In 2006, actor Tom Cruise was named Forbes magazine’s most powerful celebrity, with three Golden Globe Awards, three Academy Award nominations, and an average paycheck of over $60 million dollars a film. The actor’s flair for dramatic intensity – paired with his on-screen charisma and boyishly handsome smile – were the stuff of bona fide movie stars, harkening back to the matinee idols of the 1940s and ‘50s. He had come a long way since 1983’s “Risky Business,” when his exuberant fit of dancing in his boxer shorts made film history. That underwear-clad breakout ignited a career which rapidly bypassed the teen arena and his fellow actors of the time – especially after the release of a certain testosterone-injected film called “Top Gun” (1986). Not only did Cruise become the sex symbol du jour with his shirtless portrayal of Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, he inspired a whole generation of young boys to want to become elite Navy fighter pilots. Despite a few missteps such as “Cocktail” (1988) and “Days of Thunder” (1990), Cruise proved the critical naysayers wrong when be began nailing performances of real depth in films like “The Color of Money”(1986), “Rain Main” (1988), and “Born on the Fourth of July” (1989). Audiences of both genders flocked to see him play the hotshot-on-the-brink-of-transformation in “The Firm” (1993) and “Jerry Maguire” (1996), as well as the polished hero of the “Mission Impossible” franchise and “War of the Worlds” (2005). Cruise’s appeal survived even critically reviled films, with mainstream moviegoers flocking to artful outings like Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut” (1997) and Cameron Crowe’s surreal “Vanilla Sky” (2001) simply because the name above the title was Tom Cruise.But after over a 20-year-run of great professional success – as well as an admired coupling with wife Nicole Kidman – the worlds most bankable star hit a rough patch – to say the least – after a run of high-profile antics turned him into consistent tabloid fodder. Following a brutal divorce from Kidman and a head-scratching hook-up with Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, his Scientology-backed attack on actress Brooke Shields’ pharmaceutical treatment of post-partum depression was followed by uncharacteristically showy pronouncements of love for another unlikely girlfriend, Katie Holmes. In one unfortunate moment – jumping on Oprah Winfrey’s couch to proclaim his sudden love for Holmes – Cruise became a late night talk show punchline literally overnight. The media circus culminated with a “South Park” (Comedy Central, 1997- ) episode skewering his supposed sexual orientation and the severing of ties by longtime studio partner Paramount who unceremoniously and very publicly dumped him, citing his eccentric behavior in the press of late. Ever focused and diligent, Cruise rebounded to become head of MGM’s UA Films, though it remained to be seen whether his stint in PR hell would have a long-lasting effect on his status as the biggest film star of his generation.
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV was born on July 3, 1962, the only son of a hardscrabble family that would grow to include three sisters. Mapother III was an electrical engineer, abusive and prone to losing his jobs, which forced the family to move several times a year to look for work. Cruise was born in Syracuse but lived in Louisville, KY; Winnetka, IL; and Ottawa, Ontario, before his mother finally had enough of her “bullying” husband. She left Mapother (and his last name) in 1974 and took her children back to her hometown of Louisville. Cruise was enrolled in a total of 15 schools during his nearly 12 years of education, and his constant outsider status – coupled with a diagnosis of the then little understood disorder, dyslexia – made school life a constant challenge. His mother worked three jobs to support a family of preteens, with many a Christmas coming and going without presents. Her determination to survive rubbed off on her hard-working kids, and her future movie star son would often cite her as the source of his belief that he could make any kind of life for himself that he chose.
Cruise spent his freshman year at a seminary boarding school in Cincinnati, OH on a scholarship. Despite appreciating the respite of stability he received at the seminary, however, he concluded that the priesthood was not for him. He settled with his mother and new stepfather in Glen Ridge, NJ, and started to make a go of it as an athlete at his new school – that is, until he suffered a knee injury during a wrestling match. In response to being sidelined, Cruise turned to the drama department, having been a lifelong movie fanatic and the family comedian. He was a natural, appearing in school productions of “Guys and Dolls” and “Godspell,” and with can-do determination, Cruise dispensed with high school during his senior year; instead heading straight to New York in 1980, where he got a job as a busboy and began hitting the audition circuit.
Still reeling from the 18-year whirlwind that was his life up to that time, Cruise’s intensity and hunger for success left an overwhelming impression on commercial casting agents looking for fresh-faced, non-threatening teens to represent their products. Within a year, the peripatetic Cruise was in Los Angeles, where he met Paula Wagner, an agent at Creative Artists Agency, who would subsequently guide his film career. After making his feature debut in a small role in the notorious Brooke Shields vehicle "Endless Love" (1981), Cruise gained attention for a supporting role as an increasingly lunatic gung-ho cadet in "Taps" (1981). He had originally been cast in a small three-line role in the film, but the director was so taken with his intensity, that he bumped Cruise up to a more visible role alongside stars Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton.
In 1983, a mere three years after bussing tables, Cruise fully burst onto the scene with four major studio Hollywood features. His rough and tumble roots took hold as one in a pack of “greasers” in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Outsiders,” a melodramatic adaptation, but memorable for its gaggle of up-and-coming heartthrobs like Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, and Patrick Swayze. Cautious not to limit her client to typecasting as an angry rebel, Cruise’s agent focused on his athleticism and boyish charisma with a role opposite "older woman" Shelly Long in "Losin' It" (1983), a middling teen coming-of-age comedy. “Risky Business” (1983), however, turned Cruise into an overnight sensation. In his portrayal of an anxious, affluent, suburban teen poised precariously on the brink of young adulthood, Cruise created a resonant protagonist for young Reagan-era audiences. He even put on some extra pounds to emphasize the softness and vulnerability of the character who flirts with illicit capitalism. In his star-making scene, Cruise, clad in a button-down Oxford shirt, boxer shorts, and Wayfarer sunglasses, played air guitar and danced wildly to Bob Seger's anthem, "Old Time Rock 'n' Roll." Audiences lapped it up, the Golden Globe awards recognize