Tom Hanks' Ex-Wife Samantha Lewes Had Such A Tragic Life

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Note: This article discusses allegations of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and murder.

Everyone knows beloved actor Tom Hanks. The Oscar winner is known for his great personality, recognizable voice, and sweet smile. By the 1990s, Tom had gone through a stunning transformation that turned him into a household name, but not many people are familiar with the life he lived before hitting it big, including his first marriage to Samantha Lewes (born Susan Dillingham). Tom kept this part of his life private and has barely talked about his first wife publicly. He is much more vocal about his current marriage to actress Rita Wilson, whom he has been married to since 1988.

Tom and Lewes met while attending Sacramento State University, where they were both studying theater. They welcomed their first child together, actor Colin Hanks, in 1977 and married the following year. They had another child, daughter Elizabeth "E.A." Hanks, in 1982 before separating and ultimately divorcing in 1987. Lewes largely stayed out of the spotlight during her marriage to Tom and in the years that followed, and she certainly faced a lot of struggles in her life before her unfortunate death in 2002.

Samantha Lewes was by her husband Tom Hanks' side as he rose to fame by starring in the show "Bosom Buddies" and the movie "Splash." Lewes even appeared alongside her husband in an episode of his sitcom as a waitress. Their daughter E.A. Hanks reflected on the couple's connection in her memoir, "The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road." She discussed what drew her parents to each other and what led them to start a family so young. "My dad was traumatized by his childhood and his family's divorce and a revolving door of stepparents and [step]-siblings," E.A. explained (via People). "The love that existed between my parents is two hurt kids trying to dig out of a well together."

Unfortunately, the couple and parents of two separated in 1985. Tom offered an explanation to Express in 2013 (via Harper's Bazaar) about why his first marriage came to an end and the heartache he felt as a result. "A broken marriage meant I was sentencing my own kids to the sort of feelings I had at their age," Tom said. "I was just too young and insecure for marriage. I was 23 and my son Colin was already 2 when I married for the first time. I was not really ready to take on those responsibilities." After the couple separated, Tom quickly began dating Rita Wilson, whom he had met years prior on the set of "Bosom Buddies" and reconnected while filming the 1985 film "Volunteers." The two married after Tom's divorce was finalized and have welcomed two children together, giving Tom four kids in total. 

E.A. Hanks revealed in her memoir that she has a handful of painful memories from her youth at the hands of her mother. It seems to have started after Tom Hanks divorced Samantha Lewes and she was given primary custody of their children, with the kids spending weekends and summers with their dad. E.A. recalled a time when her famous father tried to pick up his kids from their school in Los Angeles, only to find out that Lewes had moved the children to Sacramento without their father's knowledge. "It turns out we haven't been there for two weeks and he has to track us down," E.A. wrote (via People). 

By the time E.A. was a preteen, her mom's condition was taking a turn for the worse. Samantha was having frequent outbursts and would frantically pray "out loud — she used to be able to keep it together in public. That went very quickly," E.A. remembered in her book. A couple of years later was the moment that would change E.A.'s relationship with her mom forever. "One night, her emotional violence became physical violence, and in the aftermath, I moved to Los Angeles, right smack in the middle of the seventh grade," she explained. After that point, E.A. lived primarily with her father, Tom, and would see her mother on weekends. Looking back, E.A. wrote that she thinks it is likely that her mother suffered from bipolar disorder as she had symptoms including paranoia and delusions, but never received a formal diagnosis. 

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

Samantha Lewes was sadly diagnosed with bone cancer in 2001. The cancer eventually spread to Samantha's lungs, and she unfortunately died on March 12, 2002. She was only 49 years old at the time of her passing.

Lewes and her famous ex-husband, Tom Hanks, appeared to be on good terms throughout the remainder of her life. E.A. Hanks wrote in her memoir about when the two reunited for their children's high school graduations. She included an image of Lewes standing between her two children, Colin and E.A., who are flanked by their father Tom and stepmother Rita. It is unknown exactly what year this photo was taken, but it is likely from E.A.'s high school graduation, which happened the year Lewes was diagnosed. E.A. described the picture in her book, saying, "In it, my mother's best wig is slightly askew."

Sources told Britain's Daily Record at the time that Tom made sure his ex-wife got the best care for her health and he allegedly covered the cost. According to The New York Post, a friend of the Oscar winning actor revealed that "Tom was absolutely devastated by the news. He and Susan separated a long time ago. They've had their ups and downs like any divorced couple but they have remained friends."

Years after Samantha Lewes passed away, Tom Hanks' daughter E.A. Hanks found a journal that Lewes kept. In it, E.A. read her mother's description of a gruesome and heinous crime that her father, E.A.'s maternal grandfather John Raymond Dillingham, had committed. "The crime she describes is witnessing her father rape, murder and cannibalize a little girl," E.A. revealed in her memoir. In 2019, E.A. set out to learn whether these allegations were true.

E.A. got in contact with one of Lewes' brothers for answers. When she asked about what Lewes was like growing up, she wrote that "he described a childhood where someone very easily could have fallen through the cracks. And the way he describes my mother is someone who is apart in some way and who's been touched by something that she had no language for." Since Lewes' brother could not give her answers, E.A. wrote that she then began to wonder if the journal she found was her mother's way of coping. Perhaps the crime Lewes' father committed was not literal, but was symbolic of how Lewes felt in her youth. 

"It's entirely possible that what she was describing was an obliteration of her own girlhood," said E.A. "And that what she's describing actually happened to her. That it felt like murder and being eaten up, and what she's really describing is abuse at the hands of her father." In the end, E.A. was never able to confirm or deny whether the story in her mother's journal was fact or fiction.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).