Who Are Tom Hanks’ Kids? Meet The People Following In Dad’s Entertaining Footsteps
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Tom Hanks is one of the most revered actors in Hollywood—loved by fans and colleagues alike. But when he’s not acting and producing some of our favorite movies, he’s spending time with his wife and kids because Hanks is a family man through and through.
“A man is blessed with a family sitting down front like that,” he said in a teary-eyed speech at the Golden Globes. “A wife who is fantastic in every way, who has taught me what love is. Kids who are braver and stronger and wiser than their old man is. I can’t tell you how much your love means to me.”
So who are the kids the Asteroid City actor speaks so highly of—and has even shared the silver screen with? Here’s everything we know about Tom Hanks’ kids.
How many kids does Tom Hanks have?
Tom Hanks has four kids, two with his first wife, the late Samantha Lewes (Colin and Elizabeth) and two with his current wife Rita Wilson (Chester “Chet” and Truman). Colin was born in 1977, Elizabeth was born in 1982, Chet was born in 1990 and Truman was born in 1995.
“My son Colin was born when I was very young. As well as my daughter, but that means we have this gestalt understanding because they remember when their dad was just a guy trying to, you know, make the rent. My other kids, they were born after I had established a beachhead in every way. And so their lives were just different,” Hanks told The New York Times.
Related: The Most Beloved Star Around! We Ranked the 27 Best Tom Hanks Movies of All Time, From Big to Elvis
Who are the mothers of Tom Hanks’ kids?
Samantha Lewes
Hanks shares Colin and Elizabeth with his late wife Lewes. The A Man Called Otto actor married his college sweetheart in 1978, shortly after they’d welcomed their first child Colin. Elizabeth was born in 1982, and the couple divorced a five years later in 1987. Lewes died in 2002 of bone cancer.
Rita Wilson
Hanks met his now-wife Rita Wilson on the set of Bosom Buddies (1980-1982) while he was still married to Lewes. The pair spent more time together on the set of Volunteers (1985), but it wasn’t until three years later that they would tie the knot. A year after Hanks’ divorce from Lewes, he married Wilson in 1988.
The couple welcomed their first child, Chet, in 1990 and their second son, Truman, in 1995.
How old was Tom Hanks when he had his first kid?
Hanks had his first child and got married at the young age of 21, while he was still trying to break into Hollywood.
He has shared his initial fears about being a dad so young, but over the years, he’s learned that parenting is about the simple things.
“All that most parents hope is that their children are happy, funny, well adjusted, and have a passion for something in their lives. What would negate everything is if the next generation that we're responsible for has a passionless existence. And that's cause for occasional sleepless nights,” he told Oprah Winfrey.
Who are Tom Hanks’ kids?
Tom Hanks has four children: Colin, Elizabeth, Chet and Truman.
Colin Hanks
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Colin is the oldest child of Hanks and Lewes. His birthday is Nov. 24, 1977. Colin was the first to follow in his father’s footsteps, becoming an Emmy Award-winning actor, director and producer. You’ve likely seen him in King Kong (2005), The House Bunny (2008), Dexter (2011), the Jumanji movies, and The Offer (2022)—you’ll know him when you see him because he bares a striking resemblance to his father.
“When I was starting off, I was sort of lovingly naive, thinking that [being the son of Tom Hanks] wasn’t as big a deal as it is, that I would get the benefit of the doubt that I was my own person, and that doesn’t happen,” Colin told Dax Shepard on Armchair Expert.
Colin briefly owned a handkerchief company, called Hanks Kerchiefs—unfortunately, the company went out of business in 2023.
He married former publicist Samantha Bryant in 2010—and the couple shares two daughters, Olivia, who was born in 2011, and Charlotte, who was born in 2013.
Elizabeth Hanks
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Elizabeth is the second child of Hanks and Lewes. Her birthday is May 17, 1982. Elizabeth goes by the professional name E.A. Hanks, which she uses to pen articles, essays, and an upcoming novel.
Elizabeth has written for Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, Time Magazine, and The New York Times. Her first novel is set to debut sometime in 2023.
Despite not pursuing acting full-time, Elizabeth isn’t a stranger to the screen. She has a few acting credits herself, including background acting in Forrest Gump (1994) and That Thing You Do! (1996), and voiceover work in Big City Greens (2019-2022).
