Samantha Lewes was an American actress and the first wife of Tom Hanks. Born Susan Jane Dillingham in San Diego in 1952, she used Lewes as her professional name, married Hanks in 1978, and was the mother of actor Colin Hanks and writer Elizabeth Hanks. She died of cancer in March 2002, at 49, long before her family’s name became a fixture of film awards season.
Most searches for her are really searches for the person behind a footnote in a celebrity biography. This guide tries to answer that question properly: who she was on her own terms, what the record supports, and which popular claims fall apart on inspection. Because it is a life that ended early and a subject that matters to living relatives, we have kept to documented facts and a respectful tone. More profiles built the same way live on The Athens Magazine.
Samantha Lewes: Key Facts
| Detail | Information | How solid is it? |
|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Susan Jane Dillingham | Consistent across outlets |
| Professional name | Samantha Lewes | Consistent |
| Born | November 29, 1952, San Diego, California | Listed in standard biographical databases |
| Died | March 12, 2002, Sacramento, California | Consistent across outlets |
| Age at death | 49 | Follows from the dates |
| Cause of death | Bone cancer | Reported by IMDb and several profiles |
| Marriage | To Tom Hanks, January 24, 1978 until 1987 | Widely reported |
| Children | Colin Hanks and Elizabeth Hanks | Well documented |
| Parents | John Raymond Dillingham and Harriet Hall Collins | Listed in IMDb’s family section |
| Screen work | Small credits, including Bosom Buddies and Mr. Success | Listed on IMDb |
A Short Timeline of Her Life
- 1952: Born Susan Jane Dillingham in San Diego, California.
- 1970s: Spends a year in England as an exchange teacher, according to Yen.com.gh, before turning to acting full time.
- 1977: Her son Colin is born.
- January 1978: She marries Tom Hanks.
- 1982: Daughter Elizabeth is born.
- 1980s: Takes on small acting parts while her husband’s career takes off.
- 1987: The marriage ends in divorce.
- 1988: Hanks marries Rita Wilson.
- March 12, 2002: She dies in Sacramento at 49.
Seeing it laid out like this explains something about her search footprint. Almost every date after 1977 is connected to someone else’s story, and that is why her own voice rarely appears in coverage.
From Susan Dillingham to Samantha Lewes
Biographical databases give her birth name as Susan Jane Dillingham and list her parents as John Raymond Dillingham and Harriet Hall Collins, with three brothers: Michael, Eric and Bruce. IMDb’s biography page is the source most outlets draw from for those details.
The name change is worth a note, because it confuses searchers. “Samantha Lewes” is not a married name. Actors commonly adopt a professional name, and she used this one for her screen work. People searching for “Susan Dillingham” and “Samantha Lewes” are therefore looking for the same woman. It also means she is sometimes missing from sources that only know her by one name.
What we cannot say with confidence is anything about her school years, her family relationships or her college training. Several sites supply tidy answers to those questions, but none cites a primary source. We have left them out.
How She Met Tom Hanks
The widely repeated account is that she and Hanks met in the late 1970s while both were working in theatre, and that they were together briefly before the pregnancy that led to their son’s birth. Hanks was still early in his career then, working in regional theatre rather than the film roles that later made him famous.
This stage matters because it corrects a common misunderstanding. Lewes was not a celebrity spouse who joined an already famous man. She married a struggling young actor, and the two built a household while neither of them was well known. That is a different kind of story from the one told about most famous couples, and it is one reason her profile feels more intimate than the usual “ex-wife of” entry.
Her Acting Career
She did have a screen career, though a modest one. IMDb credits include Bosom Buddies (1980), the sitcom that gave Hanks one of his first television breaks, and Mr. Success (1984). Those listings are brief, and there is no evidence in the sources we found of a long film résumé, major awards or a breakout role.
One profile describes her as a film producer. We could not find support for that, so we treat it as an unverified claim. The honest summary is that she was a working actress with a handful of credits, who spent a large share of her adult life raising two children.
This is not a diminishment. It is simply the accurate scale of her professional record, and calling it larger than it was would do her no favours. Many performers of her generation had careers like this: real work, steady effort, limited visibility.
Marriage to Tom Hanks
The couple married on January 24, 1978, according to biographical listings, and divorced in 1987, a marriage of just under a decade. Hanks later married Rita Wilson in 1988, and that marriage has lasted for decades. For a broader look at his career, see Tom Hanks on Wikipedia.
