Tom Hanks’s Daughter Says Fame ‘Obliterated’ Her Mother
In a deeply personal new memoir, Elizabeth Anne “E.A.” Hanks, daughter of Tom Hanks and his first wife Susan Dillingham, opens up about how her mother’s life was profoundly impacted by the actor’s meteoric rise to fame.
E.A.’s book, The 10: A Memoir of Family And The Open Road, shares her six-month road trip across the U.S. She traveled to better understand her late mother, who died of lung cancer in 2002. Along the journey, she confronts her family’s complex history — including her mother’s struggles in the shadow of Tom Hanks’s success.
“Catastrophic Fame” and a Lost Identity
In both the book and a recent interview with Vanity Fair, E.A. describes her mother — a once-aspiring actress — as someone who never recovered from her ex-husband’s stardom.
“She felt that his stature in the world obliterated her,” E.A. explained.
“She didn’t really have a career, and her ex-husband becoming the Tom Hanks was more insult to injury.”
E.A. clarifies that the word “catastrophic” was her own choice — a way to describe how megawatt celebrity can erase someone else’s voice, especially when that person once shared the same stage dreams.
A Complicated Family Legacy
Tom Hanks and Susan Dillingham met in college and were married from 1978 to 1987, sharing two children: Colin and E.A. After the divorce, Hanks married actress Rita Wilson, with whom he had two more sons.
E.A. also reveals troubling aspects of her childhood, including what she believes were undiagnosed bipolar symptoms in her mother. Over time, Susan’s behavior grew erratic, leading to a custody shift. E.A. recalls a deteriorating home life marked by neglect, emotional instability, and eventually physical violence, prompting her to move to Los Angeles.
“This book is filled with uncomfortable truths,” E.A. said.
“But it’s also an attempt to better understand who my mother was — outside the shadow of my father.”
More..
- https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tom-hanks-daughter-says-her-174131342.html
- https://www.eonline.com/news/1415839/tom-hanks-daughter-e-a-hanks-details-bond-with-rita-wilson
- https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/825268/tom-hanks-daughter-reveals-honest-truth-about-relationship-with-rita-wilson-after-turbulent-childhood/
