Tom Hanks

• Chart pointers (PVNR): D-10 (career) Libra lagna; Venus is the Atmakaraka, retrograde, in the 6th in its Moolatrikona (Libra), with Mercury, Mars and Jupiter also in the 6th — so the 6th overwhelms the Artha trikona (2/6/10). A Venusian entertainment career earned through hard work and "missionary zeal" — the retrograde marks an unfulfilled past-life desire to struggle and succeed — contrasted with Aishwarya Rai's easy 5th-house fame. Venus sits in the Indra amsha (real authority, not mere fame).

• Kind of work: screen actor — comedy then drama — plus director and producer (Playtone). A pure Venusian entertainment career, but the kind earned by grinding effort rather than handed over as a gift.
• Fame: enormous and durable — one of the most recognisable, bankable and respected actors alive; a cumulative worldwide box office around $11 billion. Reputation as Hollywood's most decent, most trusted figure ("America's Dad").
• Position / power: elite stature in the industry — back-to-back Best Actor Oscars (a feat shared only with Spencer Tracy), AFI Life Achievement Award (2002, then its youngest recipient), Kennedy Center Honors, Cecil B. DeMille Award, Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016). Real authority, not just celebrity (the Indra amsha).
• Wealth: net worth estimated ~$400 million (2025–26); minimum per-film salary near $25M; the famous Forrest Gump gamble (taking box-office points over salary) reportedly earned him $70M+; real-estate portfolio with Rita Wilson reported at $150M+.
• Legal / negative: none of note — no significant scandals or litigation; the cleanest of public reputations.
• Health: type 2 diabetes (disclosed 2013); COVID-19 in March 2020 (among the first celebrities to disclose it).
• Death: n/a (living).

• 1956-07-09 — born Thomas Jeffrey Hanks at Mount Diablo Hospital, Concord, California; father an itinerant cook, mother a hospital worker.
• 1960 — parents divorce (Tom ~4); raised mostly by his father amid frequent moves and a succession of step-families — by age 10 he had lived in ten houses.
• 1970s — Skyline High (Oakland), Chabot College, then Cal State Sacramento; quits formal study in 1977 to act.
• 1977 — son Colin Hanks born (24 November), to Samantha Lewes.
• 1977–79 — internship at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, Cleveland.
• 1978 — wins the Cleveland Critics Circle Best Actor award (Proteus in Two Gentlemen of Verona); marries Samantha Lewes.
• 1980–82 — TV breakthrough as co-lead of the ABC sitcom Bosom Buddies; meets Rita Wilson on set (1981).
• 1982 — daughter Elizabeth Hanks born (17 May).
• 1984 — film breakout in Splash.
• 1987 — divorce from Samantha Lewes finalised.
• 1988 — Big earns his first Best Actor Oscar nomination; marries Rita Wilson (30 April).
• 1992 — A League of Their Own; 1993 — Sleepless in Seattle.
• 1994-03-21 — wins Best Actor at the 66th Academy Awards for Philadelphia (1993 film).
• 1995-03-27 — wins Best Actor at the 67th Academy Awards for Forrest Gump (1994 film) — back-to-back wins, a feat matched only by Spencer Tracy.
• 1995 — Apollo 13; begins voicing Sheriff Woody in Toy Story; son Truman born (26 December).
• 1996 — directorial debut, That Thing You Do!; founds the Playtone production company with Gary Goetzman.
• 1998 — Saving Private Ryan (Oscar nom) and You've Got Mail; produces HBO's From the Earth to the Moon.
• 1999 — The Green Mile; Toy Story 2.
• 2000 — Cast Away (Oscar nom).
• 2001 — co-produces/co-directs HBO's Band of Brothers (Emmy).
• 2002 — Road to Perdition and Catch Me If You Can; receives the AFI Life Achievement Award (12 June, then youngest ever); his first wife Samantha Lewes dies of cancer.
• 2006 — The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon; sequels 2009, 2016).
• 2010 — produces HBO's The Pacific; Toy Story 3.
• 2013 — Captain Phillips and Saving Mr. Banks (as Walt Disney); Broadway debut in Lucky Guy (Tony nom); discloses type 2 diabetes (October).
• 2014 — Kennedy Center Honors.
• 2016 — Sully; receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• 2019 — A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (as Fred Rogers; 6th Oscar nom, Best Supporting Actor); granted Greek honorary citizenship (27 December).
• 2020 — Cecil B. DeMille Award; announces COVID-19 with Rita Wilson (11 March, in Australia filming Elvis); hosts SNL remotely (11 April).
• 2022 — Elvis (as Colonel Tom Parker), Pinocchio, A Man Called Otto.
• 2024 — Apple TV+ miniseries Masters of the Air (producer) premieres (26 January).

Nature & personality

The defining read of this chart is an everyman who works for everything. His career sits in the 6th house of obstacles: nothing comes as an easy blessing — he has to grind — but he loves the grind. The retrograde Venus marks a strong, unfulfilled past-life desire to overcome challenges and succeed: a missionary zeal for the work itself. With Venus as Atmakaraka he pours his very soul into this theme. Off-screen, the persona matches the chart — decency, reliability, warmth: "America's Dad."

Profession, fame & status

Comedy first (Bosom Buddies, Splash, Big), then a historic dramatic run — back-to-back Best Actor Oscars for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, then Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile, Cast Away, Captain Phillips — plus the voice of Woody across the Toy Story films. Also a director and producer (Playtone; Band of Brothers, The Pacific). Six Oscar acting nominations (two wins), four Golden Globes, seven Emmys (as producer), AFI Life Achievement, Kennedy Center Honors, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Indra-amsha Venus shows as genuine industry authority, not mere fame.

Wealth & money

Net worth estimated ~$400 million (2025–26). His salary is near $25M a film, but his shrewdest move was the Forrest Gump deal — forgoing salary for box-office points, reportedly earning $70M+. A real-estate portfolio (with Rita Wilson) reported above $150M, including Pacific Palisades homes, property in Greece, and a Sun Valley ski house.

Marriage, relationships & children

First wife Samantha Lewes (married 1978, divorced 1987; children Colin, 1977, and Elizabeth, 1982; she died of cancer in 2002). Second wife Rita Wilson (actress/singer), married 30 April 1988 — a famously durable Hollywood marriage; sons Chet (~1990) and Truman (1995).

Health (and accidents)

Disclosed type 2 diabetes in 2013, and has spoken of a heart stent. Contracted COVID-19 in March 2020 while filming Elvis in Australia — among the first major figures to announce a diagnosis, which lent the early pandemic a sober public face.

Legal troubles / controversies

None of significance. One of the few major stars with no notable scandal or litigation — a reputation as Hollywood's most trusted figure.

• In D-10 the 10th house is not always the key — read the whole Artha trikona (2/6/10) and take the strongest. Here the 6th dominates, so the career is karma through overcoming obstacles, expressed via Venus = entertainment.
• A retrograde planet = an unfinished past-life desire that must be completed — in a house of struggle, that becomes a hunger to work hard and prevail.
• Same career type as Aishwarya Rai (Venus/entertainment, Indra amsha) but opposite circumstances: 6th = earned through effort, vs her 5th = given as a blessing. Venus as Atmakaraka makes the soul-investment, and so the planet, all the stronger.

PVNR SJC Lesson 8 (D-10 Artha-trikona career analysis; Atmakaraka; retrograde = past-life desire). Life events from the public record.