NAME: Tom Cruise
OCCUPATION: Film Actor, Producer
BIRTH DATE: July 03, 1962 (Age: 50)
PLACE OF BIRTH: Syracuse, New York
ZODIAC SIGN: Cancer
BEST KNOWN FOR
A-list actor and Scientologist Tom Cruise is the star of many box office hits, including Risky Business, A Few Good Men, The Firm, and Jerry Maguire.
Synopsis
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, better known as Tom Cruise, was born on July 3, 1962 in Syracuse, New York. Cruise became interested in acting when he won the lead in a high school production of Guys and Dolls. His role in 1981's Taps, his second film, caught critics' attention, and he eventually went on to star in many box office hits. Cruise married his third wife, Katie Holmes, in 2006. That same year, the couple also had a daughter, Suri. In June 2012, the couple announced that they were divorcing.
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, better known as Tom Cruise, was born on July 3, 1962 in Syracuse, New York, to Mary and Thomas Mapother. Cruise's mother was an amateur actress and schoolteacher, and his father was an electrical engineer. His family moved around a great deal when Cruise was a child in order to accommodate his father's career.
Cruise's parents divorced when he was 11, and the children moved with their mother to Louisville, Kentucky, and then to Glen Ridge, New Jersey, after her remarriage. Like his mother and three sisters, Cruise suffered from dyslexia, which made academic success difficult for him. He excelled in athletics, however, and considered pursuing a career in professional wrestling until a knee injury sidelined him during high school.
At age 14, Cruise enrolled in a Franciscan seminary with thoughts of becoming a priest, but he left after a year. When he was 16, a teacher encouraged him to participate in the school's production of the musical Guys and Dolls. After Cruise won the lead of Nathan Detroit, he found himself surprisingly at home on the stage, and a career was born.
Cruise set a 10-year deadline for himself in which to build an acting career. He left school and moved to New York, struggling through audition after audition before landing an appearance in 1981's Endless Love, starring Brooke Shields. Around this same time, he snagged a small role in the military school drama Taps (1981), co-starring Sean Penn.
His role in Taps was upgraded after director Harold Becker saw Cruise's potential. His performance caught the attention of a number of critics and filmmakers. In 1983, Cruise appeared in The Outsiders , directed by Francis Ford Coppola. He starred alongside Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, and Rob Lowe—all prominent members of a group of young actors the entertainment press dubbed the "Brat Pack." The film was not well received, but it allowed Cruise to work with an acclaimed director in a high-profile project.
His next film, Risky Business (1983), grossed $65 million. It also made Cruise a highly recognizable actor—thanks in no small part to a memorable scene of the young star dancing in his underwear.
In 1986, after a two-year hiatus, the budding actor released the big-budget fantasy film Legend, which did poorly at the box office. That same year, however, Cruise's A-list status was confirmed with the release of Top Gun, which co-starred Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards, and Meg Ryan.
The testoterone-fueled action-romance, set against the backdrop of an elite naval flight school, became the highest grossing film of 1986.
Cruise followed the tremendous success of Top Gun with a string of both critically acclaimed and commercially successful films. Cruise first starred in The Color of Money (1986), with co-star Paul Newman, then went on to work with Dustin Hoffman on the hit film, Rain Man (1988). His next role as Vietnam Vet Ron Kovic in the biopic, Born on the Fourth of July (1989), earned Cruise an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe for Best Actor.
Cruise married actress Mimi Rogers in 1987. It was through Rogers that the actor became a student of Scientology, the religion founded by writer L. Ron Hubbard. Cruise later credited the church with curing his dyslexia. But while Cruise's spiritual life flourished, his marriage was quickly dissolving. Rogers and Cruise divorced in 1990.
That same year, Cruise made the racecar drama Days of Thunder with Australian actress Nicole Kidman. Though the movie was unpopular among critics and fans alike, the two lead actors had real chemistry. On Christmas Eve in 1990, after a brief courtship, Cruise and Kidman married in Telluride, Colorado.
In 1992, Cruise proved once more that he could hold his own opposite a screen legend when he co-starred with Jack Nicholson in the military courtroom drama, A Few Good Men. The film grossed more than $15 million its first weekend, and earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination. Over the next several years, Cruise made several more well-received movies, including The Firm (1993) and Interview with a Vampire (1994) co-starring Brad Pitt.
Next, Cruise hit the big screen with two huge hits—the $64 million blockbuster, Mission: Impossible (1996), which Cruise also produced, and the highly acclaimed Jerry McGuire (1996), directed by Cameron Crowe. For the latter, Cruise earned a second Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe for Best Actor.
Cruise and Kidman spent much of 1997 and 1998 in England shooting Eyes Wide Shut, an erotic thriller that would be director Stanley Kubrick's final film before his death in 1999. The movie was released in the summer of 1999 to mixed reviews. That same year, Cruise appeared in the ensemble film Magnolia. His performance in the movie as a self-confident sex guru earned him another Golden Globe award and an additional Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Cruise then starred in the long-awaited smash hit Mission: Impossible 2 in 2000 alongside Anthony Hopkins, Thandie Newton, and Ving Rhames. In 2002, he starred in his second collaboration with director Cameron Crowe, Vanilla Sky, as well as Stephen Spielberg's Minority Report.
Cruise began 2003 with a trip to Australia to shoot the $100 million film, The Last Samurai. Then in 2005, he teamed up with Steven Spielberg again for the mega-hit, War of the Worlds.
Over the next several years, Cruise and Kidman found themselves fiercely defending the happiness and legitimacy of their marriage.
