Forrest Gump (character) childhood friend Jennifer Curran, who eventually becomes his wife. Tom Hanks portrayed the character in the film and earned an Academy Award for his performance, while Michael Conner Humphreys portrayed Forrest as a child. In 2008, Forrest Gump was named the 20th greatest movie character of all time by "Empire" magazine. Forrest was born near the small town of Greenbow, Alabama, on June 6, 1944. His father was absent during his life, and his mother said he was "on vacation". His mother named Forrest after their ancestor Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Scotch-Irish American and a noted Confederate general in the
Forrest Gump (novel) of the book, Forrest honors Bubba's memory by starting a shrimp business. The novel was adapted into a feature-length film by Paramount Pictures in 1994. Before being made into an Academy Award winning movie, the novel sold an estimated 30,000 copies. The movie does not mention Forrest's being an idiot savant, and sanitizes his sex life and the character's profanity. According to the author, the movie "took some of the rough edges off" Forrest, whom he envisioned being played by John Goodman. The movie takes great advantage of special effects to have the characters interact with real people from history.