In 2026, Tom Cruise celebrated his 64th birthday. The famous actor was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York. It has been a hard road from teen dramas to action movies, which made Tom Cruise famous as an actor.

Beginning of the career and first roles

First of all, it should be stressed that Tom Cruise did not come to Hollywood as a famous movie star. He won his fame gradually by acting in smaller and smaller films until the mid-1980s. The first notable film and role for Cruise was The Outsiders (1983), a film directed by Francis Ford Coppola based on the novel by S. E. Hinton. There he played Steve Randle. It was also that year when Tom Cruise gained popularity as Joel Goodson. By the mid-1980s, Tom Cruise was already seen as a rising star.

Top Gun and other films

With the film Top Gun, released in 1986, the actor became a world-famous movie star. There he played Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a 23-year-old naval aviator who was very competitive and self-confident. It was the beginning of Tom Cruise's reputation as a top action hero. After that, he successfully balanced between films made for money and films that demonstrated his talents and abilities as an actor. Among his best films are the following ones:

  • Steve Randle in The Outsiders (1983)
  • Joel Goodson in Risky Business (1983)
  • Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun (1986)
  • Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible (1996)
  • Jerry Maguire in Jerry Maguire (1996)

After Top Gun, Cruise successfully played Ron Kovic in the film Born on the Fourth of July (1989). Then, in the film A Few Good Men (1992), his acting abilities in the role of a lawyer were revealed. With the film Jerry Maguire (1996), a story about a sports agent who lost everything both professionally and personally and decided to change his life was told. At the same time, the Mission: Impossible film series started, where Cruise acted as the famous secret agent Ethan Hunt. Later Tom Cruise films like Magnolia (1999), Minority Report (2002), Collateral (2004) demonstrated that he was able to play various characters in films of different genres. Finally, with the film Top Gun: Maverick (2022), he was able to return to his iconic role.

Marriage and family life

In common with other Hollywood movie stars, his marriages and other aspects of Tom Cruise's family life attracted the attention of the general public. As of October 2026, Tom Cruise has had three marriages. His wives are Mimi Rogers, whom he married in 1987, Nicole Kidman (married in 1990) and Katie Holmes (married in 2006). His marriages to Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes were dissolved in 2001 and 2012, respectively. As of October 2026, there was no information about any new marriage of Tom Cruise.

Movie star

Being a movie star for several decades, Tom Cruise was distinguished by his great screen presence and unique screen persona. He usually played energetic characters under pressure because of their professional activity – pilots, lawyers, racers, secret agents, etc. Thus, he created a certain type of movies based on an actor's screen presence and his charisma.