Tom Hanks pays tribute to his mother who passed away: 'Safe crossing, mom!'

'She was the difference in many lives,' Forrest Gump actor writes

Tom Hanks (Getty)

Tom Hanks has shared a touching tribute to his mother, Janet Marylyn Frager, who has passed away aged 84.

Sharing an old photo of his mother with his 323,000 Instagram followers on Tuesday, the Castaway actor wrote how his mother was “the difference in many lives”.

“This beauty? My mom. She was the difference in many lives. Many lives,” he wrote. “We say goodbye to her today. Safe crossing, mom! Hanx.”

Shortly afterwards, Hanks’ wife Rita Wilson shared a picture of her husband and Mother-in-Law and thanked her for “bringing my love into the world”.

Last year, Hanks became emotional speaking about his “lonely” childhood on Desert Island Discs. After his parents divorced when he was four, he lived with his chef father Amos Hanks who regularly moved, meaning Hanks lived in 10 houses in five years.

Speaking to Kirsty Young about Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, he said he began asking himself “how do I find the vocabulary for whats rattling around in my head”. When asked what those feelings were, he replied: “What it was, it was the vocabulary of loneliness.”