They filed two different lawsuits against tabloid publications for stories they considered libelous. In each case the couple received a published retraction and apology, along with a large monetary settlement which they donated to charity.
On February 5th, 2001, Cruise and Kidman announced their separation after 11 years of marriage. The couple cited the difficulties involved with two acting careers, and the amount of time spent apart while working. Cruise filed for a divorce shortly thereafter. The publicity surrounding the surprising breakup continued throughout the spring, as Kidman's publicist confirmed that the actress suffered a miscarriage roughly one month after the separation was announced. The divorce was finalized in August 2001.
Following the divorce, Cruise briefly dated his Vanilla Sky co-star, Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, followed by a much-publicized relationship with actress Katie Holmes. A month after his ties to Holmes became public, Cruise professed his love for the actress in a now-famous appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show. During the interview, he jumped on Winfrey's sofa, shouting "Yes!" then pulled a shy Holmes onto the stage.
In June of 2005, after a two-month courtship, Cruise proposed to Holmes in a restaurant at the top of the Eiffel tower. He then announced the couples' engagement to a crowd of reporters. Several months later, in October of 2005, Cruise and Holmes announced that they were expecting their first child together.
The hasty proposal and surprise pregnancy quickly became tabloid gossip. But Cruise made even bigger headlines that year as an outspoken advocate for Scientology. He openly criticized former co-star Brooke Shields for using anti-depressants during her recovery from postpartum depression. He also denounced psychiatry and modern medicine, claiming Scientology held the key to true healing. Cruise's statements led to a heated argument with news anchor Matt Lauer on The Today Show in June of 2005. Cruise later apologized for the incident.
In 2006, Cruise and Holmes welcomed daughter Suri into the world. That same year, the pair got married in an Italian castle. Such stars as Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and Victoria and David Beckham attended the wedding. In June 2012, after five years of marriage, Cruise and Holmes announced that they would be splitting.
Despite his professional setbacks, Cruise appeared in the Steven Spielberg-directed remake of the science fiction classic, War of the Worlds (2005), later that year. The film grossed more than $230 million at the box office.
His next effort, Mission: Impossible 3 (2006), also scored well with audiences. However, Cruise was faced with a professional setback in August when Paramount Pictures ended its 14-year relationship with the actor. The company's chairman cited Cruise's erratic behavior and controversial views as the reason for the split. Yet industry experts say Paramount more likely ended the partnership over Cruises high earnings from the Mission: Impossible franchise.
Cruise quickly rebounded and by November 2, 2006, Cruise announced his new partnership with film executive Paula Wagner and the United Artists film studio. Cruise agreed to star in and produce films released by United Artists while Wagner served as CEO. Their first production as a team was the political drama Lions for Lambs (2007). Unfortunately, the movie proved to be a commercial disappointment despite its strong cast, which included Meryl Streep and Robert Redford.
Taking a break from weighty material, Cruise delighted audiences with his small role in the hit comedy Tropic Thunder (2008), starring Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller. He obscured his trademark good looks to play a balding, obese movie studio executive.
In December of 2008, Cruise released his second project through United Artists. The film, entitled Valkyrie, was a World War II drama about a plot to assassinate German leader Adolf Hitler. Cruise starred as a German army officer who became involved in the conspiracy.
Cruise returned to one of his most popular franchises in 2011 with Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol. The film eventually earned more than $200 million. Breaking into new territory, he soon starred in the 2012 musical Rock of Ages. Cruise received some positive reviews for his rock star performance, but the movie failed to attract much of an audience.
Bringing a fictional character to life, Cruise stars in the 2012 crime drama Jack Reacher, based on a book by Lee Child. He is also set to appear in the 2013 science-fiction adventure Oblivion with Morgan Freeman and has been working on another sci-fi tale All You Need is Kill with Emily Blunt.
A budding Tom Cruise in Los Angeles.
Risky image: Risky Business stars Rebecca DeMornay and Cruise pose very seriously.
A film still of Paul Newman, Cruise, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio from The Color Of Money in Los Angeles, 1986.
Feelin' the need for speed. Cruise as Lieutenant Pete ''Maverick'' Mitchell in Top Gun (1986).
Cruise hopping around town with first wife Mimi Rogers.
Seeing red? Cruise imprinting his hands on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1988.
Dustin Hoffman and Cruise celebrate Hoffman's Oscar for Rain Man at the Academy Awards.
He's got his mom's genes: Cruise with his mom Mary Lee Pfeiffer.
Cruise, Ron Kovic, and Oliver Stone celebrate their globes for Born on the Fourth of July at the 47th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California. The film won awards for Best Director, Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Best Motion PIcture, and Best Screenplay.
Cruise with second wife, Nicole Kidman. The two fell in love while filming Days of Thunder.
Kidman and Cruise arrive at Sydney Kingsford Smith airport in Sydney, Australia, and introduce their adopted kids Connor and Isabella to the media.
Cruise Can't Touch This: The actor floats inches from the ground in a covert mission as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible, 1996.
Cruise divorces Kidman and makes a girlfriend out of Penelope Cruz while the two were on the set of Vanilla Sky.
Cruise, Kelly Preston, John Travolta, and Kirstie Alley happily applaud actress Jenna Elfman speak at the opening of a Church of Scientology in San Francisco, California, in 2001.
Oprah Winfrey gives Cruise a hand-to-neck hug during the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.
Cruise, daughter Suri, and third wife Katie Holmes visit Schenley Plaza's carousel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2011.
Source: biography.
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