Tom Hanks' Daughter Reveals Family Abuse

Tom Hanks is known around the world for his acting, but not everyone knows about his daughter from his first marriage, Elizabeth Anne Hanks, better known as E.A. Hanks. Now 42, E.A. is opening up about her life in a new memoir titled “The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road.” In it, she shares a deeply personal and sometimes painful account of growing up in the shadow of fame and in the care of a troubled mother.

The Daughter From Hanks’ First Marriage

E.A. Hanks is the daughter of Tom Hanks and his first wife, Susan Dillingham, an actress who once performed under the stage name Samantha Lewes. The couple married in 1978 and had two children: Colin, now a well-known actor, and E.A., a writer and editor. They divorced in 1987, when E.A. was still a child.

“I am a kid from the First (non-famous) Marriage,” E.A. wrote in her book, according to PEOPLE. “My only memories of my parents in the same place at the same time are Colin’s high school graduation, then my high school graduation. I have one picture of me standing between my parents. In it, my mother’s best wig is slightly askew.”

A Turbulent Childhood in Sacramento

After the divorce, E.A. and her brother lived with their mother in Sacramento. She describes this period as filled with instability and neglect. Although the family lived in a seemingly nice home with a pool and a horse-themed bedroom, things were far from picture-perfect.

From ages 5 to 14, she experienced “years filled with confusion, violence, deprivation,” and love as well, she wrote in the memoir, according to The New York Post. She remembers the home deteriorating: “The backyard became so full of dog s— that you couldn’t walk around it,” and “the house stank of smoke.” The fridge was “bare or full of expired food more often than not,” and her mother spent long hours in bed reading the Bible.

A Turning Point and a Move to LA

Eventually, E.A. says the emotional abuse turned physical, as reported by PEOPLE. “One night, her emotional violence became physical violence, and in the aftermath I moved to Los Angeles, right smack in the middle of the seventh grade.” That move shifted the custody arrangement - now she lived with her father, Tom Hanks, and his second wife, Rita Wilson, visiting Sacramento only occasionally.

Her Memoir Reveals Family Secrets

Despite the turmoil, E.A. still sought to understand her mother. In 2019, she retraced a cross-country road trip they had once taken together when she was 14. The six-month journey from Los Angeles to Palatka, Florida, became the framework for “The 10.”

E.A.’s memoir dives deep into her family’s history and her mother’s mental health. Though never officially diagnosed, E.A. believes her mother may have had bipolar disorder, marked by paranoia and delusion. One moment that stands out is when her mother moved them from L.A. to Sacramento without telling Tom Hanks.

“My dad came to pick us up from school and we’re not there,” E.A. recalls in the book, according to PEOPLE. “And it turns out we haven’t been there for two weeks and he has to track us down.”

Later, during her senior year of high school, E.A. received a heartbreaking call. Her mother told her she was dying of lung cancer - a diagnosis that would soon claim her life in 2002 at age 49.

A Story of Pain, Love, and Discovery

In “The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road,” E.A. Hanks opens the door to a side of the Hanks family that few have seen. Her story is one of pain and resilience, told with honesty and a desire to understand the past.

References: Tom Hanks’ daughter, E.A. Hanks, reveals rocky childhood was filled with ‘violence, deprivation’ and ‘expired food’ | E.A. Hanks, Daughter of Tom Hanks, Writes About Childhood with Troubled Mom After Parents’ Divorce in Exclusive Excerpt