Jim Hanks

Last updated
Jim Hanks
Born
James Mathew Hanks

(1961-06-15) June 15, 1961 (age 63)
Shasta County, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • filmmaker
Years active1989–present
Spouse
Karen Praxel
​
(m. 1986)​
Children1
Relatives

James Mathew Hanks (born June 15, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has played numerous minor roles in film and guest appearances on television. Bearing both a face and a voice that resemble those of his older brother Tom Hanks, he often serves as a voice double for Woody in Toy Story media when the latter is unavailable. He has produced, directed, and filmed several short films. Hanks made his film debut in Buford's Beach Bunnies (1993).

Contents

Early life

James Mathew Hanks was born in Shasta County, California on June 15, 1961. [1] He is the son of Janet Marylyn (née Frager) [2] and itinerant cook Amos Mefford Hanks. [3] [4] Hanks is also the youngest brother of fellow actor Tom Hanks and entomologist Larry Hanks, but they were not raised together. [5] [6] [7] After their parents divorced, Jim went to Red Bluff, California with his mother while older siblings Tom, Larry, and Sandra remained with their father. After college, he lived in Sacramento working as a waiter. [8] The agent who employed his actress wife Karen Praxel as a receptionist encouraged him to get into acting. [8] After he took acting lessons, he moved to Los Angeles in 1992 and began his career with roles in B-movies and commercial voice-overs.

Career

He got his first lead role as Jeeter Buford in Buford's Beach Bunnies (1993). Wishing to earn the role based on his own abilities, he auditioned as "Jim Matthews" (just his first and a modification of his middle name). While producers noted his "resemblance to Tom Hanks", he won the role based on his own comedic and acting skills and his relationship to his brother was not revealed until paperwork was completed. [9]

In 1995, A Current Affair revealed that Tom had created the mannerisms for the character of Forrest Gump based on the simpleton mannerisms earlier created by Jim for the role of Jeeter, [10] including Forrest's "now-famous jerky run". [11] His physical resemblance to his brother allowed him to act as body double for him in scenes in Forrest Gump. [12] Due to his vocal similarity, and with his brother Tom's personal recommendation, [13] he often substitutes for Tom in the role of Sheriff Woody in various Toy Story video games and spin-offs. [14] [15]

Hanks began to provide the voice of Geoffrey the Giraffe in the Toys "R" Us commercials in 2001 [16] and is the voice of Rudy from the Red Robin Gourmet Burgers commercials.

He guest-starred in an episode of Scrubs , appearing as a "Dr. Turner" partnered with recurring character Dr. Hooch, in reference to his brother's film Turner & Hooch . [17]

In the 1998 film adaptation of O. Henry's "The Ransom of Red Chief", Hanks played the role of the mailman who was the town gossip.

He has appeared on stage, including playing "Lennie Small" in Theatrical Arts International's production of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men .

In November 2016, Hanks guest-starred in a web series called Gary CK Needs Work, a parody of the FX show Louie .

Personal life

Hanks married actress Karen Praxel on May 25, 1986, together they have one son, Gage. [18] The family resides in Venice, California.[ citation needed ]

He works with Los Angeles–based "Feet First Films", a production company that provides actor demos as well as production support for short films. [19]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1993 Buford's Beach Bunnies Jeeter Buford
1994 Forrest Gump Forrest Gump Tom Hanks's body double
1995Portrait in RedDetective Wilder
Xtro 3: Watch the Skies Prvt. Friedman
1996 Tiny Toy Stories Woody (voice)International release only
1997Psycho SushiYuriel
1999Blood TypeStew [20]
Baby Geniuses Goon Ray
Inferno Tour Bus Driver
2000Blood on the BacklotOfficer Holbrook
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins Woody (voice)Direct-to-video
2001CahootsMr. Marsh
Spirit RisingMarv Chalsky
2003 Swing Club Jimbo Maitre D'
2004 Purgatory House Saint James
2008 Deadwater Ensign Buford
2009Road to the AltarDick
2010GoofyfootDad
Acts of ViolenceDetective Mike
2011Seymour Sally RufusDoctor
2012Stolen BreathActor
2013AutomotiveDetective Fulton
Odd BrodskyActor playing God
A Leading Man Darren Brandl
I Know That Voice HimselfDocumentary
2017The Sex TripMatt Flannery
2018Blood CorralMichael Arman
2019The Long WayProfessor Bob
2020 Lamp Life Woody (voice)Short film

