Read the complete write-up of Rita Wilson net worth, age, husband, children, height, family, parents, movies, tv shows as well as other information you need to know.
Introduction
Rita Wilson is an American actress, singer, and producer. Her film appearances include Volunteers (1985), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Now and Then (1995), That Thing You Do! (1996), Jingle All the Way (1996), The Story of Us (1999), Runaway Bride (1999), It’s Complicated (2009), and Larry Crowne (2011), and she appeared in the television series The Good Wife and Girls. Wilson has performed on Broadway, and has produced several films, including My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). As a singer/songwriter, Wilson has released the albums AM/FM, Rita Wilson, Bigger Picture, and Halfway to Home. In March 2019, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Early life
Name | Rita Wilson |
Net Worth | $100 million |
Occupation | Actress, Singer, Producer |
Height | 1.73m |
Age | 65 years |
Rita Wilson whose real name is Margarita Ibrahimoff was born on October 26, 1956 (age 65 years) in Los Angeles, United States. Her mother, Dorothea Tzigkou, was 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.
Wilson’s 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. 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
Rita 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 for head cheerleader. She also twice appeared on MAS*H 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.
Wilson has appeared in numerous movies, 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. Rita Wilson guest-starred in many series, including Frasier, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, 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.
Check Out: Colin Hanks net worth
Rita Wilson’s own Greek heritage was honored in 2016 when the Greek Postal Service ELTA commemorated her with a stamp along with five others. The other four depicted on stamps were the 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.
Wilson made her Broadway debut in 2006 when she performed the role of Roxie Hart in the revival of Chicago. In April 2015, Wilson announced that she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. After a one-month hiatus, she returned to Larry David’s Fish in the Dark Broadway show, playing with his wife, Brenda. Off Broadway, she played various roles in Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron’s play Love, Loss and What I Wore.
She reprised her roles in the Los Angeles production at the Geffen Playhouse. Also at the Geffen, Wilson performed in Daniel Margulies’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Dinner with Friends, directed by Tony Award winner Dan Sullivan. Wilson originated the role of “Mama” in the world premiere of Lisa Loomer’s play, Distracted, at the Mark Taper Forum, also in Los Angeles.
In March 2020, while filming in Australia, Hanks announced through his Instagram profile that the couple had contracted COVID-19 and were experiencing minor symptoms while he was shooting an upcoming film Elvis (as Colonel Tom Parker) with director Baz Luhrmann in Australia. Before were returned to quarantine, they were admitted to the Gold Coast University Hospital. On March 27, Wilson and her husband returned home to Los Angeles after they recovered from the virus. The couple decided to donate their blood antibodies for virus research.
Music career
Rita Wilson’s long-standing interest in singing led her to record a debut solo album, AM/FM, which she released on May 8, 2012, on the Decca Records label. The album featured classics from the 1960s/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 come from Faith Hill, Sheryl Crow, Vince Gill, and Patti Scialfa (who also produced the track “Come See About Me” with Ron Aniello).
Wilson performed for President Obama and Michelle Obama, and served as co-host of the event at the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington, DC on December 4, 2014. In 2016, Wilson began writing her own songs with the help of co-writer, the Grammy-nominated Kara Dioguardi. The first song she wrote and sang was “Grateful” (later appearing on the self-titled album, Rita Wilson) with Dioguardi and Jason Reeves. Earlier, in 2014, Wilson wrote the song “Bad Things” with Matt Nathanson, for the Scott Eastwood film, Dawn Patrol, in which she also starred.
Her second album, Rita Wilson, was released in 2014. Wilson co-wrote all the songs on the album with Dan Wilson, Kara Dioguardi, 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 performed by Connie Britton on the ABC television show, Nashville, in the opening of the episode in which it was included.
The New York Times said: “Ms. Rita Wilson has a catch in her voice that conveys yearning and potential heartbreak behind a facade 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. “I am beyond thrilled to be opening for Chicago, a band who has made up so much of my musical life. Whether I was listening to the band while skiing down a slope or driving in my car, I was always instantly transported to the joy of their melodies and songwriting,” Wilson said.
Rita Wilson presented “Liner Notes: Songwriters, Stories and Music with Rita Wilson and Friends”, where she sang, and also invited other singer/songwriters to participate in the event. The show, which took place at the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, included Patty Smyth, Desmond Child, Jeff Barry, 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 producer Fred Mollin (Johnny Mathis, Jimmy Webb, and Kris Kristofferson); the pair originally worked together on her debut album AM/FM in 2012. Wilson once again wrote originals such as the title track and others with Kristian Bush and Darrell Brown, as well as new partners The Warren Brothers, Lindy Robbins and Alex Reid. The set also included covers of Cat Stevens’ “The Wind” and Burt Bacharach/Hal David’s “What the World Needs Now is Love.”
In 2018, Rita Wilson’s original song, “Heart Unknown”, was used in the indie film, Simple Wedding. She performed the song, which was co-written by Wilson along with Josh Alexander, Kara Dioguardi, and Mozella. In addition, she performed “Sometimes Love”, co-written with Grammy-winning producer David Hodges, for the independent film, Emmett, in which she also stars.
Rita Wilson released her fourth album on March 29, 2019, 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 (Demi Lovato), Kara DioGuardi (Pink), Liz Rose and Kristian Bush. Halfway to Home was co-produced by Nathan Chapman, who has worked regularly with Taylor Swift. “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.
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 the course of her music career. In March 2020 after she and her husband contracted the virus 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 and her husband both fully recovered from virus, the two teamed up for a “Hip Hop Hooray” remix that benefits 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.
Activism
Rita Wilson signed an open letter in 2015 on which the ONE Campaign had been collecting signatures. The letter was addressed to Angela Merkel and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, urging them to focus on women as they serve as the head of the G7 in Germany and the AU in South Africa respectively. The G7 and AU were expected to set the priorities in development funding before the main UN summit in September 2015 that was to establish new development goals for the generation.
Philanthropy
For over 20 years, Rita Wilson
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, going back to 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, Reba McEntire, and more.
Check Out: Chet Hanks net worth
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 contributes to other charities including AIDS Project Los Angeles, and many more. Rita Wilson and her husband have also made a significant contribution to helping the people who suffered from the Mati Fire in Greece. This has earned her and Hanks an offer of honorary naturalization in Greece from the Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos on December 27, 2019.
Husband
Rita Wilson is married to Tom Hanks, they had their wedding in 1988. Her husband is an actor and filmmaker. Her spouse Hanks already had two children, Colin Hanks and Elizabeth Hanks, and Wilson became their stepmother. She has two sons of her own with her husband Hanks, Chet Hanks and Truman Hanks. Wilson has three grandchildren. She is a member of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Rita Wilson net worth
How much is Rita Wilson worth? Rita Wilson net worth is estimated at around $100 million. Her main source of income is from her career as an actress, producer and singer. Wilson successful career has earned her some luxurious lifestyles and some fancy cars trips. She is one of the richest and most influential actresses in the United States. However, 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 on 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.