First met Tom all the way back in 1980 when he did a sitcom called Bosom Buddies at Paramount. Was there as a guest of Penny Marshall, Laverne & Shirley filmed next door (and Happy Days was next to that). Tom was awesome, they all were -- Holland Taylor was in it, and Tom's costar Peter Scolari taught me how to juggle between scenes. Was 15, guess you can imagine how magical it was. They were also shooting a Star Trek film, Tom snuck me on that set which was empty, and got to sit in the Captain's Chair and see the hydraulics. In those days, they literally shook the bridge
Was with Tom both times he won the Oscar: Philadelphia and Forrest Gump (which were back to back, 1994 and 1995). Right after he won, we were in the men's room backstage together, it was the first Oscar I'd ever seen close up and was staring at it on the bathroom shelf. He saw me looking and said, "Want to give it a hoist?" We've laughed about that line. The next year when he won again, he handed it right over and said, "It's a tradition".
His wife Rita Wilson went into Chicago and my clients were in the show for years, we had a great time. Tom originally met Rita on... Bosom Buddies.