Today Tom Hanks turns 59, and the denizens of the internet in particular will toast him as not only one of the finest actors of this, or any, generation, but also as a consistent source of material for the online masses hungry for another 'Hanks moment'.
With his two Oscars, the second highest grossing box-office record of all time (with a total box office gross of over €8.4bn worldwide) and an asteroid named after him (12818 Tomhanks, so you know), Tom Hanks has a pretty good chance at being admired by almost everyone. But if that isn't enough, then his colourful track record of showing a humanity and self-deprecation that often seems beyond most stars might just do it.
As Hanks turns 59, we bring you some of the moments that have made him perhaps the most likeable and humble double Oscar winner we’re ever likely to see.
1 When he gave in to the typewriter bribe
When the crew of The Nerdist podcast wanted to get Tom Hanks on their show they came up with an original, educated scheme for bribery.
Hanks is a typewriter aficionado – he collects vintage models – so the Nerdist team hunted down a 1934 Smith Corona portable typewriter – in fine condition – and typed up an invitation to Hanks on it.
They then left the invitation sitting in the carriage of the machine, and sent the lot directly to Mr Hanks, asking him to join them for “a super relaxed, fun chat that will probably cover comedy, NASA, and whatever else you want to talk about”.
To the delight of the team Hanks responded with a letter to “Chris, Ashley and all the diabolical geniuses at Nerdist Industries.”
“Dear Chris, Ashley, and all the diabolical genuies at Nerdist Industries.
Just who do you think you are to try to briibe me into an appearance on your”¨’thing’ with this gift of the most fantastic Cornona Silent typewriter made in 1934?
You are out of your minds if you think… that I… wow, this thing has great action…”¨and this deep crimson color… Wait! I’m not so shallow as to… and it types nearly”¨silently…
Oh, OKAY!
I will have my people contact yours and work out some kind of interview process…
Damn you all to hell,
Tom Hanks"
And to go with that, in 2014 Hanks released a typewriter app for the iPhone, which shot straight to the top of the app charts.
2 - When he invited NYC cabbie 'Mr. Ferrari' to his show
One New York cabbie got the experience of a lifetime when he picked up Tom Hanks on Park Avenue in Manhattan one day.
He told his story to the popular website Humans of New York – whose retelling of it only helped elevate Hanks further in the nice guy pantheon.
"So get this. I'm driving down Park Avenue one day and this guy waves for me, so I pull over and I ask him where he's going. He tells me 74th street, and I tell him that's too far for me, because my shift just ended, so he says 'thanks anyway' and walks away. But then I think about it, and I start feeling bad for the guy, cause hey-- I got a conscience. So I call him back to the cab and tell him to hop in. And he gets in the car all excited, all animated, and he's talking about all these things. But he's got his cap pulled down way over his eyes, so I can't see who it is. But pretty soon I start to recognize his voice. And when we get to a light, I turn to him, and I look him in the eye, and I scream: "WIIIIIIILLLSSSSSOOOOOOON!!!" And that really got him.
"He started laughing hard. He sees that I've got this Ferrari hat on, and a Ferrari shirt too, so he starts calling me 'Mr. Ferrari.' The whole ride, he keeps calling me 'Mr. Ferrari.' So after we get to his destination, we snap a quick photo, and he goes on his way. And I think that's it.
"But that's not it, cause get this. Over the next few weeks, I just happen to randomly pick up people that know him. People who have acted with him before, people who work with him. And every time, I tell them: 'Tell Mr. Hanks that Mr. Ferrari says 'hello.'" Every time I say that. Then one day I'm driving, and I get a text from one of the people that I'd driven, and it says: 'Mr. Hanks wants to invite you to see his Broadway show.'
"So I bring my lady to the show, and we get to go backstage and everything, and after the show, we're waiting for him in his dressing room, and he walks in and screams: 'Mr. Ferrari!' Can you believe that story? And you wanna know the craziest thing? The name of his show was 'Lucky Guy.' How crazy is that? Cause that was me. A lucky guy!"
Credit: Humans of New York
3 - When he sang Montell Jordan’s ‘This is How We Do It’ while dressed as a rabbi
It was at the wedding of Justin Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun.
Haha Tom Hanks singing "This Is How we do it" dressed like a Rabbi lol #thatdancetho
A video posted by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) on Jul 7, 2014 at 12:14pm PDT
4 - When he helped a stranger fool the internet with a viral hit
In August 2012 photos spread across the internet of Tom Hanks posing beside an apparently sleeping, most probably drunk, young man at a restaurant. It went viral with the following message attached:
“The fella in the white doesn't know Tom hanks, never met never will.
"Tom was sitting at the bar with his friend having a few beers, when he noticed this guy passed out, he went over to see if he was ok noticed the guy's mobile phone was on the table shot off a few pics and left the guy passed out and put the phone in the guys pocket.
"Seriously can you imagine finding this on your phone after a drunken night out ???”
Hanks stock went through the roof on this one, but the truth is arguably even better. The sleeping man was in fact a fan who spotted Hanks in a restaurant and, after asking him for a photo, decided to see if Hanks was interested in something more original than the thumbs up and cheesy grins formula. Hanks was, of course, and the rest is internet history.
5 - When he met Wilson and Woody
He’s more than happy to play along when reunited with former co-stars and ex-aliases of his own.
6 – When he met his fan, Sarah Moretti
In 2013 he met a woman named Sarah Moretti, who has autism. Sarah has collected Hanks newspaper cuttings for years, collecting them in her Tom Hansk scrapbook.
Hanks met her backstage at his Broadway show Lucky Guy (the same show he was on at the time of the Mr.Ferrari story) and while flicking through the scrapbook told her: “This is so great, even my mom doesn’t have something like this.”
7 – When he acted out his filmography with James Corden
Which also serves as a fine reminder of just how many classics Hanks has starred in.
