Early life, education
Elizabeth Ann Hanks was born on 17 May 1982, in Los Angeles, California USA, to parents who were both celebrities, as Elizabeth Ann is the second child in the family of world-famous Hollywood actor Tom Hanks and his late wife Samantha Lewes. Her elder brother, Colin Hanks, is five years older than his sister, Elizabeth Ann.
In June 2001 Elizabeth Ann Hanks matriculated from a private school which prepares girls for college – The Archer School for Girls is still considered to be a very expensive and exclusive educational organization established in 1995. Elizabeth Ann proceeded with her education studying for a year in the University of St Andrews, Scotland in 2003, but subsequently graduated from the liberal arts Vassar College in 2004, with a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in English Language and Literature. Her father, Tom Hanks, was welcomed to deliver a speech to the graduates at the commencement ceremony.
Early career
When a young girl, Elizabeth Ann Hanks was very intrigued by her father’s profession, and joined him in “Forrest Gump” (1994) playing a girl in the school bus who didn’t allow young Forrest to sit next to her. She also acted in movies such as “That Thing You Do!” (1996) and “Anchoraged’ (2015). She must have soon felt that acting was fun when you watch your dad doing it, but for herself she chose another way to go through life.
Celebrity family
It was probably a tough decision for Elizabeth Ann – to leave acting – since all the members of her family were actors. Her father, Tom Hanks (born Thomas Jeffrey Hanks), is a world-famous star of such movies as “Sleepless in Seattle” (1993), “Apollo 13” (1995) and “The Green Mile” (1999), and for being the face of Robert Langdon in Dan Brown’s series of novels adapted for films, starring in Ron Howard’s “The Da Vinci Code” (2006), “Angels and Demons” (2009) and “The Inferno” (2016).
Elizabeth Ann’s mother, Samantha Lewes (born Susan Jane Dillingham), was an actor too though she mostly took part in theatre plays. She appeared in the TV show “Bosom Buddies” along with Tom Hanks. Studying together in Sacramento State University, Tom and Samantha started dating and then married in 1978, already having their first son, Colin.
Elizabeth’s parents divorced when she was five years old, but it is said they separated even earlier, in 1984, when Elizabeth Ann was only two years old. For a long period of time Samantha Lewes fought against health issues, losing the fight against bone cancer in 2002.
Colin Hanks (born Colin Lewes Dillingham), Elizabeth Ann’s elder brother, is an actor too, noted for such works as the roles of Shaun Brumder in “Orange County” (2002), Preston in “King Kong” (2005) and Gus Grimly in “Fargo” (2014, Season 1). Colin was the winner of Young Hollywood Award in the “One To Watch – Male” category.
It’s worth mentioning that Elizabeth Ann’s uncle, Jim Hanks (born James Mathew Hanks), Tom Hanks’ brother, is an actor too, mostly a voice actor, producer and director, but who often helps his famous brother to do voice work for him.
Tom Hanks’ second wife Rita Wilson (born Margarita Ibrahimoff), is a celebrity too, and Elizabeth Ann’s stepmother with whom she spent a lot of time in her childhood. She is an actress, producer and a singer/songwriter – she appeared in such movies as “Sleepless in Seattle” (1993), “Now and Then” (1995) and “Runaway Bride” (1999), as well as performing on Broadway in the role of singing murderer Roxie Hart in the 2006 revival of “Chicago”. As a singer, she debuted with her first album “AM/FM” in 2012. Rita Tom Hanks have two sons, Chester (born Chester Marlon ‘Chet’ Hanks, an actor) and Truman (Truman Theodore Hanks, whose occupation is unknown).
It is known that Rita Wilson tried hard to make the family feel comfortable together, taking care not only of her own children, but of Elizabeth and Colin, whom she adopted when they were kids. They are still very close and friendly, spending time together as one big family, celebrating holidays and other events.
Being a well-educated person and well-informed of her family’s history, Elizabeth Ann shares the story of her grandmother, Elexio Rose in her post on Instagram, asking her subscribers to support the ACLU and the National Immigration Justice Center: “This is my great grandmother, Elexio Rose. She was an immigrant from Portugal. My step-grandparents were from Greece and Bulgaria. My mother’s people fled starvation in the potato famine. I am the product of the great immigrant history of America. Chances are, you are, too. Let’s remind our President who we are and what we stand for”.