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1992 Homefront Ball Player #4Episode: "First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage"
1995 The Clinic
1996 Toy Story Treats Woody (voice)
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Les BarrishEpisode: "It's a Small World After All"
Sabrina the Teenage Witch JerryEpisode: "The True Adventures of Rudy Kazootie"
1997 Night Man Episode: "Face to Face"
1998 The Ransom of Red Chief MailmanTV movie
Sunset Beach Spike the dog (voice)2 episodes
1998–1999 JAG CPO Kyle Anderson
Chief Kyle Anderson		Episodes: "Jaggle Bells"
"Yeah, Baby"
1999 Smart Guy Episode: "From A to Double D"
Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot Dwayne Hunter
2000 Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane Duane the SalesmanEpisode: "Kiss of Death"
2005 Scrubs Dr. TurnerEpisode: "My Faith in Humanity"
2007 Dexter Annoyed ManEpisode: "The Dark Defender"
2008 Shark Swarm Nick AtkinsTV movie
2012I Married Who?Director
2012–2018 Robot Chicken Various Voices8 episodes
2014 Rake Fred Luntz - DirectorEpisode: "50 Shades of Gay"
2017 Milo Murphy's Law Captain Wilson (voice)Episode: "The Note"
2018 Goldie and Bear Red's Father (voice)Episode: "Tess the Giantess/Red Moves Away"

Video games

YearTitleRoleNotes
1996 Toy Story: Activity Center Woody
Animated Storybook: Toy Story
1999 Toy Story 2: Activity Center
Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue
2001 Toy Story Racer
2003 Extreme Skate Adventure [21]
2004 The Polar Express Conductor, Hobo, Scrooge
2009 Toy Story Mania! Woody
2010 Toy Story 3: The Video Game
2011 Kinect Disneyland Adventures
2012 Kinect Rush: A Disney-Pixar Adventure
2013 Disney Infinity
2014 Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes
2015 Disney Infinity 3.0 [22]
2017 Fortnite In-game NPCs
2018 Lego The Incredibles Woody
2019 Kingdom Hearts III
2023 Disney Dreamlight Valley
2023 Disney Speedstorm

Theme parks

YearTitleRole
2008 Toy Story Midway Mania! Woody

Filmmaking credits

YearTitle Director Producer Writer Cinematographer Notes
1995Back Field in MotionNoNoNoYesVideo short
2008WishYesYesNoYesShort film
The FloorYesNoNoYes
2010DeceptionNoYesNoNoShort film
Co-producer
CollisionYesYesNoNoShort film
Real Men Real IssuesNoNoNoYesTV series
Episode: "Mine or Mime?"
The Rise and Fall of John TesoroNoNoNoYesShort film
2011HazelnutYesYesNoYesShort film
Co-producer
The Comedy BlipsNoNoNoYesTV series
2012Coveting RosesYesYesYesYesShort film
2013Dog Gone MissingNoNoNoYes
2013–2014Bunny and BeeNoNoNoYes4 episodes
2014 Dead Drop YesNoNoNoAssistant director
Breaking Curfew NoNoNoYesTV series
2018 Two Minutes to Midnight NoYesNoNoTV Mini-Series
Episode: "AtomEx"

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryFilmResult
1999 Angel Film Award Best Supporting ActorBlood TypeWon

References

  1. ↑ "Hanks, Jim 1961-". Encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Tom Hanks' Mother Janet Marylyn Frager Dies: 'She Was the Difference in Many Lives'". 12 July 2016.
  3. ↑ Stated on Inside the Actors Studio , 1999
  4. ↑ Gardner, David (January 1, 1999). Tom Hanks . Blake. ISBN   978-1-85782-327-1.
  5. ↑ Warwick, Kevin (30 March 2012). "Tom Hanks is important. Celebrate him". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  6. ↑ Piantadosi, Roger (28 August 1984). "Tom Hanks, in The Hot Seat". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  7. ↑ He discusses his brother beginning at 3:00 "Tom Hanks interview". The Late Show with Stephen Colbert . CBS. April 29, 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  8. 1 2 Pecchia, David (January 17, 1995). "Tom Hanks' younger brother finds acting is an adventure". Reading Eagle . Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  9. ↑ Viner, Michael; Frankel, Terrie Maxine. Tales from the Casting Couch. Phoenix Books, Inc. p. 174. ISBN   1-59777-642-4 . Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Filmmaker Mark Pirro on A Current Affair (1995)". A Current Affair (U.S. TV series) . Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  11. ↑ Yourse, Robyn-Denise (September 22, 2006). "Taking Names". Washington Times . Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Sibling Revelry". People . March 13, 1995. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  13. ↑ Denham, Jess (October 15, 2015). "Toy Story: Tom Hanks gets his brother Jim to voice Woody for him when he has better things to do". The Independent . Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  14. ↑ Strauss, Bob (May 17, 1996). "Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  15. ↑ Hartl, John (August 4, 2000). "Sequels to 'Toy Story', 'Tail' go straight to video". Seattle Times . Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  16. ↑ Howard, Theresa (February 10, 2002). "Toys R Us ads hit target: Moms". USA Today . Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Jim Hanks bio at Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  18. ↑ "The Untold Truth of Tom Hanks' Brother - Looper". 27 February 2019.
  19. ↑ "A little about Jimmy". Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  20. ↑ "Blood Type (1999)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2010. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  21. ↑ "Jim Hanks Video Game Credits and Biography". MobyGames.
  22. ↑ Avalanche Software. Disney Infinity 3.0 . Scene: Closing credits, 5:39 in, Featuring the Voice Talents of.
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