Tom Cruise currently lives in Los Angeles in California. However it is very likely that he has homes elsewhere in America. It’s also been rumored he has homes in other countries as well.
Early Life
He was born Thomas Mapother IV on July 3, 1962 in Syracuse in New York. His mother Mary Lee was a teacher and his father, Thomas Mapother III worked as an engineer. The Mapothers were Irish and also had German blood.
After studying in Robert Hopkins School from grade 1 to 5, the family moved to Canada as his father got a job in the Canadian Armed Forces as a consultant. The family would
eventually return to America.
Tom Cruise played a lot of sports (wrestling, hockey and football) during his school days, but a knee injury forced him to stop. It was at this point that he turned his interest to acting.
Film Career
His first film role came in the movie Endless Love in 1981 which starred Brooke Shields. He would go on to have roles in films like Taps, Losin’ It and the Outsiders. But it was the 1983 comedy Risky Business that got him noticed.
In 1986 he top billed the movie Top Gun. It would go on to be the top moneymaker for the year and established Tom Cruise as a major star.
The success of Top Gun was followed by roles in Color of Money (with Paul Newman), the comedy film Cocktail and the 1989 hit Rain Man with Dustin Hoffman.
In 1990, Cruise earned an Oscar nomination for his lead role in the Oliver Stone film Born on the Fourth of July. He would follow this up with several other blockbuster films including Days of Thunder (his first film with Nicole Kidman), a Few Good Men and the Firm. He was also cast as Lestat in the film adaptation of Anne Rice’s bestselling novel Interview with the Vampire.
Tom Cruise also starred in the erotic film Eyes Wide Shut (the last film to be directed by Stanley Kubrick before he died), the romantic comedy Jerry Maguire and the Mission Impossible series. He has also starred with Cameron Diaz in the film Vanilla Sky in 2001.
Controversy
Aside from his commercial success, Cruise has also been known for his relationships with several actresses, including Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes.
As a member of the Church of Scientology, he has been one of its most ardent supporters and defenders. He has been asking the German government that Scientology to be officially recognized as a religion.
He also caused a stir in 2003 when he castigated Brooke Shields for taking Paxil. He said that Paxil and other anti depressants do not work and that psychiatric treatments were a sham. He later apologized to Shields but his stands on anti depressants haven’t changed.
In spite of all the controversies, Tom Cruise continues to be one of the most successful stars today. He has set up his own production company and is likely to get involved in filmmaking as well.