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Tom Cruise is the most sought after actor come producer in Hollywood. He is mostly known worldwide for his roles in Top Gun and Mission Impossible. His original name was Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, born to parents Thomas Cruise Mapother III and Mary Lee on 3rd of July, 1962. He was the only son amongst his siblings. He is of German, Irish, and English ancestry; German and English ancestry from his father's family and German and Irish from this mother's side of family. Most of his childhood was spent as a nomad, frequently traveling with his parents. In total, he attended nearly eight elementary schools and three high schools in the US and Canada. On a church scholarship he attended a Franciscan seminary and had aspired to become a Catholic priest. When he was twelve his parents separated and he moved in with his mother and finally settled in New Jersey. During those days he gave up his plans of becoming a priest when he developed interests in athletics. He was a wrestler in high school, but later got diverted to stage acting after a knee injury during the game.In 1980 he moved to New York and after a bit of struggle got the first break of his Hollywood career in "Endless Love" in 1981.
His first big hit was the teen-angst movie called "Risky Business" the next year. He catapulted to fame in 1985 with "Top Gun". This movie established him as the next action hero, but he didn't want to be type casted and followed with "The Color of Money" and "Rain Man". Although most of the attention went to Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man (which won the Academy Award for best film), Cruise was not entirely sidelined. He was noticed for one of his challenging roles playing as the brother of an autistic savant Hoffman in it. He won the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor.
From 1989 to mid 90s he did some outstanding roles in "Born on the Fourth of July" and "A Few Good Men" both showcasing his talents. The former won him awards like the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and People's Choice Award for favorite Motion Picture Actor. It also gave him his first Best Actor Academy Award nomination. He proved himself once again with his Oscar-nominated performance in "Jerry Maguire" and also scored his financial success with "Mission Impossible" in 1996.
He is an ardent supporter of Scientology, a sect considered as one of the most controversial religious movement which obviously brought him to negative criticism in the public eye. He turned producer in 2006 when he took over United Artists Studio in partnership with Paula Wagner and came out with movies like "Lions for Lambs" and "Valkyire" which received mixed reviews.
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