Chet Hanks
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Chester (Chet) is the oldest child of Hanks and Wilson. His birthday is August 4, 1990. He is both an actor and singer/songwriter, where he has gone by the professional name “Chet Haze” and, more recently, “Chet Hanx.”
Chet’s most notable on-screen appearances include Fantastic Four (2015), Shameless (2016-2018), Empire (2018-2019), and Your Honor (2020-2023). Though he has also acted alongside his dad in Greyhound (2020), and his song “White Boy Summer” is featured in Hanks’ movie A Man Called Otto (2022).
In his spare time, Chet runs a personal training business called HanxFit Club.
Chet has spoken about growing up with famous parents and the privilege that he experienced.
“Fame is the most powerful drug known to man. My experience is even more complicated because, on top of fame already being toxic, I wasn’t even famous. I was just the son of somebody famous, I hadn’t even done anything to deserve any sort of recognition, and that created a lot of contempt,” he said in a YouTube video.
Along with his parental struggles, Chet previously went to rehab in 2014 for substance abuse that he’d been dealing with since he was 16 years old. He says his daughter Michaiah, whom he shares with his ex Tiffany Miles, is the reason he “turned [his] life around and got sober.”
Truman Hanks
Truman is Hanks’ youngest child, whom he shares with Wilson. His birthday is Dec. 26, 1995.
Truman did not start his film career as an actor, he’s primarily worked on production crews, but he has recently stepped onto the screen in two films with his father. He was featured in News of the World (2020) and A Man Called Otto, where he plays a young Otto (Hanks’ character).
Truman has also worked on crews for Black Widow (2021), Atypical (2021), West Side Story (2021), and Hanks’ newest film Asteroid City (2023).
Are Tom Hanks’ kids actors?
All of Hanks’ kids have dabbled in acting, but Colin is the only one who has pursued the career full-time.
Chet has been featured in a few television roles, but he’s also a singer/songwriter—and two of his songs have been included in mainstream media, including A Man Called Otto and Empire.
Truman is breaking into acting, but he’s mainly known for his production crew roles. His biggest role has been playing young Hanks in A Man Called Otto.
After Hanks, Chet, Truman, and Wilson, who produced the film along with Hanks, all worked on A Man Called Otto, it brought into question where nepotism plays a role in the Hanks family. However, Hanks vehemently denies that his sons are nepo babies.
“Look, this is a family business,” Hanks said. “This is what we’ve been doing forever. It’s what all of our kids grew up in. If we were a plumbing supply business or if we ran the florist shop down the street, the whole family would be putting in time at some point, even if it was just inventory at the end of the year.”
Even Elizabeth, who is not in the Hollywood world necessarily, has acted in some of her father’s movies and done voice work.
What do Tom Hanks’ kids do?
While most of Hanks’ kids are actors or fall somewhere in the entertainment realm, they all have other gigs besides on-screen roles.
Colin is a director and producer, with an untitled John Candy documentary in the works with Ryan Reynolds, who is also producing.
Elizabeth is a writer who has held bylines in HuffPost, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, and more. She also has an untitled novel coming out this year.
Chet is a singer/songwriter and a personal trainer at his company HanxFit Club.
Truman is credited mainly in the Camera and Electrical Department of the production crew, where he has worked as a director of photography assistant, a first camera assistant, and a loader.
Related: Tom Hanks Banks Millions! Find Out His Net Worth In 2023 and How He Made It
Does Tom Hanks have grandchildren?
The 66-year-old has three grandchildren, who are all girls. Colin Hanks has two daughters Olivia, who was born in 2011, and Charlotte, who was born in 2013, and Chet has one daughter Michaiah, who was born in 2016.
Hanks and Wilson describe themselves as the “cool grandparents”—though not for the reason we all think they’re cool. In fact, Colin has said that his girls don’t really care that Hanks is Tom Hanks.
“They’re aware of what he does for sure,” Colin told Us Weekly. “It’s just the same way they’re aware of what their father does for a living, but they don’t have really much interest in it. … I mean, I wasn’t on Hannah Montana, so they don’t really have any interest in what I do.”
