Reviewed and last updated on October 7, 2026 by Awais Ahmed, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Urban Scope News.
Samantha Lewes was an American actress best known as the first wife of Tom Hanks. Born Susan Jane Dillingham on 29 November 1952, she worked under the name Samantha Lewes, took a small number of screen roles in the early 1980s, raised two children who later became public figures in their own right, and died of cancer on 12 March 2002 at the age of 49.
Most people come across her name through Hanks, which is understandable. But her story is more than a footnote to someone else’s career. She was part of his life while he was still an unknown theatre student, and she was the mother of the two children who carry his family story forward. This article sets out what is reliably known about her, and it keeps documented facts separate from personal recollections.
From Susan Dillingham to Samantha Lewes
Entertainment records such as her IMDb profile give her birthplace as San Diego, California. She was born Susan Jane Dillingham and adopted the professional name Samantha Lewes when she began working as an actress. It is the name she is remembered by today, even though it was not the one she was given at birth.
Little else about her childhood is documented in reliable public sources, and that is worth saying plainly. She never sought a public profile, so most of what is written about her life begins with her adult years in Sacramento.
Meeting Tom Hanks in Sacramento
Biographical profiles describe Samantha Lewes and Tom Hanks meeting while both were involved in theatre at California State University, Sacramento. Hanks was at the very start of his career, long before roles in Forrest Gump, Cast Away and Saving Private Ryan made him one of the most recognisable actors in the world.
Their first child, Colin, was born in Sacramento on 24 November 1977, and the couple married on 24 January 1978. The marriage lasted about nine years and ended in divorce in 1987. Hanks married actress Rita Wilson the following year. Stories like this one, where a well-known performer’s first marriage is remembered mainly through his later fame, are familiar in Hollywood history, as readers of our piece on the first wife of another much-loved entertainer will recognise.
Samantha Lewes and Her Screen Work
Her acting career was brief and her credits are modest. She appeared in an episode of Bosom Buddies, the sitcom that gave Hanks his first regular television role, and she took a part in the 1984 television film Mr. Success, where she is credited as a customer. She never became a household name, and she did not build a long screen career.
That is part of why her public image has stayed so closely tied to her husband’s. Without a large body of work to point to, most coverage of her life naturally starts and ends with the Hanks family.
Raising Colin and E.A. Hanks
Samantha Lewes had two children with Tom Hanks. Colin Lewes Hanks, born in 1977, became an actor and director, with roles in Roswell, Orange County and Fargo. Elizabeth Anne Hanks, known as E.A. Hanks, was born in Burbank in 1982 and works as a writer and journalist.
Both grew up with a famous surname and have shaped careers on their own terms. Readers interested in how the children of well-known actors find their own footing may also enjoy our profile of an actor’s daughter who has kept a low public profile.
Her Final Years and Death
After the divorce, Samantha Lewes stayed largely out of the public eye. She was later diagnosed with cancer and died on 12 March 2002 in Sacramento, aged 49. Accounts differ on the details of her illness. Some describe lung cancer with secondary bone cancer, while others say bone cancer that spread to the lungs, so it is safest to say that the cancer affected both.
How Her Story Is Being Told Today
Public interest in Samantha Lewes grew again after 2025, when E.A. Hanks published a memoir, The 10, about her family and upbringing. The book includes her recollections of her mother and of a difficult childhood. These are one daughter’s personal memories, and they deserve to be read with care. They are not a complete portrait, and Samantha Lewes can no longer give her own account.
The same curiosity has attached itself to many relatives of famous people in recent years. Readers who want a sense of how those stories are usually pieced together from limited public records can look at our biography of the daughter of two well-known public figures.
Why People Still Search for Samantha Lewes
People search for Samantha Lewes because she sits at the start of a very famous story. She knew Tom Hanks before the fame, she brought up two children who have become public figures themselves, and she died young. Beyond those facts, much of her life remains private, and the responsible way to write about her is to say clearly what is known and to avoid filling the gaps with guesses.
