Tom Hanks’ brother Larry has carved out an acclaimed career well outside Hollywood, though Tom once revealed there’s still a very specific name he prefers family members to use at home.
The Toy Story star was raised in Northern California alongside his siblings: brothers Jim and Larry Hanks, and sister Sandra Hanks Benoiton.
Each of the four went on to build successful lives, but Larry, now in his 70s, pursued a path that kept him largely away from the attention that comes with television and film.
Rather than entertainment, Tom’s older brother devoted his working life to academia, serving as an entomology professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He began his time there in 1996 and is now listed by the university as retired, though he remains active in the field and has continued publishing research in recent years.
Entomology is the area of zoology focused on the scientific study of insects.
Although Tom has collected 53 major honors, among them two Academy Awards and seven Emmy Awards, Larry has earned major recognition in his own field too. His accolades include the National Recognition Award in Urban Entomology from the Entomological Society of America in 2000.
According to his lab page, Larry’s teaching covered insect behavior, chemical ecology, plant-insect relationships, and invasive species.
Even after retiring, he has stayed active in research, continuing to co-author and publish papers on insect chemical ecology, with particular attention to longhorned beetles and related species.
During a 2017 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Tom joked that Larry “insists on being called” something rather formal at home. Much like a performer using a stage name, Larry reportedly prefers “Professor Lawrence.”
Tom also shared a story about meeting entomology students who were much more excited about Larry than they were about the Oscar-winning actor himself.
“I said, ‘Well, I’m Tom Hanks’. And they said, ‘Yeah, and your brother is Dr. Larry Hanks’.
“So I was like the famous guy’s brother, you know, at the thing. And it rattled me just a tiny bit. And my brother Jim is still angry about it, and my sister Sandra still can’t quite believe it.”
Reflecting on Larry’s influence, Tom said: “He found his way many, many a day ago to keep me humble when I was growing up.”
The actor’s early family life was far from stable. Their father, Amos, worked as a traveling cook and was also distantly related to former US President Abraham Lincoln, while their mother, Janet, balanced a part-time hospital job.