Date of birth (location) : Syracuse, New York, USA
In 1976, if you had told 14 year old Franciscan seminary student Thomas Cruise Mapother IV that one day in the not too distant future he would be considered one of the top 100 movie stars of all time, he would have probably grinned and told you that his ambition was to become a priest. Nonetheless, this sensitive, deeply religious youngster who was born in 1962 in Syracuse, NY, was destined to become Tom Cruise, one of the highest paid and most sought after actors in screen history. The only son (among four children) of nomadic parents young Tom spent his boyhood eternally on the move and by the time he was 14 he had attended 15 different schools in the US and Canada. He finally settled in Glen Ridge, NJ, with his mother and her new husband. While in high school, he developed an interest in acting and abandoned his plans of becoming a priest, dropped out of school, and at age 18 headed for New York and a possible acting career. The next 15 years of his life are the stuff of legends. He made his film debut wit h a small part in Endless Love (1981) and from the outset exhibited an undeniable box office appeal to both male and female audiences.
Though below average height and not particularly handsome in the traditional sense, within 5 years Tom Cruise was starring in some of the top grossing films of the 1980s including Top Gun (1986); The Color of Money (1986); Rain Man (1988) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989). By the 1990's he was one of the highest paid actors in the world earning an average 15 million dollars a picture in such blockbuster hits as Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994); Mission: Impossible (1996) and Jerry Maguire (1996) for which he received an Academy Award Nomination for best actor. In 1990 he renounced his devout Catholic beliefs and embraced The Church Of Scientology claiming that Scientology teachings had cured him of the dyslexia that had plagued him all of his life. A kind and thoughful man well known for his compassion and generosity, Tom Cruise is one of the best liked members of the movie community. He was married to actress Nicole Kidman until 2001. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV has indeed come a l ong way from the lonely wanderings of his youth.
Actor - filmography
(2000s) (1990s) (1980s)
Cold Mountain (2002) .... Inman
Space Station (2002) (voice) .... Narrator
Minority Report (2002) .... Officer John Anderton
Vanilla Sky (2001) .... David Aames
America: A Tribute to Heroes (2001) (TV) .... Himself
73rd Annual Academy Awards, The (2001) (TV) (uncredited) .... Presenter of Best Director
Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001) (voice) .... Narrator
2000 MTV Movie Awards (2000) (TV)
Mission Improbable (2000) (TV) .... Himself
... aka Being Tom Cruise (2000) (TV)
Mission: Impossible II (2000) .... Ethan Hunt
... aka M:I-2 (2000) (USA: promotional abbreviation)
Magnolia (1999) .... Frank T.J. Mackey, Seduce & Destroy Seminar Leader/Earl Partridge's son
... aka mag-no'li-a (1999) (USA: promotional title)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999) .... Doctor William 'Bill' Harford
... aka EWS (1999) (USA: promotional abbreviation)
Salute to Dustin Hoffman, A (1999) (TV) .... Himself
... aka 27th American Film Institute Life Achievement Award: A Salute to Dustin Hoffman, The (1999) (TV) (USA: complete title)
Jerry Maguire (1996) .... Jerry Maguire
Mission: Impossible (1996) .... Ethan Hunt
... aka Mission Impossible (1996)
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) .... Lestat de Lioncourt
... aka Interview with the Vampire (1994) (USA: short title)
Firm, The (1993) .... Mitch McDeere
Time Out: The Truth About HIV, AIDS, and You (1992) (V) .... Himself
Few Good Men, A (1992) .... Lieutenant Daniel Alistair 'Danny/Dan' Kaffee
Far and Away (1992) .... Joseph Donnelly
63rd Annual Academy Awards, The (1991) (TV) (uncredited) .... Presenter - Best Director
Days of Thunder (1990) .... Cole Trickle
Born on the Fourth of July (1989) .... Ron Kovic
Rain Man (1988) .... Charlie Babbitt
Young Guns (1988) (uncredited) .... Charlie Crawford
Cocktail (1988) .... Brian Flanagan
Color of Money, The (1986) .... Vincent Lauria
Top Gun (1986) .... Lieutenant Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell
Legend (1985) .... Jack
All the Right Moves (1983) .... Stefen 'Stef' Djordjevic
... aka All Right (1983)
Risky Business (1983) .... Joel Goodson
Outsiders, The (1983) .... Steve Randle
Losin' It (1983) .... Woody
Taps (1981) .... David Shawn
Endless Love (1981) .... Billy
[ Tom Cruise Biography ]
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