Jim Hanks

The agent who employed his actress wife Karen Praxel as a receptionist encouraged Jim to get into acting. Jim took acting lessons, and began his career with roles in B-movies and commercial voice-overs.

He also works with Los Angeles based "Feet First Films", a production company that provides actor demos as well as production support for short films. Jim and his wife have one son and currently reside in Venice, California.

Jim Hanks' first lead role was as Jeeter Buford in the film Buford's Beach Bunnies. Wishing to earn the role based upon his own abilities, he had auditioned as "Jim Matthews", using just his first and a modification of his middle name. While production noted his "resemblance to Tom Hanks", he won the role based upon his own comedic and acting skills and his true relationship to Tom was not revealed until paperwork was completed. Read Less