Happy birthday, Rita Wilson! The actress and musician celebrates her 69th trip around the sun this Sunday, October 26, and is already receiving several birthday wishes and tributes on social media. Although chief among them is one from none other than her doting husband of almost three decades, Tom Hanks. The couple first met in 1981 on the set of the sitcom Bosom Buddies while Tom was married to his first wife, Samantha Lewes. They reconnected in 1985 while co-starring in the movie Volunteers. Tom and Samantha divorced in 1987, and he and Rita tied the knot a year later.
In honor of her birthday, the two-time Oscar winner, also 69, took to his Instagram page with a gushing tribute, including a recent photo of hers emerging from a dip in the water wearing a black swimsuit and looking truly ageless. “This beautiful woman celebrates her birthday TODAY. She is beloved by her husband. Happy Birthday, @ritawilson!” he lovingly captioned the snap.
© InstagramTom and Samantha, who tragically passed away in 2002 at the age of 49, welcomed daughter E.A. Hanks and son Colin Hanks while together. With Rita, he welcomed sons Chet and Truman Hanks. Speaking on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2020, the Runaway Bride star noted that she was first attracted to the Toy Story actor because of his talkative nature.
She said it was “one of the things, when we met, that we just got along instantly,” adding: “First of all, I love a good storyteller. So anybody who could tell a good story, I’m down with that.” Taking it back to her own experience growing up in a “very vocal” Greek family, she continued: “I love that. He makes me laugh all the time. He’s a great storyteller.”
Take a look at Tom and Rita’s sweetest couple moments in photos below…
© Getty ImagesEarly Days
Tom and Rita posing in a promotional photo for their 1985 film Volunteers
© Getty ImagesMarital Bliss
The couple captured in 1988 after their wedding reception, a year after Tom’s divorce from Samantha
© Getty ImagesThrough Success
Rita joined Tom at the 1994 Academy Awards, where the actor won his first Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in Philadelphia
© Getty ImagesRed Carpet Regulars
Tom and Rita in 2000, at the premiere of the former’s film Cast Away
© Getty ImagesProud Parents
Tom and Rita with their two sons Truman and Chet at the premiere of Masters of the Air in 2024
© Getty ImagesNearly 30 Years
The couple photographed at their latest red carpet date, the premiere of Rita’s Netflix series Too Much
