Tom Hanks First Wife Samantha Lewes: Marriage, Kids, Divorce, and Her Story
Tom Hanks’ first wife was Samantha Lewes, and if you’ve ever wondered who she was beyond the headline, the answer is: a talented, private, creative woman who shared Tom’s earliest adult years—long before he became “America’s dad.” Their marriage produced two children, including actor Colin Hanks, and it also ended during the period when Tom’s career was rising fast. Samantha’s story is often told in short biographical snippets, but her role in Tom’s life was a real chapter—family, struggle, growth, and a complicated goodbye.
Who Was Tom Hanks’ First Wife?
Tom Hanks’ first wife was Samantha Lewes. She was an actress and performer, and she met Tom when both were still building their lives and careers. Unlike Tom’s later relationship with Rita Wilson—which became part of a long, public narrative—Samantha stayed relatively private, even though her connection to Tom keeps her name permanently searchable.
Her privacy is one reason people remain curious. When someone’s name is tied to a mega-famous figure but they don’t leave behind a huge media trail, the internet fills the gaps with assumptions. The reality is simpler and more human: she lived a life that was not built around celebrity, even if celebrity brushed against it.
How Tom Hanks Met Samantha Lewes
Tom and Samantha met in the late 1970s, when Tom was still an ambitious young actor trying to find stable footing. They crossed paths in a theater/college context—an environment where actors learn the craft the hard way: rehearsals, tiny roles, stage work, and the constant uncertainty of whether the career will ever truly take off.
That timing matters. When you meet someone before fame, you know them in a more ordinary, unfiltered way. You see them when they’re broke, hungry, insecure, hopeful, and still shaping who they are. Samantha knew Tom before the world knew him, and that makes her part of his foundational story—whether the public focuses on it or not.
When Did Tom Hanks and Samantha Lewes Get Married?
Tom Hanks and Samantha Lewes married in 1978. This was early adulthood Tom Hanks—decades before the Oscar wins, the iconic roles, and the cultural legend status. Their marriage took place during a time when “making it” in acting was still uncertain, and when building a family meant building a life with limited resources and big dreams.
Marrying young can be beautiful, but it can also be intensely challenging. When one person’s career starts to accelerate, the relationship has to stretch quickly—or it breaks. Many people look back at early marriages and realize they were still growing into themselves. That dynamic is relevant in the Hanks-Lewes story, too.
Children: Colin Hanks and Elizabeth Ann Hanks
Tom and Samantha had two children together:
- Colin Hanks (their son), who later became an actor and filmmaker
- Elizabeth Ann Hanks (often known as E.A. Hanks), their daughter, who has lived more privately
For many people, this is the most important part of the story. Tom’s first marriage wasn’t a short fling—it was a family-building chapter. It created roots that continue through his children and grandchildren, even though the marriage itself ended.
Colin Hanks and the Legacy of That First Family
Colin Hanks is often the reason casual fans become aware Tom had a first wife at all. When a celebrity child becomes famous, people naturally trace the family tree. Colin has built his own career with a different kind of presence than Tom—less mythic, more grounded—but his success keeps the early Hanks chapter alive in public interest.
Why Tom Hanks and Samantha Lewes Divorced
Tom Hanks and Samantha Lewes divorced in 1987. The broad public understanding is that their relationship struggled under the weight of young marriage, fast-changing life circumstances, and the pressures that come when one partner’s career begins to take over the household schedule and identity.
It’s easy to search for a single dramatic reason, but most divorces don’t boil down to one moment. They’re usually a slow accumulation: mismatched growth, emotional distance, unresolved tension, and a sense that the relationship no longer fits the people you’ve become.
In Tom’s case, he has spoken over the years about being young, feeling unprepared, and not always having the emotional maturity to handle everything at once. That kind of reflection suggests the split wasn’t simply “one person’s fault,” but a broader reality: two young people tried to build a life, and eventually it stopped working.
Samantha Lewes’ Life After the Divorce
After the divorce, Samantha remained relatively private, and that privacy shaped the way her story is remembered. She was not a constant presence on red carpets. She didn’t build a tabloid identity. She didn’t become a public figure whose life was documented in endless interviews.
What is widely known is that she continued living her life as a mother and remained connected to her children’s upbringing. When people look back, they often describe her as someone who existed outside the Hollywood machine, which is part of what makes her feel like a “missing chapter” to modern fans who expect every detail to be searchable.
Samantha Lewes’ Death and Public Attention
Samantha Lewes died in 2002. Over time, her death has been publicly associated with illness, and her passing became one of those quieter tragedies—noticed by fans, but not turned into a spectacle. Because she was not a major public celebrity in her own right, the coverage of her death did not become an ongoing media storyline.
Even so, the loss mattered deeply to the people closest to her, especially her children. When a parent dies, it reshapes family identity forever. For Colin and Elizabeth, Samantha’s death wasn’t a footnote—it was a foundational emotional event.
How Rita Wilson Fits Into the Timeline
Many people search “Tom Hanks first wife” because they assume Rita Wilson was his only marriage. Rita is Tom’s second wife and the partner most people associate with him. They met in the 1980s, and their relationship began while Tom’s first marriage was nearing its end. Tom and Rita married in 1988, one year after his divorce from Samantha.
This timeline can create confusion online, especially when short bios oversimplify the story. The clean way to understand it is:
- Tom married Samantha Lewes in 1978.
- They had two children.
- They divorced in 1987.
- Tom married Rita Wilson in 1988.
That doesn’t tell you every emotional detail, but it gives you the accurate structure.
Why Samantha Lewes Still Matters in Tom Hanks’ Story
It’s tempting to treat first spouses as “before the real story,” especially when someone’s later marriage becomes iconic. But Samantha Lewes isn’t a trivia fact—she’s a meaningful chapter. She shared Tom’s earliest adult years, she was part of his growth into fatherhood, and she shaped the family foundation from which the rest of his life continued.
First marriages often carry a particular kind of significance: they reveal who you were before you learned your hardest lessons. They show the raw version of a person—ambitious, imperfect, still becoming. Samantha’s place in Tom’s life reflects that early version of him.
Common Misconceptions About Tom Hanks’ First Wife
Because Samantha is less publicly documented, misinformation spreads easily. Some of the most common mistakes include:
- Assuming Rita Wilson was Tom’s only wife because she’s the most visible partner.
- Thinking Samantha was a “brief marriage” when it lasted nearly a decade and included two children.
- Reducing Samantha to “ex-wife” only instead of recognizing her as a mother and individual with her own story.
Once you know the correct timeline, most of the confusion clears up.
The Bottom Line
Tom Hanks’ first wife was Samantha Lewes. They married in 1978, had two children—Colin Hanks and Elizabeth Ann Hanks—and divorced in 1987. Samantha lived more privately than Tom’s later public life, and she died in 2002. While Rita Wilson is Tom’s best-known spouse and longtime partner, Samantha remains the woman who shared his earliest years, helped build his first family, and occupies a permanent place in the true timeline of his life.
image source: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/16/entertainment/tom-hanks-gay-character-philadelphia-cec
