Tom Hanks: The Unauthorized Biography [Hardcover]

David Gardner (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1857823273 | ISBN-13: 978-1857823271 | Publication Date: April 2000

Gardner makes many revelations about the All-American movie star, including his relationship with Princess Diana, his brief flirtation with illicit drugs and the reasons for his restrained attitude towards women.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

There is a reason why this book, previously released in the U.K., is the first full-blown biography of Hanks to be published in the United States: the superstar ferociously guards his privacy. Journalist Gardner gives us a balanced look into the life of Hollywood's "Mr. Nice Guy." It is easy to think that life has always been good to Hanks, but there is a private pain that he acknowledges and draws from as an actor, namely, his parents' divorce and their frequent moves. Hanks got the "acting bug" in high school and after several hits and misses in New York landed a role in TV's Bosom Buddies, which led to film roles, most notably Splash. The rest is film history. New revelations come from Hanks's father's unpublished memoirs and many interviews published only in the U.K. Gardner's compelling analysis of Hanks's life and fascinating discussions of each film compete with some rather improbable dialog and a tone that can be too dramatic for the insightful treatment he provides. Still, this is highly recommended for all libraries.
-Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Cty. Free Libs., Salinas, CA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Blake Pub (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857823273
• ISBN-13: 978-1857823271
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,103,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Look at a Wonderful Actor, May 14, 2000

By A Customer

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This review is from: Tom Hanks: The Unauthorized Biography (Hardcover)

I began reading this informative biography, thinking it was probably just the typical filmography most books done on Tom Hanks are. The author has done a tremendous amount of research and, although I thought I was a well-informed fan, learned quite a few revelations. Anyone who loves Tom Hanks will be thrilled with this book and those who are only curious will also enjoy it.

3.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Life Story Poorly Told, July 17, 2011

By 

Mediaman "TVviewer" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tom Hanks: The Unauthorized Biography (Hardcover)

Hanks has an interesting life story but it is poorly told in this book (hardcover in 2000, updated for paperback in 2007), which relies on a lot of magazine articles and a few interviews with very old people who haven't known him for years. Too much time is spent on insignificant early-life stories from the few people the author interviewed (such as a lot of wasted pages about his time in theater in Ohio), while almost nothing is stated about the man's first marriage and even what is said makes little sense (the writer calls the woman Hanks "wife" even though they didn't get married until a couple years after having Colin).

Some of the more recent material is stuff you've read before, just skimming the surface. Then the author throws in asides, like a chapter on Meg Ryan and her background! What's that doing in there?

This needs some serious editing and much better writing. The author acts like a fan who pasted together pages from different articles he read about the star (Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, etc.). There are no footnotes in the hardcover version I read and you don't always know when the writer is quoting from someone he interviewed or just taking something from a story he read.

Hanks did have an unusual childhood and then suddenly got famous. There were many things I hadn't known about before (Tom was an evangelical Christian in high school, then got a woman pregnant at 20), but most were in public circulation that the author just pulled together. If it's the only Hanks bio out there, then it's probably worth skimming to hear some of his father's words (that the author got from the dad's autobiography manuscript), but be prepared to wade through clunky and directionless writing to get to the good stuff.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars incomplete but good read, July 5, 2006

By 

Leslie Gardner (london, england) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tom Hanks: The Unauthorized Biography (Hardcover)

David Gardner can write, and he does express the anguish in Hanks' life and the good times well - he misses out some of the extra-film things Hanks does - not only his choices of charity work, but his comic work on Saturday Night Live which should fill out the career of this rounded entertainer - he leaves out earlier films that i discovered elsewhere. so, if he is marking out the territory to be the only biographer who knows it all, he should include more of the career. (Why did he and first wife adopt when they had a son already? what is it about Hanks and his wife that lead them to do this? but none of that is mentioned.) Maybe he was blocked, but he has not been a good journalist in doing what is essentially a cut-and-paste job that is very selective. Hanks' brilliance as an entertainer is of a particular American brand, and, here i am, an American based in Europe, and I'd like to have read about that a little. so, this is disappointing finally.