Writer E.A. Hanks, daughter of actor Tom Hanks and actress Susan Dillingham, has revealed the painful experiences of her childhood after her parents' divorce.
In her upcoming memoir, The 10: A Memoir of Family And The Open Road, E.A. Hanks (real name Elizabeth Hanks) tells of her broken family, her difficult childhood with her brother Colin Hanks. The two siblings moved with their mother from Los Angeles to Sacramento, California, a six-hour drive from their father's home. They moved abruptly shortly after Susan and Tom Hanks split in 1987.
"Dad picked us up from school, but my brother and I weren't there. He had to find a way to keep track of us because we hadn't been to school for two weeks," E.A. wrote in the memoir, which was quoted by People magazine on April 4.
Eventually, a divorce was reached. E.A. and her brother lived with their mother while visiting their father (who later joined her stepmother, singer Rita Wilson, and two half-brothers) on weekends and in the summer. But from ages 5 to 14, E.A. says she lived in a state of confusion, deprivation, and violence from her mother in Sacramento.
What started out as a beautiful mansion soon became a smoky mess: “The backyard was so full of dog shit you couldn’t walk around, and the house reeked of smoke. The refrigerators were bare or full of expired food. My mother spent more and more time in her bed, studying the Bible,” she says.
One night, her mother turned from emotional abuse to physical abuse. When E.A. was in seventh grade, her father got custody. E.A. moved in with her father, visiting her mother only on weekends and in the summer. During her senior year of high school, her mother announced that she was dying of cancer and later died in 2002 at the age of 49.
E.A. remembers the rare time her parents were together was at her and her brother Colin’s high school graduation. “I have a picture of me standing between them, with my mom’s best wig a little askew,” she writes.
In 2019, E.A. took a six-month road trip from Los Angeles to Palatka, Florida, via the interstate where she and her mother had traveled that summer. She set out on the journey to learn more about her mother and write a memoir about her experiences along the way.
Tom Hanks rarely talks about his first marriage and the painful divorce. In a 2020 interview, the Forest Gump actor described it as a "terribly painful" period that deeply affected him and his children. Tom believes that parents need to ensure that their children have a carefree life for as long as possible. "Children should not be burdened with the worries of the world until they can handle them," Tom said.
Tom Hanks, born in 1956, is one of the most famous and talented actors in Hollywood. He began his career in the 1980s, rising to prominence with roles in classic films such as Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan and Cast Away. Hanks has won two Oscars for Best Actor, one for Philadelphia (1993) and one for Forrest Gump (1994). In addition to acting, he is also a producer and director, with works such as Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Tom Hanks is known for his humble, humane personality and participation in many charitable activities.
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