Current life and career
Elizabeth Ann Hanks chose her own special career and became a writer. She is known for working for “The Guardian”, “Vanity Fair” and “The Huffington Post”, and also as the Children’s Editor at “The Los Angeles Review of Books”.
Gossip reporters always want to know what celebrities are married to whom, but Elizabeth Ann, hiding in the social media under the nickname “EA Hanks”, keeps her private life far from a random reader. But there was one article “It’s time to stop playing the Girl That Got Away in your ex-boyfriend’s fantasies” which Elizabeth Ann wrote for her birthday when she turned 34, in which she reasoned about relationships and her own place in her former affairs. The stories remained unhappy and went to nothing: ‘After all, that is what I am to them: a fantasy of the past. They don’t miss me, they miss a time in their lives when things seemed easier – before errands and diapers and mortgages, when the future was something to dream about, rather than dread’. Going through the article one can see how Elizabeth becomes aware of her own value, of the fact that her feelings matter the most. It’s still not known for sure if that article is her true story or a dramatic sketch, but the inner state of the girl described in the article sounds so real and honest that one can think it’s a confession of a woman who is still somewhat unhappy in her personal life at the age of 34. Her memories are bittersweet yet with a hope for a future where she will be happy: ‘Not too long ago I was dressed up on a cool evening in New Orleans’ French Quarter, seated alone at the bar of Sylvain, and enjoying the chocolate pot de creme. My first ex-boyfriend, a good friend, was getting married. As for the ghosts, with their emails and phone calls and text messages, they’re not looking for friendship. I’d like to think that they’re looking for their happiness, and I wish them nothing but the best. But I also wish they’d leave me out of it’.
Elizabeth Ann also posted her opinion on religion in 2014, writing an article in which she admitted she was no longer a Christian, and that it was only her mother who made her walk that path: ‘My own journey as a born again Christian began with my troubled mother, who had converted as part of her struggle for sobriety. Where she went, I followed, whether it was to Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous or into the bosom of the Holy Spirit. As a 10-year-old, A Time to Cherish spoke to me deeply as about the struggle of trying to lead a “Christ First” life in a “Satan Based” world’.
This article looks closer at Elizabeth herself, since she gave too many personal details about her mother and her childhood to consider this story to be a fantasy. Nevertheless, Elizabeth Ann admits that she is out of religion, and she’s an atheist now, adding: ‘I am lucky enough to have recently officiated at the wedding of two wonderful men, so suffice to say I find the majority of the Focus on the Family platform to be pure anathema today’.
It’s known that Elizabeth Ann Hanks is in the process of writing her first novel for children, called “Piper Peregrine vs. the Consortium for Better Thinking”.
Look alive, Boston. Anything can happen when @jonathanmtucker is around. pic.twitter.com/n3dqIwKP
— EA Hanks (@eahanks) February 29, 2012
Social media activity
Elizabeth’s Twitter account is full of random thoughts and quotes, but she often uses her them to express her political views: ‘I understand the majority of my 14k followers are bots and gossip reporters waiting for me to get tipsy and tweet something salacious about Hooch, but for the rest of you lovely US humans, are you registered to vote??’ She supported Hillary Clinton in the election for for the President of the United States.
Elizabeth shares her book preferences, advising her followers to read books such as “Eichmann in Jerusalem” and “The Origins of Totalitarianism” by Hannah Arendt. According to the book list she posted on her Instagram, she likes everything associated with WWII.
Elizabeth likes drawing and often shares her sketches with her followers, showing them a “Subway sketch”, a “Horny sketch” or a “Oh, hey Tuesday!” composition. She also likes travelling, and keeps her followers up-to-date with where she is, whether it’s Kenya, Mozambique, or well-known destinations such as California or Berlin.
But even more than travelling Elizabeth Ann enjoys her time in cafes and restaurants with strong drinks, visiting such fashionable places as New York Café Budapest, or just spending her time with a long-drink in a grill bar.
One can find her holding a baby in her arms in one of the photos, but that is most likely Colin Hanks’ child, Elizabeth’s nephew.
Net Worth
Authoritative estimates regarding Elizabeth Ann Hanks’ net worth put it at over $1 million as of early 2019. Of course her annual income varies according to her work schedule, but her wealth would seem likely to rise, assuming that she continues successfully in her varied career.
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