1931 Magellan Drive in Oakland.
Red Oak RealtyA charming 3-bedroom home currently on the market in the Oakland Hills comes with a surprise claim to fame: According to the owners, before he became a superstar and won two Oscars, a young Tom Hanks rehearsed for school plays there.
When the current owners bought 1931 Magellan Drive 21 years ago, they were told by the sellers that Hanks honed his high school acting chops in the family room downstairs. “I don’t know if it was a friend’s house or a teacher’s house,” listing agent Sheri Madden told SFGATE, but said Hanks supposedly spent time there while attending Skyline High School. “We have a picture of him on the coffee table.”
The “Tom Hanks Room” at 1931 Magellan Drive.
Red Oak RealtyHanks grew up in Oakland and has fond memories of his time at Skyline High. When he first found fame in 1986, he returned to the school to give a graduation speech, telling the students, “I live in the best city in the best part of the world. I went to the best high school in the best city in the world.” The actor also threw some shade at the East Bay’s private and higher profile schools in the speech, adding, “I’m not talking about Piedmont High or Oakland Tech, and I’m not talking about Bishop O’Dowd. I’m talking about Skyline High!”
The actor recently shared his high school graduation photo on Twitter, writing, “Big Day for Skyline High School in Oakland, CA! Glad to be a part of it! Hanx, ‘74.”
pic.twitter.com/XWna7mdiYa
— Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) May 22, 2020
NBC Sports reporter Kerith Burke asked the actor on Twitter Monday if he did indeed learn how to act in the little Montclair Village home; Hanks had not replied at time of publication.
1931 Magellan Drive is currently on the market for $979,000. The Red Oak Realty listing is available here.