Tom Hanks granted honorary Greek citizenship

Tom Hanks has been granted honorary Greek citizenship by the country’s president.

The Greek president Prokopis Pavlopoulos signed a naturalisation order for Hanks last month.

The American film star’s wife, actor and producer Rita Wilson, is of Greek and Bulgarian descent, and the couple frequently visit Greece on holiday.

In accordance with Greek law, individuals may be granted honorary naturalisation if they have “provided exceptional services to the country or whose naturalisation serves the public interest”.

Fans congratulated the two-time Oscar winner on his Greek citizenship.

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1/9 Forrest Gum

Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump for which he won a best actor Oscar

2/9 You've Got Mail

Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in Nora Ephron's 90s romcom

3/9 Da Vinci Code

Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou in Ron Howard's 2006 thriller The Da Vinci Code

Rex

4/9 Charlie Wilson's War

Tom Hanks as Charlie Wilson, left, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Gust Avrakotos, right, 2007

5/9 Cloud Atlas

Halle Berry and Tom Hanks in 'Cloud Atlas'

Focus Features

6/9 Toy Story

Tom Hanks as cowboy Woody

Rex Features

7/9 Saving Mr Banks

Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson star in ‘Saving Mr Banks’

8/9 Captain Phillips

Tom Hanks stars in Captain Phillips

9/9 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Thomas Horn and Tom Hanks in the post-9/11 drama

Francois Duhamel

“Congratulations Tom Hanks! Thrilled to have you be officially a Greek!” tweeted Greek-American publisher and author Arianna Huffington.

In 2002, Hanks and Wilson co-produced hit romantic-comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Prior to their wedding in 1988, the Forrest Gump actor converted to his partner’s Greek Orthodox faith.

During a recent appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! talk show, Hanks expressed his incredulity when he was shown a clip from a quiz show where none of the contestants were able to identify him.

The clip in question showed a recent episode of Jeopardy!, during which the contestants were asked: “In A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, beloved children’s TV show host Mr Rogers is played by this beloved actor.”

“You are kidding me. They didn’t even have any wrong suggestions?” Hanks said when none of the individuals said a word.

Benjamin Afrifa

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Benjamin Afrifa

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