People often ask why the first marriage ended. The honest answer is that neither of them has described it in detail in any widely documented, primary-source way. Articles that give specific reasons, from career strain to personal conflict, are mostly speculation or repeat each other. The facts we can state are the dates and the outcome. In an era when two young people were building lives while one of them was becoming very busy, strain is plausible, but plausible is not the same as confirmed.
Samantha Lewes as a Mother
Her children are the part of the story that people still talk about most. Colin Hanks was born in 1977 and became an actor, with credits across television and film. Elizabeth Hanks, who writes under the name E.A. Hanks, is a writer. Colin’s two daughters, Olivia and Charlotte, are Samantha’s grandchildren, as IMDb’s family listing notes.
Her children were still young adults when she died, which gives her later years extra weight in how people remember her. We do not repeat private family details here, and we do not quote relatives beyond what they have said publicly. If you want to understand how her children relate to her memory, the best sources are their own interviews rather than aggregator sites summarizing them.
Her Final Years and Death
Samantha Lewes died on March 12, 2002, in Sacramento, California, at age 49. IMDb gives bone cancer as the cause, and several profiles repeat it. Beyond that, the circumstances of her illness have been kept largely private, which is how many families handle such things.
If you find a page that offers a detailed account of her treatment, her final months or conversations at the end, treat it with suspicion. That kind of detail would have had to come from family or medical sources, and we have found no credible publication that provides it.
Why People Still Search for Her
Three things keep her name in circulation. First is the obvious one, her marriage to one of the most recognizable actors in the world. Second is her children, who have public careers and have occasionally spoken about their mother. Third is a more general curiosity about “before they were famous” chapters in celebrity lives. Each of those draws attention to her without giving her much space to speak for herself.
Readers sometimes assume that a thin public record means a dramatic hidden story. Usually it just reflects a private life that ended before the internet era of constant documentation. She died in 2002, before social media and before most celebrity profiles were digitized, so there is simply less material to find.
Common Myths and Mix-Ups
- “She was a major film star.” Not supported. Her credits were small.
- “Her name was Samantha Hanks.” Not supported. She worked as Samantha Lewes.
- “She was a producer.” One profile says so, but we found no corroboration.
- “She is still alive.” She died in 2002.
- “There is a confirmed reason for the divorce.” There is not.
Watch for mix-ups with other people called Samantha Lewes, including professionals in other fields. The details in this article apply only to the actress who was married to Tom Hanks.
How to Read Profiles of Famous People’s Former Spouses
Profiles of ex-wives and ex-husbands tend to follow a template: a brief bio, a marriage date, a summary of the split and a sentence about how things worked out. When the person is private or deceased, the template can get filled with guesses. A good test is to ask whether a claim has a named source and a date. If it does not, it is probably repeated rather than reported.
You can see the same approach in our guides to Kaynette Williams, Blake Shelton’s first wife, Melanie Lynn Clapp, Johnny Knoxville’s first wife and Carolin Bacic, Steve Bacic’s late wife.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Samantha Lewes?
She was an American actress, born Susan Jane Dillingham, and the first wife of Tom Hanks. She was the mother of Colin and Elizabeth Hanks.
When was Samantha Lewes born and when did she die?
She was born on November 29, 1952, and died on March 12, 2002, at age 49.
What did Samantha Lewes die of?
Bone cancer, according to IMDb and several profiles. Her family has shared few other details publicly.
How long was Samantha Lewes married to Tom Hanks?
They married in January 1978 and divorced in 1987, a little under ten years.
Did Samantha Lewes have children?
Yes, two: Colin Hanks and Elizabeth Hanks.
Was Samantha Lewes a successful actress?
She had a small number of credits, including Bosom Buddies and Mr. Success, but not a major career in the way her husband later did.
Why did Samantha Lewes and Tom Hanks divorce?
No confirmed reason has been documented publicly. Claims you read online are speculation.
The Bottom Line
Samantha Lewes was an actress with a modest career, a first wife in a famous man’s biography, and the mother of two children who went on to public careers of their own. The dates are well documented; the inner story is not, and it would be a mistake to fill that space with invention. Seen on her own terms, she is a person whose life was cut short at 49 and who deserves to be described accurately rather than as an afterthought.
We will update this page if reliable new information emerges. For more carefully sourced profiles, browse our Celebrities category or return to the homepage.