He was born today in 1956 and now he IS 56! Hollywood legend Tom Hanks has a lot to celebrate!

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Tom wasn't always the A-list celebrity that we know and love today, in fact he put in a lot of hard work and dedication to get where he is now. So let's take a look back at how our beloved "Forrest Gump" first got his start.

While attending junior college in Hayward, California, Tom went to see Eugene O'Neill's play, The Iceman Cometh and boom! He was bitten by the acting bug. It was then that he the actor/writer/director/producer decided to pursue a career in entertainment and entered an acting program at California State University in Sacramento.

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After putting in his time over several summers performing with the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, Tom moved to New York and started auditioning for bigger roles. Finally in 1980 he landed a role in the horror film, He Knows You're Alone. But it wasn't until later that year, when Tom played the cross-dressing Kip Wilson in the hit '80s sitcom Bosom Buddies, that he launched himself into stardom.

Since his days on Bosom Buddies, Tom has had HUGE film success, starring in such films as Splash, Big, Castaway, Saving Private Ryan, Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. Tom has been nominated for five Academy Awards and won back-to-back Best Actor Oscars in 1994 and 1995. And in 2010, he won an Emmy award for Outstanding Miniseries for The Pacific, bringing his Emmy total to four.

His film career isn't Tom's only successful venture, the talented actor has also had great success with his personal life. Tom has been married to the same woman -- Rita Wilson -- since 1985, which is an eternity for Hollywood, has four children (two are from a previous marriage) and one granddaughter, whom he dotes on.

So in honor of all your success we here at Hollywire would like to say.....

Happy 56th Birthday Tom Hanks!!

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, Getty Images & Dreamworks