On this day in history, July 3, 1962, Tom Cruise — who would go on to become one of Hollywood’s most iconic leading men — was born.
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV was born in Syracuse, New York, and his acting career emerged in the 1980s.
“He is known for his clean-cut good looks and versatility,” notes Britannica.com.
His parents were Mary and Thomas Mapother. His mother was an amateur actress and schoolteacher, and his father was an electrical engineer, says Biography.com.
Cruise’s parents divorced when he was 11, and his mother relocated the family to Louisville, Kentucky, then to Glen Ridge, New Jersey, after she remarried, the same source recounted. (Both his parents are deceased.)
Cruise suffered from dyslexia, as did his mother and three sisters, Biography.com also points out.
This condition was an academic challenge for Cruise — and he excelled in athletics.
He was considering pursuing a career in professional wrestling until a knee injury sidelined him during high school, the same source says.
Cruise solidified his movie-star status with “Top Gun” (1986), the highest-grossing film of that year, in which he played Navy jet pilot Maverick.
At age 14, Cruise enrolled in a Franciscan seminary with thoughts of becoming a priest, but he departed after one year, according to the same source.
When he was age 16, a teacher encouraged him to participate in the school’s production of the musical “Guys and Dolls” — his mother also encouraged this, according to sources — and after Cruise landed the lead role of Nathan Detroit, he began his steps toward an acting career.
In 1981, Cruise made his film debut in “Endless Love,” and followed with supporting roles in movies including “Taps” (1981) and “The Outsiders” (1983) before starring as a high-school senior — who, in 1983, transformed his parents’ home into a brothel in “Risky Business,” according to Biography.com.
Cruise solidified his movie-star status with “Top Gun” (1986), the highest-grossing film of that year, in which he played Navy jet pilot Maverick, notes Britannica.
In 1986, Cruise appeared opposite Paul Newman in “The Color of Money,” which was directed by Martin Scorsese.
Two years later, Cruise starred as an autistic man’s pompous brother in “Rain Man,” which in 1988 won four Oscars, for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (for Dustin Hoffman), and Best Original Screenplay.
For Cruise’s portrayal of Vietnam War veteran-turned-activist Ron Kovic in “Born on the Fourth of July” in 1989, Cruise received his first Academy Award nomination.
“‘Born on the Fourth of July’ is based on the autobiography of Ron Kovic … whose patriotism takes him to Vietnam in the late 1960s and brings him back home paralyzed from the chest down and burdened with the guilt of having accidentally killed a fellow soldier in combat,” says New York University.
Cruise received the Golden Globe for Best Actor for his performance as Ron Kovic in “Born on the Fourth of July.”
Kovic ends up becoming a spokesperson for veterans, anti-war ones in particular, and at the end he wheels himself out onto the stage of the Democratic Convention of 1976 to huge applause, the same source says.
Cruise received the Golden Globe for Best Actor for this performance, beating out heavyweight actors Jack Lemmon, Daniel Day Lewis, Robin Williams and Al Pacino for the award.
During the 1990s, Cruise played such diverse motion picture roles as a Navy lawyer in “A Few Good Men” (1992), a vampire in “Interview with the Vampire” (1994) and a secret agent in “Mission: Impossible” (1996), says Brittanana.com.
The success and popularity of the “Mission Impossible” movie spawned sequels in 2000, 2006, 2011, 2015, and 2018 (the next one, “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One,” is due in theaters on July 12, 2023).
Cruise’s immensely popular performance as a sports agent in “Jerry Maguire” (1996) earned Cruise a second Oscar nomination. And in 1999, Cruise also earned acclaim for the film “Magnolia,” for which he received another Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.
In 2016, Cruise reprised the role of Jack Reacher in the film “Never Go Back.”
Cruise starred in a number of action films in the 2000s, including “Minority Report” (2002), “The Last Samurai” (2003), “Collateral” (2004), “War of the Worlds” (2005), “Knight and Day” (2010) and “Jack Reacher” (2012).
He then appeared in “Oblivion” (2013) and “Edge of Tomorrow” (2014).
In 2016, Cruise reprised the role of Jack Reacher in the film “Never Go Back” and appeared in a reboot of “The Mummy” (2017).
Most recently, he starred in “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022), reprising his role from the 1986 blockbuster.
Cruise has been a member of the Church of Scientology for 30 years, and he remains the celebrity face of the faith, according to multiple sources.
His personal life has captured headlines for nearly four decades.
Cruise has been married and divorced three times.
In 1987, he wed actress Mimi Rogers; then in 1990 he married Nicole Kidman, whom he met on the set of the movie “Days of Thunder.”
In 2005, he married actress Katie Holmes. The two divorced after six years of marriage.
He is the father of three children. He shares his two oldest children, Isabella and Connor, with Nicole Kidman and his youngest, Suri, with Katie Holmes.
Two years ago, Cruise returned all three of his Golden Globes to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s headquarters after the association was denounced for a lack of diversity and for ethical improprieties.