As a child Cruise lived with his family in near-poverty throughout various locations in the United States and Canada.
Cruise started acting due to a knee injury, while injured, he successfully auditioned for a lead role in his high school's production of Guys and Dolls and decided to become an actor after his success in the role.

Cruise's first acting role came in 1981, when he had a small role in Endless Love, he had a much larger role in, Taps. Also in 1983, Risky Business was released, widely thought to be the film that propelled Cruise to stardom. One sequence in the film, featuring Cruise lip-syncing Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll" in his underwear, has become an iconic moment in film history.

Top Gun opened in May of 1986 and became the highest grossing film of the year. He also starred in The Color of Money, Cocktail, Rain Man; the film was praised by critics and was nominated for four Academy Awards, and won all four.
In 1996, Cruise starred in (as well as produced) Mission: Impossible. In 1996 he starred in Jerry Maguire. The film earned him an Academy Award Best Actor nomination as well as winning Jerry Maguire saw Tom Cruise become the first actor in history to star in five consecutive films that grossed at least $100 million in domestic release.

In April 2005, Cruise began dating Katie Holmes, before announcing on 17 June 2005 that he had proposed to her at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. She accepted his proposal, and the couple was expected to be married in the summer of 2006. On April 18, 2006 Katie gave birth to a baby girl named Suri. She is the first child for Holmes and third for Cruise, who has two adopted children with Nicole Kidman.

Public Name: Tom Cruise
Birth Name: Thomas Cruise Mapother IV
Date of Birth: July 3, 1962
Place of birth: Syracuse, New York

Filmography

• Valkyrie (2008)
• Selling Time (2007)
• Lions for Lambs (2007)
• Mission: Impossible III (2006)
• War of the Worlds (2005)
• Collateral (2004)
• The Last Samurai (2003)
• Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
• Minority Report (2002)
• Vanilla Sky (2001)
• Mission: Impossible II (2000)
• Magnolia (1999)
• Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
• "3rd Rock from the Sun" (1 episode, 1998)
• Jerry Maguire (1996)
• Mission: Impossible (1996)
• Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
• The Firm (1993)
• A Few Good Men (1992)
• Far and Away (1992)
• Days of Thunder (1990)
• Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
• Rain Man (1988)
• Young Guns (1988)
• Cocktail (1988)
• The Color of Money (1986)
• Top Gun (1986)
• Legend (1985)
• All the Right Moves (1983)
• Risky Business (1983)
• Losin' It (1983)
• The Outsiders (1983)
• Taps (1981)
• Endless Love (1981)

Awards

• MTV Movie Award Best Male Performer "Mission: Impossible 2" 2001
• Golden Globe Award Best Supporting Actor "Magnolia" 1999
• John Huston Award for Artists Rights 1999
• National Board of Review Award Best Ensemble "Magnolia" 1999
• MTV Movie Award Best Male Performance "Jerry Maguire" 1997
• Golden Globe Award Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) "Jerry Maguire" 1996
• Golden Satellite Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) "Jerry Maguire" 1996
• National Board of Review Award Best Actor "Jerry Maguire" 1996
• NATO/ShoWest Award International Box Office Star 1992
• Chicago Film Festival Best Actor Award "Born on the Fourth of July" 1990
• Golden Globe Award Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama) "Born on the Fourth of July" 1990
• People's Choice Award Favorite Motion Picture Actor 1990