By 1980, Hanks had dropped out of college, and after his third season with the Great Lakes festival, he moved to New York City. Many rounds of auditions later, he landed a small part in the 1980 slasher film He Knows You're Alone. That same year he was spotted by a talent scout for ABC and was cast in the television sitcom Bosom Buddies as one of two advertising executives who dress in drag in order to rent an apartment in an all-female building.

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