Rita Wilson

Early life

Rita Wilson was born Margarita Ibrahimoff on October 26, 1956, in Hollywood. Her mother, Dorothea Tzigkou (), was an Albanian Greek, raised in Sotirë near Dropull i Sipërm in Albania, close to the border with Greece. Her father, Hassan Halilov Ibrahimoff (; 1920–2009), was a Bulgarian Muslim (Pomak) born in Oraio (Breshtene), Greece, close to the border with Bulgaria. Her father's family moved to Bulgaria when he was a child. He moved from Bulgaria to the US in 1949. He converted from Islam to Orthodox Christianity upon his marriage and changed his name to Allan Wilson in 1960, choosing his name after a local street. The family lived in Los Angeles, where Rita Wilson's father worked as a bartender. Wilson was raised in the Greek Orthodox faith. In addition to Bulgarian, her father could speak "Russian, Turkish, Polish, Greek, a little bit of Italian, a little bit of French" according to Wilson's husband Tom Hanks, who said he modeled his portrayal of the character Viktor Navorski in the film The Terminal on his father-in-law.

Career

Film, television, theater

Wilson's career began with a guest appearance on The Brady Bunch in the 1972 episode "Greg's Triangle," where she played Pat Conway, one of the candidates running against Marcia Brady for head cheerleader. She also twice appeared on MASH* in 1982 as Nurse Lacey as well as the sitcoms Three's Company and Bosom Buddies starring her future husband Tom Hanks, and as Hester Rose Crane, the deceased mother of Frasier Crane on Frasier.

In the 1980s, Wilson attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in England.

She has appeared in numerous films, including Volunteers, Barbarians at the Gate, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Mixed Nuts, Sleepless in Seattle, Now and Then, That Thing You Do!, Jingle All the Way, Runaway Bride, Invisible Child, The Story of Us, Raise Your Voice, It's Complicated, and Larry Crowne.

On television, she played Susan Borman, wife of astronaut Frank Borman, in the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon. She guest starred in many series, including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Body of Proof, and had recurring roles on The Good Wife and Girls.

She was instrumental in helping actress-playwright Nia Vardalos get the movie deal for My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which became the highest-grossing independent film of all time and for which she served as a producer. Wilson produced two stage productions of the play as they were developing the film. A sequel, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which Wilson co-produced and in which she had a supporting role, was released in 2016.

Wilson's Greek heritage was honored in 2016 when the Greek Postal Service ELTA commemorated her with a stamp along with four others: filmmaker Costa-Gavras, engineer and entrepreneur Peter Diamandis, journalist George Stephanopoulos, and billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis. In 2008, Wilson produced the film Mamma Mia!, and eight years later its sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

In 2006, Wilson made her Broadway debut when she performed the role of Roxie Hart in a revival of Chicago. In 2015, she starred in Larry David's Fish in the Dark on Broadway, from which she took a month-long hiatus to undergo a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Off-Broadway, Wilson performed in Donald Margulies' Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Dinner with Friends, at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles in 2000, directed by Tony Award-winner Dan Sullivan. She originated the role of "Mama" in the world premier of Lisa Loomer's play, Distracted, at the Mark Taper Forum, also in Los Angeles, in 2007. Wilson played various roles in Nora and Delia Ephron's play Love, Loss, and What I Wore in 2009. She reprised the roles in the Los Angeles production at the Geffen in 2010.

In March 2020, while filming Elvis in Australia, Hanks announced through his Instagram profile that the couple had contracted COVID-19 and were experiencing minor symptoms. They were admitted to the Gold Coast University Hospital before being returned to quarantine. On March 27, Wilson and her husband returned home to Los Angeles after they recovered from the virus. The couple donated their blood antibodies for virus research.

Wilson produced the film A Man Called Otto, initially released in December 2022. Wilson became interested in producing the film after watching A Man Called Ove, the Swedish film upon which A Man Called Otto is based. The film was sold to Sony Pictures in February 2022 for $60 million, at that time the largest deal to date at the virtual European Film Market. In December, Wilson launched her production company Artistic Films, with A Man Called Otto as the company's first project.

Music

Wilson's debut solo album AM/FM was released on May 8, 2012, on Decca Records. The album featured classics from the 1960s and 70s, including a cover of "Wichita Lineman" that she performed with the song's writer-composer Jimmy Webb. She also performed a duet of "All I Have To Do Is Dream" with former Soundgarden and Audioslave musician Chris Cornell. Additional harmonies on the album are performed by Faith Hill, Sheryl Crow, Vince Gill, and Patti Scialfa (who also produced the track "Come See About Me" with Ron Aniello).

At the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington, DC on December 4, 2014, she performed for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, and served as co-host of the event.

In 2014, Wilson wrote the song "Bad Things" with Matt Nathanson, for the Scott Eastwood film Dawn Patrol, in which she also starred. In 2016, Wilson released her self-titled album. She co-wrote each song on Rita Wilson with Kara DioGuardi, Dan Wilson, Jason Reeves, Darrell Brown, Sugarland's Kristian Bush, Richard Marx, Lauren Christy, Mikal Blue, Nathan Chapman, Jason Wade, Stephanie Chapman, Ron Aniello, Jillian Jacqueline, Jessi Alexander, JR Randall, Yugomir Lonich, Blair Daly, and Kelly Archer. The song "Strong Tonight" was also performed by Connie Britton in an episode of the ABC television show Nashville. The New York Times said: "Ms. Wilson has a catch in her voice that conveys yearning and potential heartbreak behind a façade of cheer." To support the release of Rita Wilson, she opened on a tour with Chicago; she has said she is a lifelong fan of the band.

