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 Name: Thomas Cruise MapotherDate of Birth: March 7, 1962
Place of Birth: Syracuse, New York, USA
Nationality: American
Profession: Actor, Producer, Director
Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt / producer) has achieved unprecedented success as an actor and producer in a career spanning two and a half decades. In that time he has put forth an array of memorable performances that has firmly ensconced him at the pinnacle of the pop culture lexicon. He is a three-time Academy Award nominee whose films have earned in excess of seven and a half billion dollars in worldwide box office.
Cruise has starred in an unprecedented 13 films that have earned more than $100 million in domestic box office, 13 films (including his last six in a row) that have earned more than $200 million in worldwide box office, and is the only actor with five films that have grossed more than $400 million in worldwide box office.
Recently, Cruise was named the top money-making star of 2005 by the International Motion Picture Almanac's Quigley Poll, an annual survey of motion picture exhibitors which asks them to vote for the ten stars that generated the most box office revenue for their theaters. Cruise has received this distinction a record seven times, the most of any actor since the poll's 1932 inception, and has appeared on on Quigley's top ten list 18 times. Cruise was also recently voted “the biggest movie star ever” in a reader's poll conducted by Britain's Empire Magazine.
In addition, while continuing to explore new artistic challenges, Cruise has maintained and is recognized globally as an untiring ambassador of goodwill for his commitment to working towards bringing about positive change to the world by becoming an international advocate, activist and philanthropist in the fields of health, education and human rights.
His most recent film, the critically acclaimed “War of the Worlds,” marked Cruise's second collaboration with director Steven Spielberg. In the U.S., the film set a new career high for Tom Cruise as well as a new mark for Paramount Pictures by scoring the largest opening day, largest single day, and largest opening weekend the star and the company have ever had.
In addition, the film reached a worldwide gross of $591 million, becoming the biggest hit in Tom Cruise's extraordinary 25 year career and established him as the actor who has generated the most box office for a single studio in the history of film, $2.6 billion for Paramount Studios alone. In 2002, Cruise also starred in Spielberg's critically lauded futuristic thriller “Minority Report,” which went on to gross $358 million at the worldwide box office.
Through Cruise|Wagner Productions, which he founded in 1993 with Paula Wagner, Cruise has moved seamlessly into the broader role of producer, bringing a range of diverse projects from new and established talents to the screen. The first film released under the C|W banner was the international hit “Mission: Impossible,” and in 1997 resulted in the company being honored with the Nova Award for Most Promising Producers in Theatrical Motion Pictures.
The company went on to produce the critically acclaimed films “Without Limits,” “Shattered Glass,” “Narc,” and the period thriller and box-office hit “The Others.” The last marked Cruise's first collaboration with director Alejandro Amenabar, whose film “Abre Los Ojos” became the basis for the C/W production “Vanilla Sky,” under the direction of Cameron Crowe. In January 2004, Daily Variety honored the producing team as “Billion-Dollar Producers”; most recently, they were presented with the UCLA /Producers Guild of America Vision Award. Last fall, Cruise|Wagner produced Cameron Crowe's “Elizabethtown.”
Cruise made his feature film debut in 1981 at the age of nineteen in the romantic drama “Endless Love,” followed by the critically acclaimed “Taps,” co-starring Sean Penn, Timothy Hutton, and George C. Scott, and Francis Ford Coppola's “The Outsiders.” His breakout performance in “Risky Business” earned him his first Golden Globe nomination in 1983. The role of Maverick in Tony Scott's “Top Gun” catapulted Cruise to international stardom as the film went on to become the highest grossing picture of 1986.
He next starred opposite Paul Newman's Oscar-winning role in Martin Scorsese's “The Color of Money” and opposite Dustin Hoffman in his Oscar-winning role in Barry Levinson's Oscar-winning “Rain Man.” In 1989, Cruise received his first Academy Award nomination and earned the Golden Globe for Best Actor for his portrayal of Vietnam veteran and anti-war activist Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone's “Born on the Fourth of July,” which received a Best Picture nomination.
