Birthdate: July 3, 1962
Occupations: Actor, Director, Producer
Quote: On the film Eyes Wide Shut: "We knew from the beginning the level of commitment needed. We felt honored to work with [Stanley Kubrick]. We were going to do what it took to do this picture, whatever time, because I felt--and Nic [Nicole Kidman] did, too - that this was going to be a really special time for us. We knew it would be difficult. But I would have absolutely kicked myself if I hadn't done this." - Time magazine, July 5, 1999
Claim to Fame: Had lead role in Risky Business (1983)
Significant Other(s):
Rebecca De Mornay, actress; together 1983-85
Wife: Mimi Rogers, actress; born January 1956; married 1986; divorced January 1990
Wife: Nicole Kidman, actress; born 1967; married December 24, 1990; separated December 2000, just shy of their 10-year anniversary; divorced
Penelope Cruz, actress; reportedly began dating summer 2001
Family:
Father: Thomas Cruise Mapother III, electrical engineer; died 1984 of cancer
Mother: Mary Lee Mapother
Stepfather: Joe South
Sister: Lee Anne Mapother, works in publicity and marketing for Cruise's company; born 1959
Sister: Marian Mapother, has a teaching degree; born 1961
Sister: Cass Mapother, owns a restaurant in New Jersey; born 1963
Daughter: Isabella Jane Kidman Cruise; adopted January 1993
Son: Connor Anthony Kidman Cruise; adopted February 1995
Biography
Charismatic and engaging in his teen roles of the early 1980s, the athletic and boyishly handsome Cruise soon graduated to adult superstar status. By the mid-90s, he was indisputably the most powerful movie star of his generation. After a peripatetic childhood, Cruise turned to acting in high school after a knee injury derailed his wrestling ambitions. Energized by landing the role of Nathan Detroit in his high school production of "Guys and Dolls", he dropped out in his senior year to pursue an acting career. By 1981, Cruise was in Los Angeles where he met Paula Wagner, then an agent at Creative Artists Agency, who would subsequently guide his film career and later join him as his producing partner. After his film debut in "Endless Love", he gained attention in a showy supporting role as an increasingly lunatic cadet in "Taps" (both 1981). Cruise's career prospects brightened when he persuaded Francis Ford Coppola to cast him in a small role as a tough guy in "The Outsiders" (1983), though he failed to stand out amid a talented ensemble of teen heartthrobs that included Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze and Rob Lowe. It took his turn as an anxious, affluent, suburban teen poised precariously on the brink of young adulthood in "Risky Business" (also 1983), Cruise created a resonant protagonist for young Reagan-era audiences, even putting on extra pounds to emphasize the softness and vulnerability of the character as he flirts with illicit capitalism. In a star-making scene, the actor, clad in an Oxford shirt, Jockey briefs, and cool shades, plays air guitar and dances wildly to Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock'n'Roll." This celebrated sequence provided a key to the actor's subsequent mega-success: he was an attractive but fairly regular guy to whom audiences could easily relate. Intriguingly, the part also showcased Cruise's magnetic sexual appeal much more effectively than any of his subsequent screen roles.
Cruise performed well in a more naturalistic mode in "All the Right Moves" (1983), a sober high school football drama then grew his hair long and made the wrong move with the colossal fantasy flop, "Legend" (1985). He solidified his star status with one of the signature hits of the decade, "Top Gun" (1986). Defiantly politically incorrect, with flying sequences edited to the rhythms of pop tunes, the film functioned as both Navy recruiting ad and glossy romantic adventure. No longer the engaging boy-next-door, Cruise's Maverick was a cocky go-getter armed with a killer smile, a role whose variants he would essay in several subsequent, less ambitious motion pictures (e.g. "Cocktail" 1988, "Days of Thunder" 1990). Not content to be a matinee idol, Cruise began stretching his talents in the mid-80s--often paired with older, more established male stars of previous eras--with impressive results. He enriched his characterization of the talented but arrogant young man opposite Paul Newman in "The Color of Money" (1986) and consolidated his serious dramatic credentials with "Rain Man" (1988), where he more than held his own opposite overbearing Oscar-winner Dustin Hoffman. Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989) earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his hard-hitting portrayal of anti-war activist Ron Kovic.
