My Family Heartbreak
A TRAGEDY FROM HIS FATHER’S YOUTH SHADOWED THE ACTOR’S LIFE FOR MANY YEARS
He’s beloved as a genial everyman, but underneath his sunny charm Tom Hanks has known trouble. A child of divorce, Tom grew up as a latchkey kid who, with his three siblings, moved 10 times in five years following their father Amos’ chef gigs. “He had great artistic desires,” Tom recalls of his father, “but life didn’t deal him the cards in order to pursue that.”
As a child, Amos witnessed the death of his father, scarring him for life. “He was 8…or 10 years old and a hired hand killed his father in the barn of the farm,” Tom says. “He was broken by that experience. He had to go testify as a kid three times.” Sadly, the culprit was acquitted of the murder and Amos’ trauma “robbed him of a sense of fairness in the world.”
Years later, Tom witnessed his father’s lingering inner conflict. “His father was kind but troubled,” says an insider. “Tom’s compassion and this understanding of what it’s like to struggle ironically became the cornerstone of his success as an actor.”
CHANGING THE FUTURE
When Tom became a parent himself at 21, he made mistakes like his own father by “not explaining things or not being there for” his two elder kids, Colin, 42, and Elizabeth, 38, from his first marriage to actress Samantha Lewes. “They remember when their dad was just a guy trying to make the rent,” he says.
With time and professional success, Tom was able to change his priorities. “There was not much joy in his father’s household. His parenting skills were mainly to make sure his kids were fed, clothed and had a bed,” says the insider. “That’s why it’s so important for Tom to be upbeat, optimistic and fun.” Happily, Amos, who died in 1992, lived long enough to watch his son grow into a success as an actor and a father. “Amos was genuinely proud of his son,” says the insider. “He loved him, and Tom truly loved his dad.”
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