That same year, Cruise received the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actor. His performance in Rob Reiner's “A Few Good Men,” opposite Jack Nicholson, a role for which Nicholson received an Academy Award nomination, and Demi Moore, led to a third Golden Globe nomination. In 1994, he received his second People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture Actor and, in 1997 he was named Best Actor by the National Board of Review and received his second Academy Award nomination and the Golden Globe for Best Actor for his work in Cameron Crowe's “Jerry Maguire,” a film in which his co-star Cuba Gooding, Jr. received an Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actor. The role also garnered Cruise an MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance.
In 1999, Cruise received critical acclaim for his powerful performance in Paul Thomas Anderson's ensemble drama “Magnolia,” earning an award for Best Acting by an Ensemble from the National Board of Review, a third Academy Award nomination and his third Golden Globe, for Best Supporting Actor. That same year, he starred in Stanley Kubrick's final film, the critically acclaimed psychological thriller “Eyes Wide Shut.”
His additional screen credits include Ron Howard's epic “Far and Away,” Sydney Pollack's legal thriller “The Firm,” and Neil Jordan's “Interview with the Vampire,” based on the bestselling novel by Anne Rice. He also starred in the critically acclaimed box-office hit “Collateral” for director Michael Mann, a role in which his co-star, Jamie Foxx, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Cruise has been the recipient of numerous awards and tributes, reflecting both critical and commercial recognition within the industry and the broad popular support of audiences worldwide. His films have garnered 9 Academy Awards and 53 Academy Award nominations and 9 Golden Globe Awards and 38 Golden Globe nominations, not only for Cruise himself, but for the cast members and crews that have worked with him.
Last November, Cruise received the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for excellence in film from the British Academy of Film & Television Arts. The recipient of three MTV Movie Awards for Best Male Performance and multiple nominations, Cruise was recently honored with the MTV Generation Award, which celebrated his work as the actor of the “MTV generation,” a period which spans three decades.
In April 2005, Cruise received a David di Donatello award for lifetime achievement. He has been honored twice by the People's Choice Awards, and received two Screen Actors Guild nominations for his work in “Jerry Maguire” and “Magnolia.” He was recognized by the Chicago Film Festival as the `Actor of the Decade' in 1993 and earned the NATO / SHOWEST Meritorious Achievement Award that same year. Cruise has also been honored with a Saturn Award for “Vanilla Sky,” both the Chicago Film Critics Award and the Blockbuster Award for “Magnolia,” and an MTV Award for “Mission: Impossible 2.”
Cruise has also been honored with tributes ranging from Harvard's Hasty Pudding Man of the Year Award to the John Huston Award from the Artists Rights Foundation, and The American Cinematheque Award for Distinguished Achievement in Film.
 Career Milestones--- Will once again reprise role of Ethan Hunt for "Mission: Impossible 3"; J.J. Abrams will make his feature-film directorial debut (lensed 2005)
1974 Fled Canada (and his father) for the USA with his mother and three sisters at age 12
1981 Cast in a small role in "Taps"; bumped up to a major supporting role after another actor failed to measure up during the mock-boot-camp rehearsals for the film; first gained critical attention
1981 Film acting debut in "Endless Love"
1981 Met Paula Wagner, then an agent at Creative Artists Agency
1983 Breakthrough film role, as high school student Joel Goodson in "Risky Business"
1983 Persuaded director Francis Ford Coppola to cast him in a small role in the feature "The Outsiders"
1983 Starred as goal-oriented high school football player in "All the Right Moves"
1986 Roared to first position in the annual exhibitors' poll of the top ten box office stars on the strength of the blockbusters "Top Gun" (directed by Tony Scott) and "The Color of Money" (directed by Martin Scorsese), the latter earning Paul Newman a long overdue Best Actor Oscar
1988 Turned in top-drawer performance opposite Dustin Hoffman (who collected the Best Actor Oscar) in Barry Levinson's "Rain Man"
1989 Earned first Best Actor Oscar nomination portraying paralyzed Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July"
