lost some weight!
The 66-year-old appears to work very hard to keep his weight in check; in addition, he works out to assist regulate his blood sugar levels.
“I make an effort to engage in one hour of activity every day. ‘Sooo Many White Guys’ podcast: “That may be anything from a treadmill to a stroll or a hike with a dog, but it has to be one hour every single day.”
