Tom Cruise
☼ Born on 3 December 1962, in Syracuse, New York, USA
Biography
In 1976, if you had told fourteen-year-old Franciscan seminary student Thomas Cruise Mapother IV that one day in the not too distant future he would be Tom Cruise, one of the top 100 movie stars of all time, he would have probably grinned and told you that his ambition was to join the priesthood. Nonetheless, this sensitive, deeply religious youngster who was born in 1962 in Syracuse, New York, was destined to become one of the highest paid and most sought after actors in screen history.
Tom is the only son (among four children) of nomadic parents, Mary Lee (Pfeiffer), a special education teacher, and Thomas Cruise Mapother III, an electrical engineer. His parents were both from Louisville, Kentucky, and he has German, Irish, and English ancestry. Young Tom spent his boyhood always on the move, and by the time he was 14 he had attended 15 different schools in the U.S. and Canada. He finally settled in Glen Ridge, New Jersey with his mother and her new husband. While in high school, Tom wanted to become a priest but pretty soon 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 with a small part in Endless Love (1981) and from the outset exhibited an undeniable box office appeal to both male and female audiences.
With handsome movie star looks and a charismatic smile, within 5 years
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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 1990s 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 (1994), Mission: Impossible (1996) and Jerry Maguire (1996), for which he received an Academy Award Nomination for best actor. Tom Cruise's biggest franchise, Mission Impossible, has also earned a total of 3 billion dollars worldwide. Tom Cruise has also shown lots of interest in producing, with his biggest producer credits being the Mission Impossible franchise.
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 thoughtful 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 long way from the lonely wanderings of his youth to become one of the biggest movie stars ever.
In the role of actor
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (17/07/2023)
Sean Kelly on Movies Podcast Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One Play Episode Pause Episode Mute/Unmute Episode Rewind 10 Seconds 1x Fast Forward 30 seconds 00:00 / 00:06:41 Subscribe Share Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify RSS Feed Share Link Embed Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 00:06:41 | Recorded on July […]
Top Gun: Maverick (29/05/2022)
We return to the naval flight academy after three decades in Top Gun: Maverick. Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell (Tom Cruise) has never ranked past Captain and has only remained in the Navy due to the influence of Adm. Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky (Val Kilmer). Following a supersonic flight test, which Maverick performs against the orders of Radm. […]
The Reckoning (20/08/2020)
A newly widowed woman in a plague-ridden 17th century English village finds herself accused of witchcraft in The Reckoning. Grace Haverstock (Charlotte Kirk) is a woman in 1665 England, who is mourning the death of her husband Joseph (Joe Anderson), who has hung himself after contracting the great plague, leaving Grace alone with her infant […]
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (29/07/2018)
Ethan Hunt and his IMF team faces their most impossible mission in Mission: Impossible – Fallout. Following the capture of Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), a new shadowy organization known as The Apostles have formed out of the remains of The Syndicate. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team of Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) […]
American Made (29/09/2017)
A pilot turned CIA spy becomes a drug smuggler for the Columbia cartels in American Made. Barry Seal (Tom Cruise) is a TWA pilot, who is recruited by CIA agent Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson) to fly over Central America and photograph communist insurgents. However, after being detained in Columbia, Barry is subsequently recruited by Jorge Ochoa […]
My Scientology Movie (17/02/2017)
BBC journalist Louis Theroux sets out to make a film about Scientology in My Scientology Movie. The Church of Scientology is probably one of the most controversial organizations in the world. Combining spirituality and technology, Scientology is most well-known for the number of celebrities among its membership, most infamously Tom Cruise. Louis Theroux and director John Dowler set […]
My Scientology Movie (02/05/2016)
BBC journalist Louis Theroux sets out to make a film about Scientology in My Scientology Movie. The Church of Scientology is probably one of the most controversial organizations in the world. Combining spirituality and technology, Scientology is most well-known for the number of celebrities among its membership, most infamously Tom Cruise. Louis Theroux and director John Dowler […]
Legend (17/12/2015)
Tom Hardy stars as the infamous London gangsters The Krays in Legend. Reggie and Ronnie Kray (Hardy) are twin gangsters in London during the 1960s. Reggie, the more level-headed of the two, fronts his criminal enterprises as the head of a nightclub, white Ronnie is a mentally unstable violent psychotic. All the while, the actions […]
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (02/08/2015)
Tom Cruise and team return for a fifth mission, this time against a rogue “anti-IMF” agency. Ethan Hunt (Cruise) discovers proof of the existence of a criminal organization known as The Syndicate, lead by Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). However, since CIA director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) successfully campaigned for the IMF to be disbanded, Hunt is left […]
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (17/05/2015)
Director Alex Gibney (The Armstrong Lie) gives an expose of the controversial religion in Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. The Church of Scientology was formed in the 1950s by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. The church has become infamous for its controversial methods and celebrity members, including Tom Cruise and John […]
Edge of Tomorrow (07/06/2014)
Tom Cruise stars in the sci-fi time loop action film Edge of Tomorrow. For five years, humanity have been engulfed in a war with an alien race, known as Mimics, which seemingly have the ability to predict battles before they happen. Major William Cage (Cruise) is a spokesperson for the United Defense Forces, who finds […]
Oblivion (20/04/2013)
Tom Cruise has adventures on a post-apocalyptic Earth in the new sci-fi epic Oblivion. Many years ago, an alien force invaded Earth in a war that absolutely decimated the planet. Humanity has long evacuated to the Saturn moon of Titan and Jack (Cruise) and Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) are the only remaining human occupants, while Jack […]
Jack Reacher (21/12/2012)
“I Mean to Beat You to Death and Drink Your Blood From a Boot.” Jack Reacher is an adaptation of the book One Shot by Lee Child and stars Tom Cruise in the title role. Since there are over a dozen Jack Reacher novels in publication, it can be assumed that this film is aiming […]
My Thoughts for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (The IMAX Experience) (17/12/2011)
In a bit of a unique move, the fourth entry of the Mission: Impossible series was released in IMAX a full five days before it goes into wide release. This is, in my opinion, a good way to get people into IMAX theatres to see the film (there are so many IMAX alternates these days), since […]
Knight and Day (27/06/2010)
It has been a rough few years for Tom Cruise, however this film was truly a return to form. The fact that the film is partially a comedy lets Cruise poke a little fun at his star personal. As for Cameron Diaz, I thought she was okay enough and she had an alright chemistry with […]
Valkyrie (28/12/2008)
It is a shame that there is poor public opinion on Tom Cruise, since I thought Valkyrie was quite a good movie. It would be stretching it to say that it is a film that would receive Oscar recognition, but I thought that the film was a great return to thrillers for director Bryan Singer, […]