Cruise stumbled a bit with the critically and commercially disappointing "Far and Away" (1992), a goofy period romance co-starring his wife Nicole Kidman. He recovered with the highly popular court-martial drama, "A Few Good Men" (1992), wherein he successfully confronted an iconic Jack Nicholson. Cruise again played a lawyer in "The Firm" (1993) with comparably successful results at the box office.
Never content to rest on his laurels, Cruise raised eyebrows--and more than a few hackles--by accepting the central role of the vampire Lestat in "Interview With the Vampire" (1994). Many balked at the idea of the All-American go-getter playing the decadent, ambisexual European predator of Anne Rice's novel. (Rice initially was the harshest critic). Sporting blond locks and blue contact lenses, Cruise eventually won Rice's approval and generally positive notices for his showy turn. He was all but omnipresent in the media as he aggressively promoted his feature producing debut, the post-Cold War espionage movie, "Mission: Impossible" (1996). Based on the fondly remembered 60s TV show, the project had languished in various development hells before Cruise got involved. Rumors abounded about Cruise clashing with director Brian De Palma over budgetary and story matters but despite international location shooting, high-tech stunts, computer-generated visual effects and last-minute re-writes by a stellar assortment of scripters, "Mission: Impossible" came in on time and under budget. The reviews were mixed--some treated it as an extravagant but cold vanity production with a confused storyline but most admired the cinematic technique. Cruise fared better in one of his best roles as a sports agent who chucks it all and finds love in the bittersweet "Jerry Maguire" (also 1996). He and Kidman accepted the leading roles in legendary writer-director Stanley Kubrick's long-awaited return to feature filmmaking, "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999), a collaboration that marked another milestone in the actor's quest to be taken seriously as an artist and not just another pretty face--with major commercial clout.
Filmography
Actor Taps (1981) David Shawn
Endless Love (1981) Billy
Risky Business (1983) (Golden Globe Nominee) Joel Goodson
The Outsiders 91983) Steve Randle
Losin' It (1983)
All The Right Moves (1983)
Legend (1986) Jack
Top Gun (1986) Pete "Maverick" Mitchell
The Color of Money (1986) Vincent
Rain Man (1988) Charles Babbitt
Young Guns (1988) (uncredited) Mustachioed cowboy shot in gun battle at McSween's
Cocktail (1988) Brian Flanagan
Born on the Fourth of July (1989) (Academy Award Nominee, Golden Globe Winner) Ron Kovic
Days of Thunder (1990) Cole Trickle
Far and Away (1992) Joseph Donnelly
A Few Good Men (1992) (Golden Globe Nominee) Lt. Daniel Kaffee
The Firm (1993) Mitch McDeere
Interview with the Vampire (1994) Vampire Lestat de Lioncourt
Mission Impossible (1996) Ethan Hunt
Jerry Maguire (1996) (Academy Award Nominee, Golden Globe Winner) Jerry Maguire
A Salute to Dustin Hoffman (TV)(1999)...Guest
Eyes Wide Shut (1999) ...Dr William Harford
Magnolia (1999) (Golden Globe Winner, Academy Award Nominee)...Frank T.J Mackey
Mission Impossible 2 (2000) aka M:I-2 Ethan Hunt
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Minority Report (2002) John Anderton
PRODUCER for
Mission Impossible with Paula Wagner (1996)
Without Limits (1998)
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
Vanilla Sky (2001)
The Others (TV) (2001)
Criminal Conversation (2001)
Director
Fallen Angels (1993) TV Series
Writer
Days of Thunder
Awards:
1990: People's Choice: Favorite Motion Picture Actor
1990: Golden Globe: Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama), Born on the Fourth of July
1990: Chicago Film Festival: Best Actor, Born on the Fourth of July
1992: NATO/ShoWest: International Box Office Star
1996: National Board of Review: Best Actor, Jerry Maguire
1996: Golden Satellite: Best Motion Picture Actor (Musical or Comedy), Jerry Maguire
1996: Golden Globe: Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy), Jerry Maguire
1997: MTV Movie Award: Best Male Performance, Jerry Maguire
1998: John Huston Award for Artists Rights
1999: Golden Globe: Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama), Magnolia
Factoids:
Cruise came to the rescue of people on three different occasions in 1996; he took a woman injured in a car accident to the hospital and paid her bill, saved boys from being crushed in a crowd and saved people from a fire while yachting
Education:
High School drop out; Franciscan seminary; studied for one year
Agency:
Creative Artists Agency
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