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Tom Hanks’ daughter, Elizabeth “E.A.” Hanks, has opened up about her tumultuous childhood, offering a candid account of her life growing up with the beloved actor. In her new memoir, E.A. reflects on being the child of her father’s first “non-famous” marriage, describing her early years as marked by “confusion, violence, deprivation… and love.”
Tom Hanks welcomed E.A. with his first wife, Samantha Lewes, whom he was married to from 1978 to 1987. The couple had two children together: Colin, 47, and E.A., 42.
A year after their divorce, Tom married his current wife, Rita Wilson, with whom he shares sons Chet, 34, and Truman, 29.
Following the divorce, Lewes was granted primary custody and moved the family from Los Angeles to Sacramento.
In her upcoming memoir, The 10: A Memoir of Family and The Open Road, E.A. shared a poignant memory: “My dad came to pick us up from school and we’re not there. And it turns out we haven’t been there for two weeks and he has to track us down.”
Far from the Hollywood spotlight, E.A. painted a picture of a home life in disarray. She wrote, “I have few memories of the early years in Los Angeles.”
As the divorce was finalized, E.A. would visit her dad and stepmother (and eventually her younger half-brothers) on weekends and during summers. However, from the ages of 5 to 14, she described those years as being “filled with confusion, violence, deprivation, and love” while living in Sacramento.
E.A. revealed that her home life continued to deteriorate as time went on. She described the environment: “The backyard became so full of dog s— that you couldn’t walk around it. The house stank of smoke. The fridge was bare or full of expired food more often than not.”
As her mother’s health worsened, E.A. spent long hours in bed reading the Bible for comfort. While Lewes was never formally diagnosed, E.A. believed her mother struggled with bipolar disorder, experiencing bouts of extreme paranoia and delusion, as reported by People.
The source continued: “Travis’s extracurricular activities and relationship with Taylor did take up a lot of his time last season, but he refuses to place blame on her or anything else. It was simply a bad day at the office during the Super Bowl.
“Had they won, the conversation would be completely different about his life and everything going on.
“He’s determined to keep his focus, improve his performance, train harder, and avoid any distractions or drama that could interfere with his goals.”