A year later, Wilson presented the event "Liner Notes: Songwriters, Stories and Music with Rita Wilson and Friends". The show, which took place at the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, included performances from Wilson along with Patty Smyth, Desmond Child, Jeff Barry, and Kristian Bush, among others.

With her third album, Bigger Picture, Wilson drew directly from her personal life for its theme. The album, released September 28, 2018, reunited her with AM/FM's producer Fred Mollin. Wilson co-wrote many of the tracks with Kristian Bush and Darrell Brown, as well as new partners The Warren Brothers, Lindy Robbins and Alex Reid, and the album also included covers of Cat Stevens' "The Wind" and Burt Bacharach/Hal David's "What the World Needs Now Is Love".

Also in 2018, Wilson performed "Heart Unknown", co-written with Josh Alexander, DioGuardi, and Mozella, for the indie film, Simple Wedding. In addition, she performed "Sometimes Love", co-written with David Hodges, for the independent film Emmett, in which she also stars.

On March 29, 2019, Wilson released her fourth album, Halfway to Home, which included "Throw Me a Party", a song inspired by her survival from breast cancer. Other songs were created during a writing workshop that partnered her with Mozella, Mitch Allan, DioGuardi, Liz Rose and Kristian Bush. Halfway to Home was co-produced by Nathan Chapman. "Halfway to Home finds Wilson pulling from musical traditions that revere deep storytelling (Southern California rock, classic Nashville country), which was a hallmark for her growing up," explained Rolling Stone.

Over the course of her music career, Wilson has performed her songs on Ellen, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Today.

In March 2020 after she and husband Tom Hanks contracted the coronavirus while filming in Australia and in self-quarantine and going "stir crazy", she filmed an Instagram video showing her rapping the Naughty by Nature song, "Hip Hop Hooray". The video went viral and reached Naughty by Nature's Vin Rock. After she had fully recovered from virus, the two teamed up for a "Hip Hop Hooray" remix to benefit the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund. In July 2020, Wilson appeared on Jimmie Allen's Bettie James EP, collaborating on the song "When This Is Over" with Tauren Wells and The Oak Ridge Boys. In October 2020, Wilson was featured on the single "Pink" alongside Dolly Parton, Monica, Jordin Sparks and Sara Evans. The single was released in aid of Breast Cancer Research. In 2021 she contributed to the Blues Traveler rendition of "Crazy" on their album "Traveler’s Blues".

On August 24, 2022, Wilson announced her duets album Now & Forever, a collection of 70s covers with male vocalists. Co-produced by Wilson and Matt Rollings, the album features Willie Nelson, Keith Urban, and Elvis Costello among other guests. The album, which was preceded by three singles (including "Songbird" which she performed with Josh Groban at Radio City Music Hall in April) was released on September 27. To promote the album Wilson performed on Good Morning America with Smokey Robinson and Later... with Jools Holland with Jackson Browne, and celebrated the release with a two week residency at Cafe Carlyle. The album was nominated for Self-Released Record of the Year at the 2023 Libera Awards. In December 2023, Barack Obama featured Wilson's song "Crazy Love" with Keith Urban on his list of favorite songs of the year.

In 2022, Wilson collaborated with Sebastián Yatra on the single "Til You're Home" from the soundtrack to A Man Called Otto.

On March 29, 2023, Wilson attended the White House's Greek Independence Day celebration, alongside other prominent Greek-Americans. Wilson led the event's cultural program, performing four songs.

Journalism

Wilson has been a contributing editor to Harper's Bazaar magazine, writing over twenty-one articles. She also started, and was Editor at Large of, a section of The Huffington Post called Huff/Post50, which explored issues and topics relative to people over fifty years old. She has also written for O, The Oprah Magazine.

Personal life

Wilson married actor Tom Hanks in 1988. Hanks already had two children from a previous marriage, Colin and Elizabeth Hanks. She has two sons with Hanks, Chet and Truman. Wilson has three grandchildren.

She is a member of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Activism

In 2015, Wilson signed an open letter from the ONE Campaign. The letter was addressed to Angela Merkel and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, then heads of G7 and the African Union, respectively, urging them to focus on women in their work against poverty and inequality.

Wilson endorsed Senator John Edwards in the 2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

Philanthropy

For over 20 years, Wilson and her husband, Tom Hanks, have been honorary co-chairs (along with Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw) of the Women's Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), specializing in raising money for women's cancers. In 2016, WCRF joined forces with Evelyn Lauder's Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Wilson contributed to the Moffitt Cancer Center by donating "True Hearts" jewelry made of sterling silver and 14k gold.

Wilson has credited Rosie O'Donnell as inspiration for her charitable work, particularly with cancer and children's charities. She and her husband have long supported the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, starting in 1989 when Wilson appeared as Celia in a production of As You Like It. Their annual Simply Shakespeare event raises funds to support programs for underprivileged youth. Musicians at the fundraiser have included Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Ben Harper, and Reba McEntire.

In 2018, Wilson and Hanks were honored with USC Shoah Foundation's Ambassadors For Humanity award in recognition of their "longstanding commitment to humanitarian causes and support of veterans". The couple also contribute to other charities including AIDS Project Los Angeles.

In 2019, Wilson, her husband, and their children, were granted Greek citizenship by honorary naturalization by President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, in recognition of their support of those affected by the 2018 Mati fire.

Filmography

Film

Television

As musical performer

As producer

Discography

Wilson is credited as co-writer for all tracks on Rita Wilson, Bigger Picture, and Halfway to Home.

References

References

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13. (February 28, 2018). "106 million people watched 'MAS*H' finale 35 years ago. No scripted show since has come close.". Stars and Stripes.
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67. (21 October 2020). "Pink (various artists)".
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