What Is It About Tom Hanks?

After recently watching "Saving Private Ryan" again on television, and discussing Tom Hanks' acting ability with H., we both wondered, what is it about him that makes him so incredibly popular.

As of September 24, 2006, the star of "The Philadelphia Story" and "Forrest Gump" was the highest-grossing lead actor of all time, with a combined gross of over USD$3.3 billion and a worldwide gross of nearly $6 billion. [astrotheme.com]

H. said after 9.11 when Tom Hanks told us everything would be ok, we believed it and felt better.

What people love in their actors is their ability to convey emotion. Hanks has a very, very powerful South Node in Scorpio squaring Pluto buried deep in the 12th house in Leo, the sign Americans love most in their celebs.

Combining that with Cancer Sun, Tom Hanks can dredge up every last drop of legitimate emotion and practically mandate a catharsis in the viewer.

This combination also produces a symbolic blend that both suggests and denies the dark father, Darth Vader. He is the dark father turned light or the Godfather all-good. This is the aspect that so reassured H. after 9.11.

Virgo Rising and Venus in Gemini at the Midheaven give Hanks his sex appeal. Tom Cruise is another very famous actor with Cancer Sun and Virgo Rising. Kevin Costner has Virgo Rising with the opposite sign, Capricorn, Sun. Keanu Reeves, Kurt Cobain and Paul McCartney all have Gemini Midheaven as well.

Tom Hanks' Sun is in Cancer. Cancer is the sign found most often in hysterically popular celebrities such as Bing Crosby and Judy Garland. According to wikipedia, from 1934 to 1954 Bing Crosby held a nearly unrivaled command of record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses. He is cited among the most popular musical acts in history and is currently the most electronically recorded human voice in history. In 1999, the American Film Institute placed Judy Garland among the ten greatest female stars in the history of American cinema.