Tom Hanks Once Kicked Fonzie in the Face — and 5 Other Things You Didn’t Know About His Early Career

Tom Hanks, Bosom Buddies — Everett Collection

Before Tom Hanks was Forrest Gump or the voice of everyone’s favorite toy cowboy Woody, he donned a teased-up wig and some pink lipstick in his first major role. Though Hanks, who turns 69 on July 9, 2025, had previously appeared on The Love Boat and in the low-budget 1980 slasher He Knows You’re Alone, his first serious gig was the role of Kip Wilson (as well as Kip’s alter ego, Buffy Wilson) in ABC’s Bosom Buddies, which ran for only two seasons from 1980-81.

The show followed the lives of two young male advertising executives (played by Hanks and Peter Scolari), who had to impersonate women in order to find a cheap place to live in New York City.

Bosom Buddies set Hanks up for the comedic roles that he was known for in his early days, including blockbuster hits like Splash (1984), Big (1988) and A League of Their Own (1992). But the Hollywood legend would go on to build an iconic resumé of Oscar-winning and box office smash hit dramas, from Philadelphia (1993), Forrest Gump (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998) and The Green Mile (1999) to Cast Away (2000), Catch Me If You Can (2002), Sully (2016), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), The Post (2017), A Man Called Otto (2022) and more.

Though it’s become a small footnote in the career of one of the most celebrated actors of all time, Hanks’ time on Bosom Buddies set the rest of his career in motion — as well as his love life.

1 It was inspired by a Billy Wilder classic

The creators originally pitched Bosom Buddies as a sophisticated buddy comedy, akin to Billy Wilder‘s film Some Like It Hot, which also features men in drag. ABC executives latched onto the drag element, making it a condition for buying the show. “Every week was some brand of cuckoo adventure,” Hanks told Jimmy Kimmel, when reflecting on shooting the series with his dear friend Scolari.

2 Hanks and Scolari were lifelong friends

BOSOM BUDDIES, Tom Hanks, Peter Scolari, 1980-1982

Everett Collection

As really the only two male actors on the series, Hanks and Scolari shared a dressing room on one side of the studio, while the women’s was on the other side. Hanks and Scolari quickly bonded while wearing lipstick, pantyhose and hairnets, and would catch up on each other’s lives during their sometimes 14-hour-a-day shoots. “I don’t know how many people truly do change your life when you cross paths with them, but he and I met, we picked up the script, and we started screwing around, and I actually thought, ‘This is it,’” he shared with Kimmel. “This is how this works. This is like a hand inside a glove.”

3 Improvisation was key

The show was known for its wacky humor and improvised moments, particularly between Hanks and Scolari. They often clashed with directors because they felt they had a better understanding of their characters and would improvise during rehearsals.

4 **It didn’t land him Splash — kicking Fonzie in the head did**

Though Bosom Buddies definitely raised Hanks’ profile, he landed his breakthrough role in 1984’s Splash via a 1982 appearance on Happy Days. In the episode, Hanks guest-starred as a childhood rival of Fonzie’s, who had spent the intervening decades obsessed with revenge. His appearance — which involved some over-the-top karate movies, and culminated with him kicking Henry Winkler through a plate glass window — made an impression on the show’s head writers, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel.

Just a few short years later, Ganz and Mandel were looking for a star for their screenplay, Splash. “No one would take the job,” Hanks recalled in a 2023 interview.

5 The new Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hanks

Although Hanks was married at the time to Samantha Lewes, he met his current wife, Rita Wilson, when she made a guest appearance on the show — she played an extremely wacky character whom Scolari takes on a double date with Hanks. They became reacquainted on the set of Volunteers and were married in 1988.

6 Tom Selleck held back his career

TV Guide Magazine

Bosom Buddies aired on ABC on Thursday evenings at 8:30pm ET, but it got swamped by the promotion of Magnum, P.I. with Tom Selleck. “My publicist was telling me to get our show on TV Guide,” Hanks told Sirius XM’s Jess Cagle. “Then along comes a guy on CBS, a good-looking cop with a mustache who drives a Ferrari. Tom Selleck and Magnum got the cover of TV Guide.”