Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise has appeared in several box-office hits, including Risky Business, A Few Good Men, The Firm, Jerry Maguire, and Mission: Impossible.
Tom Cruise: Who Is He?
As well as his iconic roles in movies from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, Tom Cruise is well known for his high profile marriages to actresses Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes. Cruise became famous in high school after his star turns in Risky Business and Top Gun. He later gained acclaim for his roles in Jerry Maguire and Mission: Impossible.
Life in the early years
Mary Cruise Mapother IV, better known as Tom Cruise, was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, to Thomas and Mary Mapother. In order to accommodate his father's career, Cruise's family moved around a lot when he was growing up. His mother was a schoolteacher and amateur actress.
After Cruise's parents divorced when he was 11, the children moved to Louisville, Kentucky, and then to Glen Ridge, New Jersey, where their mother had remarried. Cruise suffered from dyslexia, like his mother and three sisters. A knee injury sidelined him during high school, but he excelled in athletics, considering a career in professional wrestling.
He enrolled in a Franciscan seminary at the age of 14 with the intention of becoming a priest, but he dropped out after a year. Cruise became involved in the school's production of Guys and Dolls when he was 16. After taking on Nathan Detroit's role, Cruise found himself surprisingly comfortable in front of the camera, and a career was born.
Movies such as "Taps" and "The Outsiders"
The actor set himself a 10-year deadline for building an acting career after leaving school and moving to New York City. He struggled through auditions until he was cast in Endless Love, starring Brooke Shields, in 1981. As a result, he co-starred with Sean Penn in the military school drama Taps (1981).
Harold Becker's appreciation of Cruise's capabilities saw the actor receive a heightened responsibility in Taps. He consequently caught the eye of critics and filmmakers. The year 1983 marked his appearance in The Outsiders, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon and Rob Lowe - all members of the "Brat Pack" group of young actors much talked about in entertainment circles. Though it was not well-received, The Outsiders allowed Cruise to collaborate with a renowned director on a significant project.
'Risky Business'
It was also Risky Business (1983) that made Cruise a highly recognizable actor, thanks in no small part to a memorable scene in which he danced in his underwear.
'Top Gun'
In 1986, after a two-year hiatus, the budding actor released the big-budget fantasy film Legend, which did poorly at the box office. In the same year, Cruise's status as an A-lister was further confirmed by the release of Top Gun, costarring Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards and Meg Ryan. 1986's highest-grossing movie was an action-romance set against the backdrop of an elite naval flight school.
Movies such as 'The Color of Money,' 'Rain Man,' and 'Born on Fourth of July'
A string of critically acclaimed and commercially successful films followed Top Gun with Cruise's tremendous success. Aside from Rain Man (1988), he starred in The Color of Money (1986) with co-star Paul Newman. In 1989, Cruise was nominated for an Academy Award as a Best Actor for his role as Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic in Born on the Fourth of July (1989).
The Firm, Interview with a Vampire, and A Few Good Men
The military courtroom drama A Few Good Men co-starred Cruise and Jack Nicholson in 1992, proving Cruise could hold his own against screen legends. With the film earning more than $15 million its first weekend, Cruise was nominated for a Golden Globe award. The Firm (1993) and Interview with a Vampire (1994), which also co-starred Brad Pitt, continued to demonstrate his success as a leading man.
Movies like 'Mission: Impossible' and 'Jerry McGuire'
The star then starred in two big-screen blockbusters—Mission: Impossible (1996), which he also produced, and Jerry McGuire (1996), directed by Cameron Crowe, which grossed $64 million. Cruise earned a second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for the latter.
The movie "Eyes Wide Shut," the movie "Magnolia"
In 1997 and 1998, Cruise and Kidman shot Eyes Wide Shut, Stanley Kubrick's final film, in England. The movie came out in the summer of 1999 to mixed reviews, but Cruise enjoyed greater success that year with the release of Magnolia. In the ensemble film, he won a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a self-confident sex guru.
