Movies News Talk
Though Tom Hanks's successful Hollywood career may be evidence of his intelligence and diligence, the experiences of his father, Amos Mefford Hanks, had a significant impact as well. Growing up on a farm in Willow, California, Amos carried a great load all his life resulting from a horrific tragedy in his early years.
Tom Hanks has been open about how profoundly this event affected his father. Young Amos saw the occurrence whereby his own father was killed in a violent confrontation on their family property. Amos was permanently changed by this horrific event, which also shaped his connection with his son and perspective on life.
Tom Hanks disclosed the specifics of his grandfather's death in a heartbreaking interview, a narrative his father would find very affecting. Only eight or nine years old at the time, Amos was the only witness to his father's murder—caused by a hired farmhand in a fight. The episode left Amos profoundly disturbed and compelled him to testify against the offender in a challenging and emotionally taxing court process.
Tom Hanks detailed how this incident "broke" his father and left him feeling unfairly treated and unjustified. Amos never quite healed from the experience, and it probably added to his difficulties in his own life—including his failure to follow his aspirations of being a writer.
The two did discover common ground through the making of the film "Nothing in Common," even though Tom Hanks' father never saw the whole scope of his son's career. Reflecting his own relationship with Amos, Tom Hanks's character in the movie is a man battling his relationship with his father.
Tom Hanks said he wanted to connect with his father on a deeper level by appreciating the parallels between his own life and the storyline of the movie. This was a chance for him to grasp and value the complexity of their relationship, therefore strengthening his link even as his father negotiated the aftereffect of his trauma from childhood.
Though Amos Mefford Hanks lived a long and full life, enjoying the pleasures of fatherhood and seeing his son become well-known, his boyhood was tragic. At 67, he died in 1992 and left behind a legacy of fortitude and will against hardship.
Tom Hanks's moving meditations on his father's life underline the value of family ties and the need of knowing the past to help to shape the current. Though he was a man crushed by sorrow, Amos Mefford Hanks also personified the love and fortitude that constitute a father's relationship with his child. Tom Hanks' profession and perspective of the world have been permanently changed by his life and experiences.