Tom Hanks has four children. Colin and Elizabeth are his children with his first wife, Samantha Lewes. Chet and Truman are his children with his wife, Rita Wilson.
The four children at a glance
The table below lists each child, the mother, the birth date Good Morning America reported in August 2024, and the work each sibling is best known for. Birth order runs from left to right.
| Child | Mother | Born (per Good Morning America, August 2024) | Best-known public work |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colin Hanks | Samantha Lewes | November 24, 1977 | Acting |
| Elizabeth Ann Hanks (E.A. Hanks) | Samantha Lewes | May 17, 1982 | Writing |
| Chester “Chet” Hanks | Rita Wilson | August 4, 1990 | Music (as Chet Haze) and acting |
| Truman Theodore Hanks | Rita Wilson | December 26, 1995 | Film work |
Ages are not listed here. Ages printed in coverage from 2023 and 2024 are out of date, and birth dates are the more reliable reference point.
Colin and Elizabeth: the children of Samantha Lewes
Colin Hanks
Colin is the older of Hanks’s two children with Lewes. He has built his career in acting. Good Morning America’s family profile cites a selection of his credits, including Orange County, Life in Pieces, American Crime Story, Drunk History, The House Bunny, and Fargo. That list is not a complete filmography.
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Elizabeth Ann Hanks (E.A. Hanks)
Elizabeth is the younger of the two. She appeared in film roles as a child, then moved into writing under the name E.A. Hanks. Good Morning America reports that her work has appeared in the Guardian, the New York Times, and Times Magazine. A 2025 El País profile identifies her memoir as The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road, which is the most direct way to read about her own account of the family.
Chet and Truman: the children of Rita Wilson
Chet Hanks
Chester “Chet” Hanks is the older son of Hanks and Wilson. He pursued music under the stage name Chet Haze, and his acting credits include Empire and Greyhound.
Truman Hanks
Truman Theodore Hanks is the younger son and Tom Hanks’s fourth child. He graduated from Stanford. On screen, he played a younger version of his father’s character in A Man Called Otto, a film that also drew Hanks’s comments about his children’s careers, covered below.
How the family timeline fits together
Biography.com’s profile of Hanks (originally published April 3, 2014, updated April 20, 2021) sets out the marriages that explain why the children have two mothers:
Rank #3
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- 1978: Hanks marries Samantha Lewes.
- 1987: Hanks and Lewes divorce.
- 1988: Hanks marries Rita Wilson.
Colin and Elizabeth were born to the first marriage, and Chet and Truman to the second.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Tom Hanks has said about his children’s careers
At the New York premiere of A Man Called Otto in January 2023, Hanks spoke with Entertainment Tonight, which quoted him as saying: “I think my kids are all like Renaissance artists, you know? [They] are good at whatever they choose to be. But the question here is, can you make it stick?” He added: “You’ve got to have a passion, you’ve got to have a drive.” The bracketed word is Entertainment Tonight’s own transcription.
Rank #4
Hanks also described acting as a family business: “The shoe industry is a family business. The car industry is a family business.” He made the remark in the context of the “nepo baby” debate. Entertainment Tonight’s report, published January 9, 2023, was headlined as Hanks elaborating on earlier “nepo baby” comments and praising his son, so the line is his commentary on that debate rather than a general conclusion about the children’s careers.
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