1994: TOM HANKS

WHAT WE SAID THEN ''Hanks, 38, is too modest to admit it, but the main reason an unorthodox epic like Robert Zemeckis' Forrest Gump has managed to earn nearly $300 million at the box office is Tom Hanks.... The reason: In a Hollywood sea of muscleheads, vamps, caffeinated comics, brat-pack pretty boys, and aging rakes, Tom Hanks just might be the last man on the silver screen who conveys a sense of decency.'' —Jeff Gordinier