Tom Hanks is seen looking gaunt back in NYC after video emerged of him with visibly shaking hand

Estimated read time 8 min read


A gaunt-looking Tom Hanks was seen strolling the streets of Manhattan on Wednesday – a day after new footage emerged showing him apparently struggling to contain the shaking of his arm.

Hanks, 65, wore loose fitting clothes and a baseball cap as he left his Upper East Side home. 

Yet he was unable to disguise his slender frame – a significant change from his latest film, which sees him playing Elvis’s manager in the Baz Luhrmann biopic.

During the promotional junket for the film, Luhrmann, who was born in Sydney, arranged for an Australian premiere to be held in the city of Gold Coast, 50 miles south of Brisbane, where the filming took place.

Austin Butler, 30, who stars as The King, was at the June 4 event along with Hanks.

‘There is no better place in the world to make a motion picture than right here on the Gold Coast,’ he said, microphone in his right hand, and left hand in his pocket.

His arm visibly shook as he spoke. 

Tom Hanks was seen in Manhattan on Wednesday with a remarkably slender frame - a significant departure from his most recent role, as Elvis's manager

Tom Hanks was seen in Manhattan on Wednesday with a remarkably slender frame – a significant departure from his most recent role, as Elvis’s manager

Hanks is seen out in Manhattan on Wednesday

The actor cut a decidedly more round figure in September, when he had just finished playing Elvis's manager

Hanks on Wednesday (left) was significantly more svelte than nine months previously (right)

The actor is known for his rigorous preparation for roles: it was unclear whether his slimming down was for his next film

The actor is known for his rigorous preparation for roles: it was unclear whether his slimming down was for his next film

Hanks kept his arms by his side as he walked through Manhattan's Upper East Side on Wednesday

Hanks kept his arms by his side as he walked through Manhattan’s Upper East Side on Wednesday

The California-born actor spends most of his time in his home state, but has for many years also owned a residence in New York

The California-born actor spends most of his time in his home state, but has for many years also owned a residence in New York

The Oscar-winning actor is currently in the midst of a publicity blitz for Elvis, which opens nationwide on June 24

The Oscar-winning actor is currently in the midst of a publicity blitz for Elvis, which opens nationwide on June 24

Hanks is known for his grueling preparations for his films, and it was unclear whether he recent weight loss was for a new role.

His next scheduled film is the Robert Zemeckis-directed Here, which he will star in alongside Robin Wright.

‘Set in one single room, follows the many people who inhabit it over years and years, from the past to the future,’ the film’s synopsis on IMDB reads.

Hanks’s most dramatic weight loss was for Castaway in 2000, when he shed 50lbs, and in the 1993 film Philadelphia, for which he lost 35lbs.

He has also packed on the pounds – most notably for the 1992 film A League of Their Own, when he gained 30lbs.

In 2013, Hanks revealed he had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which he said was down to being ‘lazy’ and ‘an idiot’.

He told the then-Late Show host David Letterman: ‘I went to the doctor, and he said, ‘You know those high blood sugar numbers you’ve been dealing with since you were 36? Well, you’ve graduated! You’ve got type 2 diabetes, young man.”

In a separate interview, he told Radio Times: ‘I’m part of the lazy American generation that has blindly kept dancing through the party and now finds ourselves with a malady.

‘I was heavy. You’ve seen me in movies, you know what I looked like. 

‘I was a total idiot.’ 

He added: ‘I thought I could avoid it by removing the buns from my cheeseburgers. Well, it takes a little bit more than that.’

Tom Hanks, 65, is seen speaking on June 4 at the Australian premier of Elvis, in the city of Gold Coast. He clasped the microphone with two hands at one point, to try and stop the shaking

Tom Hanks, 65, is seen speaking on June 4 at the Australian premier of Elvis, in the city of Gold Coast. He clasped the microphone with two hands at one point, to try and stop the shaking

The two-time winner of the best actor Oscar, Hanks delighted the crowd in Gold Coast with his speech referencing filming in their city

The two-time winner of the best actor Oscar, Hanks delighted the crowd in Gold Coast with his speech referencing filming in their city

Hanks plays Tom Parker, Elvis's manager, in the film, with Austin Butler starring as Presley

Hanks plays Tom Parker, Elvis’s manager, in the film, with Austin Butler starring as Presley

The beloved actor’s shaking led one doctor to tell DailyMail.com it could be an early sign of Parkinson’s.

Dr Stuart Fischer, a Yale University graduate with four years’ experience in emergency medicine, who is now the medical director of two nursing homes in New York City, said the Australia footage suggested the degenerative disease.

‘Parkinson’s would be uppermost in most physicians minds,’ he told DailyMail.com, after viewing the footage.

‘This trembling hand can be an early sign of the disease.

‘One would think he would be on the path to a neurologists office now if not already.

