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Read What 18-year-old Tom Hanks Wrote to the Late-Director George Roy Hill

Who would have ever thought an 18-year-old Tom Hanks writing to Director George Roy Hill to give him a chance and discover him, from the article of The Hollywood Reporter, Margaret Herrick Library of The Motion Picture Academy holds in some of the rare mementos of Hollywood and one of which was a letter of an 18-year-old Tom Hanks to Director George Roy Hill.

From the letter based from the article, Hanks wrote:

Dear Mr. Hill,

Seeing that ... I have seen your fantastically entertaining and award-winning film "The Sting," starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and enjoyed it very much, it is all together fitting and proper that you should "discover" me. Now, right away I know what you are thinking: 'Who is this kid?' and I can understand your apprehensions. I am a nobody. No one outside of Skyline High School has heard of me. ... My looks are not stunning. I am not built like a Greek God, and I can't even grow a mustache, but I figure if people will pay to see certain films ... they will pay to see me.

Let's work out the details of my discovery. We can do it the way Lana Turner was discovered, me sitting on a soda shop stool, you walk in and notice me and -- BANGO -- I am a star.

Or maybe we can do it this way. I stumble into your office one day and beg for a job. To get rid of me, you give me a stand-in part in your next film. While shooting the film, the star breaks his leg in the dressing room, and, because you are behind schedule already, you arbitrarily place me in his part and -- BANGO -- I am a star.

All of these plans are fine with me, or we could do it any way you would like, it makes no difference to me! But let's get one thing straight. Mr. Hill, I do not want to be some bigtime, Hollywood superstar with girls crawling all over me, just a hometown American boy who has hit the big-time, owns a Porsche, and calls Robert Redford "Bob".

Respectfully submitted,

Your Pal Forever,

Thomas J. Hanks

Hanks, now 59, achieved a lot as an actor starting his career in 1979. He was notable in various roles and movies like "Big," "Forrest Gump," "Apollo 13," "Saving Private Ryan," "You've Got Mail," "Cast Away." He also won numerous awards from Golden Globe, Academy Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Award for movies like "Philadelphia" and "Forrest Gump." And he has been regarded to generate worldwide box office totaling $8.4 billion and making him film history's highest grossing actor.


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