Big Birthday

Happy birthday to one of my favorite actors, Tom Hanks. Hanks’ career has come a long way, having gone from television with Bosom Buddies to being only the second actor in history to win back-to-back Best Actor Oscars, for 1993’s Philadelphia and 1994’s Forrest Gump (Spencer Tracy was the first actor to accomplish the feat in 1937-38). Other notable works that Hanks has been in are Splash, Bachelor Party, Volunteers, The Man with One Red Shoe, Big, A League of Their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, Apollo 13, That Thing You Do!, Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile, Cast Away, Road to Perdition, The Terminal, The Polar Express, and The Da Vinci Code. Beyond being a successful actor, he has also directed and produced a number of pieces, most notably the HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon and Band of Brothers.

Hanks is supposedly related to James Hanks, the possible father to Nancy Hanks and grandfather to President Abraham Lincoln. If true, Hanks would be the fourth cousin, four times removed, of the former president.

Hanks is next set to reprise his character from The Da Vinci Code, Robert Langdon, in a prequel to the movie, Angels and Demons.

Just for kicks:

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For you sports trivia buffs, one-hundred thirty years ago today, the very first lawn tennis tournament was held by the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon. One-hundred thirty years later yesterday, Roger Federer won his fifth straight Wimbledon title over Rafael Nadal, equaling Bjorn Borg’s record. It is Federer’s eleventh Grand Slam title, putting him behind only Pete Sampras (14) and Roy Emerson (12). In addition to his five straight Wimbledon titles, he’s also won three straight U.S. Opens and two straight Australian Opens. He has appeared in nine straight Grand Slam finals, winning seven, and if he continues on his pace, he’ll surpass Pete Sampras’ titles record in 2008, at the age of 27, four years younger than Sampras when Sampras won his last title. I guess I should sit up and take notice. Federer may be the greatest of all-time.

Also on this day thirty-nine years ago, the first MLB All-Star game to be played indoors was held at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. This year’s All-Star festivities in San Francisco start tonight, with the Home Run Derby, sans Barry Bonds, I might add. Loser.