One of the top box-office stars of the 1980s and 1990s, Cruise effortlessly projectsyouthful sex appeal, but has put his name (and growing reputation) on the line more than once to prove himself an actor as well.
Overcoming a difficult childhood-during which his family moved at least
a dozen times, his parents divorced, and his father died of cancer-the
young, dyslexic Cruise spent a year at a Franciscan monastery before
deciding that acting was his true calling. By the age of 18 he had landed
his first movie part, in Endless Love (1981). Following roles of increasing importance in Taps (1981), Losin' It and The Outsiders (both
1983), Cruise achieved true notoriety in 1983 following his engaging lead
performances in Risky Business and All the Right Moves The
sword-and-sorcery opus Legend (1985) saw him marking time, but he achieved superstar
status after appearing as the cocky young fighter pilot in the hugely
popular Top Gun (1986), and subsequently attracted favorable notices for
his work in The Color of Money (1986, well paired with Paul Newman) and
Rain Man (1988, holding his own opposite Dustin Hoffman), shedding the
"pretty boy" and "beefcake" rep he'd been saddled with.
Described by fellow actors as dedicated and absorbed in his craft, the
magnetic, handsome young star with the devastating smile received the
nation's attention (and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor) for
his portrayal of paralyzed Vietnam vet Ron Kovic in Born on the Fourth
of July (1989). The environmentally conscious Cruise serves-along with
ex-wife Mimi Rogers-on the board of the Earth Communications Office.
Australian actress Nicole Kidman, Cruise's costar in Days of Thunder
(1990), became the charismatic young star's second wife on Christmas Eve,
1990. They appeared together in the much heralded Far and Away (1992),
which turned out to be little more than a vehicle for the
extraordinarily good-looking couple. He then worked opposite a more challenging
costar, Jack Nicholson, in A Few Good Men (1992), and toplined the legal
thriller The Firm (1993). Cruise has matured as an actor, while retaining
the appeal that made him popular in the first place; what's more, he's
used the clout of stardom to help get some worthwhile films made. In
1993 he made his debut behind the camera, directing an episode of "Fallen
Angels" for TV and in 1994 starred in Interview With the Vampire amidst
cries of miscasting from devotees of Anne Rice's book.