1990 First story credit (shared with Robert Towne), "Days of Thunder", directed by Tony Scott; also first film with future wife Nicole Kidman
1990 Renounced his devout Catholicism for the Church of Scientology, claiming its teachings had cured him of his dyslexia
1992 Along with his partner, former CAA agent Paula Wagner, signed an exclusive three-year production pact with Paramount Pictures; under terms of the deal, Cruise was to produce and star in two major films for Paramount over the next three years
1992 Hit blockbuster gold as a Navy lawyer in Rob Reiner's "A Few Good Men"
1992 Reteamed with Kidman for "Far and Away", Ron Howard's would-be epic of Irish settlers in the American west
1993 Awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
1993 Scored with Sydney Pollack's "The Firm", the first film adaptation of a John Grisham novel
1993 TV directorial debut with "Frightening Frammis", an episode on Showtime's "Fallen Angels" series, starring Isabella Rossellini and Peter Gallagher
1994 Portrayed Lestat in Neil Jordan's "Interview with the Vampire", adapted by Anne Rice from her novel; eventually won over Rice who had publicly campaigned against his casting
1996 Filmed lead role in Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999), starring opposite Kidman; project reteamed him with Pollack (acting this time) who replaced Harvey Keitel after filming had started
1996 Earned second Best Actor Oscar nomination for lead performance as sports agent "Jerry Maguire"
1996 Feature producing debut (with partner Wagner), "Mission: Impossible"; also acted, deferring $20 million salary
1998 Accepted (with Kidman) substantial libel damages from Express Newspapers over allegations that their marriage was a "hypocritical sham"; the Cruises donated the money to charity
1998 Produced (with Wagner) "Without Limits", Robert Towne's biopic about fabled distance runner Steve Prefontaine
1999 Acted in Paul Thomas Anderson's ensemble drama "Magnolia", playing a foul-mouthed cable TV sex guru; earned Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination
2000 Reprised role of Ethan Hunt in the sequel "M:I-2" ("Mission: Impossible 2"), directed by John Woo; also produced with Wagner
2001 Reunited with director Cameron Crowe on "Vanilla Sky", a loose remake of the Spanish film "Obra los ojos/Open Your Eyes"
2002 Narrated the IMAX film "Space Station"
2002 Teamed with Steven Spielberg for "Minority Report"
2003 Starred in the epic drama "The Last Samurai"; received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Dramatic role
2004 Played a contract killer in Michael Mann's "Collateral"
2005 Starred in Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds," based on H.G. Wells' novel, which chronicles a Martian invasion of Earth
Attended a dozen schools before he was 12 years old
Diagnosed as dyslexic as a child; has claimed in interviews he was "misdiagnosed"
Portrayed Nathan Detroit in a high school production of "Guys and Dolls" during his senior year
Took up acting in high school after losing his place on wrestling team due to a knee injury.
FilmographyActor Credits
Mission: Impossible III (2006) Ethan Hunt
Elizabethtown (2005)
War of the Worlds (2005) Ray Ferrier
Collateral (2004) Vincent
The Last Samurai (2003) Captain Nathan Algren
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) cameo
Minority Report (2002) Chief John Anderton
Narc (2002)
Space Station 3-D (2002)
Vanilla Sky (2001) David Aames
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) Ethan Hunt
Eyes Wide Shut (1999) Doctor William Harford
Magnolia (1999) Frank T J Mackey
Jerry Maguire (1996) Jerry Maguire
Mission: Impossible (1996) Ethan Hunt
Interview With the Vampire (1994) Lestat de Lioncourt
The Firm (1993) Mitch McDeere
Far and Away (1992) Joseph Donelly
A Few Good Men (1992) Lieutenant J G Daniel Kaffe
Days of Thunder (1990) Cole Trickle
Born on the Fourth of July (1989) Ron Kovic
Cocktail (1988) Brian Flanagan
Rain Man (1988) Charlie Babbitt
Young Guns (1988)
Top Gun (1986) Maverick
The Color of Money (1986) Vincent Lauria
Legend (1985) Jack
All the Right Moves (1983)
Risky Business (1983)
The Outsiders (1983) Steve Randle
Losin' It (1982)
Endless Love (1981)
Taps (1981)
Producer Credits
Ask the Dust (2006) Producer
Mission: Impossible III (2006) Producer
Elizabethtown (2005) Producer
Shattered Glass (2003) Executive Producer
The Last Samurai (2003) Producer
Narc (2002) Executive Producer
Vanilla Sky (2001) Producer
The Others (2001) Executive Producer
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) Producer
Without Limits (1998) Producer
Mission: Impossible (1996) Producer
Writing Credits
Days of Thunder (1990) Story By
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