Colin Hanks

Early life

Hanks was born and raised in Sacramento, California, the eldest son of actor Tom Hanks and his first wife, producer and actress Susan Dillingham, (known professionally as Samantha Lewes), who died of bone cancer on March 12, 2002. His paternal grandmother was of Portuguese descent, while his maternal grandfather's mother is of Austrian-Jewish and Polish-Jewish descent. His surname was changed to Hanks after his parents married in 1978. He has a younger sister, Elizabeth (born 1982), and two younger paternal half-brothers, Chester Marlon Hanks (born 1990) and Truman Theodore Hanks (born 1995), from his father's second marriage, to actress Rita Wilson. Hanks attended Sacramento Country Day School, and then Chapman University, before transferring to Loyola Marymount University. He left without earning a degree.

Career

In 1999, Hanks won the role of Alex Whitman in the science-fiction series Roswell, where he appeared for the first two seasons (making a brief appearance in the third). During that time, he acted in the teen comedies Whatever It Takes with Shane West and Get Over It with Ben Foster. Hanks also made an appearance in an episode of The OC. He appeared in part eight of HBO mini-series Band of Brothers as Lt. Henry Jones. In 2002, he starred in his first film as Shaun Brumder in Orange County, alongside Jack Black and Schuyler Fisk. The comedy features Hanks trying to get into Stanford University after his guidance counselor mistakenly sends out the wrong transcript. In 2005, he appeared in the remake of King Kong, playing the assistant to Jack Black's character. In 2006, Hanks had a cameo role in Black's Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, playing a drunken fraternity brother. He starred in the romantic comedy The House Bunny, playing Oliver, a charming manager of a nursing home and the love interest of Anna Faris' character.

In 2008, he appeared in The Great Buck Howard, which was produced by his father and also starred John Malkovich. He also played Father Gill, a young Roman Catholic priest, in season 2 of the TV show Mad Men. In 2009, he made his Broadway debut, acting alongside Jane Fonda in the Moisés Kaufman play 33 Variations. In 2009, Hanks began work as director on All Things Must Pass, a documentary about Tower Records, that premiered March 17, 2015 at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.

Hanks starred in the 2010 Fox TV series The Good Guys as young detective Jack Bailey, alongside Bradley Whitford who played an old school detective (Dan Stark). In 2011, he starred in the indie film Lucky, alongside Ari Graynor, Ann-Margret and Jeffrey Tambor. He also joined the cast of Dexter for season six opposite Edward James Olmos, where he portrays an art historian Travis Marshall who is involved in a murderous apocalyptic cult.

In 2013, he starred as Allison in the second season of the web series Burning Love. That same year he also portrayed Dr. Malcolm Perry in the historical film Parkland. In 2014, he played Officer Gus Grimly in the FX television series Fargo, for which he received Critics' Choice Television Award and Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

In 2015, Hanks began a voice role in the show Talking Tom and Friends. He voices Talking Tom, the main character.

Hanks directed the documentary All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records, released in 2015. The film received funding of nearly $100,000 through a Kickstarter campaign. Hanks also provided the voice of Luke in the series PAW Patrol.

Personal life

Hanks dated Busy Philipps in the 1990s, while in college. In June 2009, Hanks became engaged to former New York publicist Samantha Bryant. The couple married on May 8, 2010, in Los Angeles. They have two daughters: Olivia (born 2011) and Charlotte (born 2013).

Hanks is an avid fan of the San Francisco Giants baseball team, and attended their World Series–clinching victory in Texas in November 2010. He also directed a 30 for 30 short about their disastrous "Crazy Crab" stint in the 1980s. He is also a fan of the San Francisco 49ers, Sacramento Kings, and Los Angeles Kings. He was the official Kevin and Bean LA Kings playoff correspondent for the 2012 and 2013 seasons.