Show O HELP CEREALS HELP CHILDREN BY USING THESE COUPONS SILVER&GOLD COINS US OLYMPIC insidiM 5§L (spp BtflSUilSchreiberg' in the new movie Bigbut fails to see the humor in his image Funny isn’t it? obvious: a reported $35 million paid to him up front Hanks is worth it thinks Ron Howard who runs the production company doing ’burbs and who directed Hanks in his movie debut in Splash “What Jack Lemmon was to the ’60s what George Segal was to the ’70s Hanks is to the ’80s” Howard says “A guy just slightly out there just slightly out of with the rest of the world “I’ve never been a guy” Hanks says “I don’t have a plan But so far it’s worked out pretty good” Hanks first caught everyone’s attention goal-orient- ed five-ye- ar eight years ago when he put on a dress and sashayed through Bo- som Buddies Some Like It the Hot-inspir- ed TV comedy that ran from 1980-8- 2 After but it’s a chal- lenge to play a pe- riod” Hanks ar child was afraid extremely scared extremely vulnerable Tom took it to the next leveL” And Hanks is cut from the same cloth as Cary Grant and ld While portraying a yuppie advertising whiz whose parents are divorcing (his father was played by his comic idol Jackie Gleason) Hanks demonstrated that he could deliver straight lines as well as laughs “Since that movie” Hanks says “my concentration is better and the offers have been more varied” Take Big for example “It’s one of the greatest roles anyone could ask for” he says “Sure it’s a contrivance which we’ve all seen before (role reversal between child and adult) but you can say the same thing about Back to the Future and Peggy Sue Got Married “It’s not only a huge challenge to play a 13-WEDDING DAY: in an Elizabeth iche” says Big co-stPerkins “It could easily have been ‘Look gee whiz Fm a big guy playing this little kid’ But Tom brought a sense of fear to this person He showed that this period At that age your hormones are absolutely out of control yet " you still play with toys : 13-year-o- that made Hanks something adult world Hanks’ performance captures that contradiction in a touching way “He didn’t go for the cl- “Ifs a challenge to play a his leading-ma- n debut in 1984 as a New Yorker hooked on a mermaid in Splash he quickly followed with Bachelor Party The Man With One Red Shoe Volunteers The Money Pit Love Is Ever Young Dragnet and Nothing In Common It was his 1 986 role in Nothing year-ol- d says “At that age your hormones are absolutely out of control yet you still play with toys” other gentleman legends says Perkins “You get a warm feeling from those actors Those are the land of guys who show up on the set each morning and kiss you on the forehead Tom kissed me every morning on the forehead” And Perkins testifies he was gallant when she did her first nude scene in Bip “It was difficult for me but he took charge and cleared the set (of people) Cary would have done that too” In their movie man-chil- d Hanks furnishes his executive non-essenti- e with enough colored plastic and wind-u- p toys to fill an FAO Schwarz showroom “As a kid I didn’t have that kind of collection because we moved around so much But at that age a golf club and a volleyball can keep you busy for hours If I had video games back then I would have never left my room” high-ris- Hanks moved so much as a child because his parents were on a d He was bom in Oakland Calif the third of four children but his parents divorced and remarried so many times marriage-go-roun- Hanks now claims “I probably that wouldn’t recognize half of my stepsibhngs” Hanks himself is divorced from first wife Samantha Lewes They married in 1978 separated in 1985 and have a daughter Elizabeth 5 and a son Colin 10 Both children were in oldies-but-goodi- es the wedding party when Hanks and Wil- son celebrated their marriage in a Greek Orthodox cathedral in Los Angeles this spring Guests: Dan Aykroyd Kathleen Turner Peter Sedan Penny Marshall The newlywed’s next movie is a love story too Punchline is a romance between Hanks — “a comedian very good stand-u- p who is a horrible human being” — and Sally Field — “a wonderful human being who is a horrible stand-u- p comedian” To prepare for the role Hanks at comedy practiced stand-u- p clubs in New York and Los Angeles “When I first got up to do it I knew I was going to be terri to the tapes Td rewrite material After about the ninth time I felt slightly comfortable “The three hardest jobs are coal miners cops and stand-u- p comics” he says “I don’t think I could make a living doing it” As a teen Hanks thought he would make a living as a radio announcer “I listened to radio religiously I was drawn to that voice in the night Then I realized it required a lot of stamina and study “Next I thought of becoming a technician in the theater Slowly I drifted toward acting It’s a very romantic lifestyle — never being able to own anything that doesn’t fit in your car” That vagabond rule is appropriate considering Hanks has moved seven times in the eight years since first settling in Los Angeles to tape Bosom Buddies “Part of that was the divorce” he says guardedly “When you’re working on a project you have to stay focused You start shutting things down shutting people out That’s not easy for those who love you The result is that some actors become stark raving mad after awhile “Yet there are others who remain oiganized fine people Right now” Hanks says “I think I’m a member of that group” ble and I was” he says “I was really bad The feeling of choking — whether you are well-knoor not — is exactly the same” Not that his audience didn’t at least give him a chance “When you’re introduced as ‘You all know this next funny guy from those very funny mov' ies Please welcome funny the audience is going to love you up to a point But if you are not funny it can get embarrassing very quickly “The first few times I couldn’t wait to get off the stage Td listen Hanks married Rita Wilson his co-stin Volunteers on April 30 USA WEEKENDJUNE 1988 P |