Rita Wilson

Margarita Wilson Hanks (born Margarita Ibrahimoff; October 26, 1956) is an American actress, singer, and producer. Her film appearances include Volunteers (1985), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Now and Then (1995), That Thing You Do! (1996), Jingle All the Way (1996), The Story of Us (1999), Runaway Bride (1999), It's Complicated (2009), and Larry Crowne (2011), and she appeared in the television series The Good Wife and Girls. Wilson has also performed on Broadway and produced several films, including My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). As a singer-songwriter, Wilson has released the albums AM/FM, Rita Wilson, Bigger Picture, and Halfway to Home. In March 2019, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Wilson was born Margarita Ibrahimoff on October 26, 1956, in Hollywood. Her mother, Dorothea Tzigkou (Greek: Δωροθέα Τζίγκου), was an ethnic Greek, raised in Sotirë near Dropull i Sipërm in Albania, close to the border with Greece. Her father, Hassan Halilov Ibrahimoff (Bulgarian: Хасан Халилов Ибрахимов; 1920–2009), was a Bulgarian Muslim (Pomak) born in Oraio (Breshtene), Greece, close to the border with Bulgaria. Her father's family moved to Bulgaria when he was a child. He later tried to leave Bulgaria several times, but was caught and placed in a labor camp that had a coal mine. He managed to escape the camp, however, with a friend. He and the friend managed to make it to New York, arriving in 1949. He converted from Islam to Orthodox Christianity upon his marriage and changed his name to Allan Wilson in 1960, choosing his name after a local street. The family lived in Los Angeles, where Rita Wilson's father worked as a bartender. Wilson was raised in the Greek Orthodox faith. In addition to Bulgarian, her father could speak "Russian, Turkish, Polish, Greek, a little bit of Italian, a little bit of French" according to Wilson's husband Tom Hanks, who said he modeled his portrayal of the character Viktor Navorski in the film The Terminal on his father-in-law.

Wilson's career began with a guest appearance on The Brady Bunch in the 1972 episode "Greg's Triangle", where she played Pat Conway, one of the candidates running against Marcia Brady for head cheerleader. She also twice appeared on M*A*S*H in 1982 as Nurse Lacey as well as the sitcoms Three's Company and Bosom Buddies starring her future husband Tom Hanks, and as Hester Rose Crane, the deceased mother of Frasier Crane on Frasier.

In the 1980s, Wilson attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in England.

She has appeared in numerous films, including Volunteers, Barbarians at the Gate, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Mixed Nuts, Sleepless in Seattle, Now and Then, That Thing You Do!, Jingle All the Way, Runaway Bride, Invisible Child, The Story of Us, Raise Your Voice, It's Complicated, and Larry Crowne.

On television, she played Susan Borman, wife of astronaut Frank Borman, in the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon. She guest starred in many series, including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Body of Proof, and had recurring roles on The Good Wife and Girls.

She was instrumental in helping actress-playwright Nia Vardalos get the movie deal for My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which became the highest-grossing independent film of all time and for which she served as a producer. Wilson produced two stage productions of the play as they were developing the film. A sequel, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which Wilson co-produced and in which she had a supporting role, was released in 2016.

Wilson's debut solo album AM/FM was released on May 8, 2012, on Decca Records. The album featured classics from the 1960s and 70s, including a cover of "Wichita Lineman" that she performed with the song's writer-composer Jimmy Webb. She also performed a duet of "All I Have To Do Is Dream" with former Soundgarden and Audioslave musician Chris Cornell. Additional harmonies on the album are performed by Faith Hill, Sheryl Crow, Vince Gill, and Patti Scialfa (who also produced the track "Come See About Me" with Ron Aniello).

At the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington, DC, on December 4, 2014, she performed for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, and served as co-host of the event.

In 2014, Wilson wrote the song "Bad Things" with Matt Nathanson, for the Scott Eastwood film Dawn Patrol, in which she also starred. In 2016, Wilson released her self-titled album. She co-wrote each song on Rita Wilson with Kara DioGuardi, Dan Wilson, Jason Reeves, Darrell Brown, Sugarland's Kristian Bush, Richard Marx, Lauren Christy, Mikal Blue, Nathan Chapman, Jason Wade, Stephanie Chapman, Ron Aniello, Jillian Jacqueline, Jessi Alexander, JR Randall, Yugomir Lonich, Blair Daly, and Kelly Archer. The song "Strong Tonight" was also performed by Connie Britton in an episode of the ABC television show Nashville. The New York Times said: "Ms. Wilson has a catch in her voice that conveys yearning and potential heartbreak behind a façade of cheer." To support the release of Rita Wilson, she opened on a tour with Chicago; she has said she is a lifelong fan of the band.

A year later, Wilson presented the event "Liner Notes: Songwriters, Stories and Music with Rita Wilson and Friends". The show, which took place at the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, included performances from Wilson along with Patty Smyth, Desmond Child, Jeff Barry, and Kristian Bush, among others.

With her third album, Bigger Picture, Wilson drew directly from her personal life for its theme. The album, released September 28, 2018, reunited her with AM/FM's producer Fred Mollin. Wilson co-wrote many of the tracks with Kristian Bush and Darrell Brown, as well as new partners The Warren Brothers, Lindy Robbins and Alex Reid, and the album also included covers of Cat Stevens' "The Wind" and Burt Bacharach/Hal David's "What the World Needs Now Is Love".

Wilson has been a contributing editor to Harper's Bazaar magazine, writing over twenty-one articles. She also started, and was Editor-at-Large of, a section of The Huffington Post called Huff/Post50, which explored issues and topics relative to people over fifty years old. She has also written for O, The Oprah Magazine.

Wilson married actor Tom Hanks in 1988. Hanks already had two children from a previous marriage, Colin and Elizabeth Hanks. She has two sons with Hanks, Chet and Truman. Wilson has three grandchildren.

She is a member of the Greek Orthodox Church.

In 2015, Wilson signed an open letter from the ONE Campaign. The letter was addressed to Angela Merkel and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, then heads of the G7 and the African Union, respectively, urging them to focus on women in their work against poverty and inequality.

Wilson endorsed Senator John Edwards in the 2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

For over 20 years, Wilson and her husband, Tom Hanks, have been honorary co-chairs (along with Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw) of the Women's Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), specializing in raising money for women's cancers. In 2016, WCRF joined forces with Evelyn Lauder's Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Wilson contributed to the Moffitt Cancer Center by donating "True Hearts" jewelry made of sterling silver and 14k gold.

Wilson has credited Rosie O'Donnell as inspiration for her charitable work, particularly with cancer and children's charities. She and her husband have long supported the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, starting in 1989 when Wilson appeared as Celia in a production of As You Like It. Their annual Simply Shakespeare event raises funds to support programs for underprivileged youth. Musicians at the fundraiser have included Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Ben Harper, and Reba McEntire.

In 2018, Wilson and Hanks were honored with USC Shoah Foundation's Ambassadors For Humanity award in recognition of their "longstanding commitment to humanitarian causes and support of veterans". The couple also contribute to other charities including AIDS Project Los Angeles.

In 2019, Wilson, her husband, and their children, were granted Greek citizenship by honorary naturalization by President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, in recognition of their support of those affected by the 2018 Mati fire.