Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American film actor, film director, voice-over artist, writer and film producer. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies before achieving success as a dramatic actor portraying several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title role in Forrest Gump, Commander James A. Lovell in Apollo 13, Captain John H. Miller in Saving Private Ryan, Michael Sullivan in Road to Perdition, Sheriff Woody in Disney/Pixar's Toy Story, and Chuck Noland in Cast Away. Hanks won back-to-back Oscars for Best Actor in 1993-94 and is the third most successful actor in terms of domestic box office totals, which exceed $3.3 billion.

A fan of NASA's manned space program, Hanks said that he originally wanted to be an astronaut but - didn't have the math. Hanks is a member of the National Space Society, serving on the Board of Governors of the nonprofit educational space advocacy organization founded by Dr. Wernher Von Braun and was the producer of the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon about the Apollo program to send astronauts to the moon. In addition, Hanks co-wrote and co-produced Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D, an IMAX film about the moon landings. Hanks also provided the voice over for the first new planetarium show following the opening of the new Rose Center for Earth & Space in the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.