Tom Cruise

Date of birth: 07.03.1962

Tom Cruise (full name - Thomas Cruise Mapother IV) is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. A three-time winner of the 'Golden Globe Awards' and a three-time Oscar nominee.

Tom's best roles in films such as: 'Rain Man' (1988), 'The Firm' (1993), 'Interview with a Vampire' (1994), 'Jerry Maguire' (1996), 'Eyes Wide Shut' (1999), 'Top Gun' (1986), 'Days of Thunder' (1990), 'Mission: Impossible' (1996-2018), 'Vanilla Sky' (2001), 'War of the Worlds' (2005), 'Jack Reacher' (2012), 'Oblivion' (2013), 'Edge of Tomorrow' (2014), and 'Top Gun: Maverick' (2022).

Birthplace. Education. Tom Cruise was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, and was the third child of Mary Lee and Thomas Cruise III. His father was an engineer who changed jobs frequently, requiring the family to move often and travel extensively throughout the USA. The actor describes his childhood as 'very difficult and tense': he attended several schools until the age of 12. Ultimately, they settled in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, where Tom graduated from high school.

In 1975, Tom's parents divorced, and he stayed with his mother and three sisters. His father died ten years later from cancer, never having seen a movie with his son. Tom's mother worked three jobs simultaneously to support the family. Tom recalls the first Christmas without his father: there was not enough money to give each other gifts.

At the age of 17 (1979), Tom Cruise entered a seminary to become a priest but realized while auditioning for 'Guys and Dolls' that his future was connected to film.

Film career. Tom Cruise's film debut is considered to be his appearance in 'Endless Love' (1981) directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Then he had a few small roles, including in Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Outsiders' (1983), but real popularity came with the role of a wealthy student falling in love with a prostitute in the comedy 'Risky Business' (1983).

After some work ('All the Right Moves', 'Legend'), Cruise's first big hit was 'Top Gun' (1986) directed by Tony Scott. Subsequently, he took roles in films with legendary older stars: Paul Newman ('The Color of Money', 1986), Dustin Hoffman ('Rain Man', 1988), Jack Nicholson ('A Few Good Men', 1992), Gene Hackman ('The Firm', 1993).

Tom's first Oscar nomination for 'Born on the Fourth of July' by Oliver Stone in 1989 was well deserved: he crafted a compelling image of a young idealistic recruit transformed into a helpless cripple by the war machine, who only begins to comprehend his own tragedy over time.

Another remarkable work of Cruise was his first negative role - Lestat in 'Interview with the Vampire' (1994) by Neil Jordan.

Secret agent Ethan Hunt in the five 'Mission: Impossible' films (1996, 2000, 2006, 2011, 2015) is currently Cruise's most profitable role as an actor and is also a successful project as a producer of Cruise, but more interesting is the character he created of an unsuccessful sports agent in 'Jerry Maguire' (1996) by Cameron Crowe (second Oscar nomination for the lead role) and his role as a supporting actor in 'Magnolia' (1999) by Paul Thomas Anderson (nomination for the supporting actor Oscar).

Don't forget the actor's collaboration with the legendary Stanley Kubrick in the erotic thriller 'Eyes Wide Shut' (1999) - a film that allegedly led to his divorce from Nicole Kidman.

In 2001, Cruise starred in the romantic thriller 'Vanilla Sky' (2001) with Cameron Diaz and Penélope Cruz. In 2002, Cruise appeared in the dystopian science fiction thriller 'Minority Report' directed by Steven Spielberg, based on a science fiction story by Philip K. Dick.

In 2003, he starred in Edward Zwick's historical drama 'The Last Samurai', for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor.

In 2005, Cruise again collaborated with Steven Spielberg in 'War of the Worlds', a loose adaptation of the title novel by H.G. Wells, which became the fourth highest-grossing film of 2005 with worldwide earnings of $591.4 million. Also in 2005, he won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Movie Star and the MTV Generation Award.

Nine out of ten films he starred in during the decade grossed over $100 million at the box office worldwide.

In March 2010, Tom Cruise finished filming the comedy 'Knight and Day', in which he again starred alongside Cameron Diaz. The film was released on June 23, 2010.

In 2012, Cruise played the role of Jack Reacher in the film of the same name, an adaptation of the novel 'One Shot' by British author Lee Child.

In 2013, he starred in the adventure film 'Oblivion', based on a popular comic where our hero fights against a post-apocalyptic photographer.

In 2014, Cruise appeared in the adventure film 'Edge of Tomorrow', directed by Doug Liman.

In 2022, Cruise starred in films according to military flight crews Tom Cruise and Tom Cruise.

From 2012 to 2022, Cruise appeared in 6 'Mission: Impossible' films.