Tom Hanks’ daughter Elizabeth alleges harrowing abuse at the hands of her mum

Tom Hanks daughter Elizabeth Ann Hanks, from his first marriage to Susan Dillingham, has written an explosive tell-all book in which she details alleged abuse at the hands of her mum

Tom Hanks' daughter Elizabeth Ann has made shocking claims about alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of her dead mother
Tom Hanks’ daughter Elizabeth Ann has made shocking claims about alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of her dead mother(Image: Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Actor Tom Hanks’ daughter Elizabeth Ann Hanks has claimed her late mother was “emotionally and physically violent” as she opens up on her difficult childhood in an upcoming book.

The Forest Gump star, 68, married Susan Dillingham – who went by the stage name Samantha Lewes – in 1978, before he found fame in Hollywood. The couple welcomed two children, Elizabeth Ann and Colin together. They split in 1987 and Susan, who died in 2002 of lung cancer, got primary custody of the children.

Tom, who went on to marry Rita Wilson and welcome children Chet and Truman, would see his two children during the weekends but that soon changed when Susan moved them from Los Angeles to Sacramento without telling Tom.

EA Hanks has detailed the alleged abuse in an upcoming book
EA Hanks has detailed the alleged abuse in an upcoming book(Image: Instagram)

Elizabeth Ann, who also goes by EA, alleges that she and her brother Colin Hanks were neglected and emotionally abused by their mother during their time in Sacramento, in an explosive upcoming memoir, an excerpt of which has been shared with PEOPLE.

EA claims in the book that while she was in the seventh grade – which is year eight in the UK – “one night, her emotional violence became physical violence” and she moved to Los Angeles soon after. EA’s mother Susan later died of lung cancer in 2002, when the writer was just 19.

In her new book The 10: A Memoir of Family And The Open Road, EA undertakes a six-month road trip from Los Angeles to Palatka, Florida – where her mum’s family once lived. The book sees EA hope to learn more about her mum, who EA believes had bipolar though she was never diagnosed, and her dark past.

Tom went on to marry Rita Wilson and welcomed Chet (not pictured) and Truman, who is pictured here alongside Elizabeth
Tom went on to marry Rita Wilson and welcomed Chet (not pictured) and Truman, who is pictured here alongside Elizabeth(Image: Getty Images)

The excerpt from the upcoming memoir, which is set for release on Tuesday April 8, reads: “I was born in Burbank, but after my parents split up, my mother took my older brother and me to live in Sacramento. I have few memories of the early years in Los Angeles.

“Eventually a divorce agreement was settled, and I would visit my dad and stepmother (and soon enough my younger half brothers) on the weekends and during summers, but from 5 to 14, years filled with confusion, violence, deprivation, and love, I was a Sacramento girl. I lived in a white house with columns, a backyard with a pool, and a bedroom with pictures of horses plastered on every wall.

“As the years went on, the backyard became so full of dog s**t that you couldn’t walk around it, the house stank of smoke. The fridge was bare or full of expired food more often than not, and my mother spent more and more time in her big four-poster bed, poring over the Bible. 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. My custody arrangement basically switched — now I lived in L.A. and visited Sacramento on the weekends and in the summer. When I was 14, my mother and I drove across America along Interstate 10 to Florida, in a Winnebago that lumbered along the asphalt with a rolling gait that felt nautical.”

The excerpt ends with: “My senior year of high school, she called to say she was dying.”

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