When people look back at the last three decades of movies, there will be a handful of actors who will stand out as being among the best of the era. Of course, since Tom Hanks has starred in so many extremely successful films, he will belong on that list. On top of that, the fact that many of Hanks’ co-stars sing his praises further cements his legacy as one of the greats in Hollywood history.
Of course, just because Tom Hanks has accomplished so much doesn’t mean that he has led a perfect life. After all, Hanks has starred in some bad movies over the years and just like everyone else, his personal life has had some major ups and downs. In fact, as it turns out, Hanks’ childhood was far more difficult than most of his fans realize.
Why Tom Hanks Grew Up In A Dark Time
As older Tom Hanks fans will no doubt remember, the celebrated actor first rose to fame when he starred in the sitcom Bosom Buddies. While Bosom Buddies only was only aired for two seasons and Hanks’ role in the show didn’t call for the dramatic acting chops he showed off later in his career, he still began to garner fans at that point.
Given the fact that the masses were first introduced to Tom Hanks when he tried to garner laughs on television, some people may have assumed he gained his comedic skills during a fun childhood. In reality, however, it turns out that when Hanks was a youngster growing up in Northern California, it was a very dark time to be living in that area.
In 2019 when A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood was coming out, The New York Times published an article looking at the actor's history of kindness. In that article, it was pointed out that when Hanks was a youngster, Northern California was on edge for years. After all, “Hanks grew up in Northern California, in the era of the Zodiac Killer and Patty Hearst and the Black Panthers and the People’s Park riots”. Given how scared the people in California were at that time, it would have been great if Hanks had an adult there to take an active role in guiding him through those days.
Why Tom Hanks Says He “Fell Through The Cracks” As A Child
When Tom Hanks talks about his life, he unsurprisingly comes across as extremely thankful for the ways that everything played out for him. With that in mind, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that when Hanks was interviewed by Graham Bensinger, he said his childhood was a “perfect background for a guy whose job it is to put on clothes that are not his and pretend to be someone he’s not”. On the face of things, there is no reason to think that Hanks isn’t sincere in expressing his thankfulness for his background. However, when Hanks talks about his life when he was a kid, he mentions some things in passing that cast that time in his life in a very dark light.
Unfortunately for his family, Tom Hanks’ parents weren’t happy together which resulted in them getting a divorce when he was only five years old. While a lot of people have divorced parents and that alone is nowhere near enough to describe someone’s childhood as tragic, the problem for Hanks is he was neglected due to his parents’ divorce.
When Tom Hanks spoke to The New York Times for the aforementioned article about him, he revealed that when he was a child, nobody was there to even teach him the basics. "No one told me how to brush my teeth ... I never flossed until I was out of high school, because dental hygiene was handled by a filmstrip that we saw in second grade that said, really, try to eat an apple, and that cleans your teeth. So, hey, I had an apple last week, so my teeth are kind of clean."
On top of being forced to figure out the demands of dental hygiene by himself, Tom Hanks spent most of his childhood alone which was very problematic at times. For example, in the same interview with Graham Bensinger where he called his childhood was “perfect” for his later career, Hanks stated “there was a degree of loneliness” because he “fell through the cracks”.
As sad as it is to envision Tom Hanks feeling lonely as a child, the really disturbing part of his childhood is what happened the future actor went to plays and movies by himself as a youngster. While speaking to Graham Bensinger, Hanks revealed that he was forced to deal with some real creeps because he was left alone. “I will say that sometimes in line, I had to put off the advances of some older gentlemen that were very interested in a young man who was coming to the theater by himself.”