‘It could be weeks, months or years before it progresses. It could be like with the famous conductor James Levine, it did take many years for a leg tremor to evolve into a bodily manifestation.’

He said the shaking could be tremors, but given Hanks’s age it was unlikely. 

‘The other condition it could be is an essential tremor, but this usually occurs at a younger age – although it can be worsened by anxiety and stress,’ he said. 

‘It usually affects people in their 20s and 30s.’

Asked if it could be linked to Hanks’s diabetes, he said: ‘No link to type 2 diabetes. I’ve never heard of that at all.’

He also ruled out it being linked to Hanks previously having COVID.

Robert H. Eckel, board member of the American Diabetes Association and a past president of the American Heart Association, told DailyMail.com that, in general, people with diabetes could shake if their blood sugar got too low.

‘People living with type 2 diabetes and being treated with insulin or sulfonylurea may experience shaky hands if their blood glucose gets too low, which is a condition called hypoglycemia,’ he said. 

‘There are a lot of potential reasons someone may experience shaky hands. 

‘Whether you have diabetes or not, if you experience changes in your hands, feet or legs, you should work closely with your health care provider to determine the cause and appropriate treatment, if necessary.’

Hanks’s representatives are yet to respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.

In several television appearances to promote the Elvis film, Hanks is noticeably keeping his hands clasped together for much of the time. 

On June 13, Hanks and his co-star Austin Butler appeared on GMA, talking to the hosts from Graceland after a special screening for the Presley family.

On May 31 the pair were in London, and spoke to BBC’s The One Show. 

Hanks and his co-star, Austin Butler, appeared from Graceland on June 13 to discuss the new film

Hanks and his co-star, Austin Butler, appeared from Graceland on June 13 to discuss the new film

In Australia, earlier this month, the crowd were lapping up his tales of filming in their city. 

‘I’ve shot films in Morocco and Los Angeles and New York City and Seattle and in Berlin. 

‘None of them have what the Gold Coast have, and what is that? Two words. None of those other cities have Dan Murphy,’ he said, referencing the chain of liquor stores, Dan Murphy’s.

‘What a man, who I got to know quite well,’ he said, to applause.

As his hand shook, Hanks tried to control it, by placing his left hand at the bottom of the microphone, below his right.

He also attempted briefly to switch hands.

Luhrmann can be seen listening in as Hanks addresses the crowd in Gold Coast, 50 miles south of Brisbane

Luhrmann can be seen listening in as Hanks addresses the crowd in Gold Coast, 50 miles south of Brisbane

Hanks several times tried to put two hands on the microphone, to stop the shaking

Hanks several times tried to put two hands on the microphone, to stop the shaking

Hanks told the crowd in Gold Coast how much they had all enjoyed filming in Australia

Hanks told the crowd in Gold Coast how much they had all enjoyed filming in Australia

Hanks is seen with his wife Rita Wilson at the Oscars in February 2020

Hanks is seen with his wife Rita Wilson at the Oscars in February 2020

The audience did not appear to notice, however, as Hanks delighted them by declaring: ‘We had an absolutely magnificent time with you all. 

‘There is something about the people and the place of the Gold Coast that makes everyone walk around with a confident look on their face. We were a part of that. 

‘Your confidence, joy and zest for life comes through in our motion picture.’

He added: ‘You have a wonderful proactive golden son in Baz Luhrmann who loves Australia more than kangaroos, more than Dan Murphy.’

Hanks famously played a Second World War soldier with PTSD in Saving Private Ryan, whose hands visibly shook due to the immense stress he had endured.

At one point, Hanks’s character, Captain Miller, tells Sergeant Horvath that the shaking ‘comes and goes.’ 

Horvath replies: ‘You may have to get yourself a new line of work. This one doesn’t seem to agree with you anymore.’

Hanks's character in the 1998 Steven Spielberg film Saving Private Ryan shakes due to PTSD

Hanks’s character in the 1998 Steven Spielberg film Saving Private Ryan shakes due to PTSD

Hanks is seen on June 13 at Graceland with (from left): Olivia De Jonge, who plays Priscilla; Austin Butler, director Baz Luhrmann, and SiriusXm host Jess Cagle

Hanks is seen on June 13 at Graceland with (from left): Olivia De Jonge, who plays Priscilla; Austin Butler, director Baz Luhrmann, and SiriusXm host Jess Cagle

Following the Australian premier, Hanks flew back to the United States, where the film was screened at Graceland on June 11.

‘The only reason I’m here, it’s been done right,’ said Lisa Marie Presley, praising Luhrmann’s and Butler’s interpretations of her father’s story. 

‘I was quite young, but I still remember my father’s energy and his vibe. 

‘And Austin, he — what’s the word? — he nailed it.’

She said Butler’s success in the role was a contrast to previous attempts at Elvis onscreen.

‘In my life, it’s been one disappointment after another, in terms of people portraying my father. 

‘Bless their hearts, I’m sure they meant well.’



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