Tom Cruise: Difference between revisions

This is an article about the actor; for the inventor, see Tom Kruse.

Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and film producer who has starred in a number of top-grossing movies and remains one of the biggest movie stars in the world. His first leading role in a blockbuster movie was in 1983's Risky Business.^[1] Since then, he has received additional notoriety in the press for his outspoken support of Scientology and criticism of psychiatry.

Cruise was born to Thomas Mapother III and Mary Lee Pfeiffer in Syracuse, New York.^[2][3]. Cruise has German ancestry from his paternal great-grandparents, William Reibert and Charlotta Louise Voelker.^[4] His maternal ancestry is half Irish and half German (including Alsatian French). ^[5] Cruise had a transient existence as a child attending eight elementary schools and three high schools. Cruise graduated from Glen Ridge High School in New Jersey. He briefly attended a Franciscan seminary in Cincinnati and aspired to become a Catholic priest. It was recently brought forth that Cruise had suffered from child abuse when he was younger. He stated that when something went wrong, his father came down hard on him. He told Parade Magazine that his father was "a bully and a coward" ^[6]. Cruise became interested in acting after being sidelined from his high school's wrestling team due to a knee injury. While injured, he successfully auditioned for a lead role in his high school's production of Guys and Dolls and decided to become an actor after his success in the role.

While it was not his first film, Risky Business (1983) propelled Cruise to stardom. One sequence in the film, featuring Cruise lip-syncing Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll" in his underwear, has become an iconic moment in film history. Cruise's status as an A-list actor was secured a few years later when he starred in Top Gun (1986).

He received Academy Award nominations for Born on the Fourth of July (1989) and Jerry Maguire (1996), both as Best Actor; and for Magnolia (1999), as Best Supporting Actor^[1]. In 1996, he became the first actor in history to star in five consecutive films that grossed $100 million in domestic release; the films were A Few Good Men (1992)^[7], The Firm (1993), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Mission: Impossible (1996) and Jerry Maguire (1996).

Cruise also took on more unusual roles following Interview With The Vampire and Jerry Maguire, with Eyes Wide Shut (1999) which took two years to finish as director Stanley Kubrick's last film, alongside then spouse Nicole Kidman.^[8] Cruise also performed as a misogynistic male guru in Magnolia (1999), which netted him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, and in very rare form, played a villain as the hitman who kidnaps unsuspecting cabbie Jamie Foxx in Michael Mann's Collateral (2004).^[9]

Cruise teamed with producer Paula Wagner to form Cruise/Wagner Productions, which has co-produced several of Cruise's films such as Mission: Impossible (1996), Vanilla Sky (2001), and The Last Samurai (2003). The company also co-produced The Others (2001).^[10]

A number of Cruise's more well-known and popular movies have cast him in a similar role, one which has been half-jokingly referred to by movie fans (and some critics) as the "Generic Tom Cruise Character." In this role, Cruise portrays a character who, as the film begins, is seen as a cocky, stuck-up, self-centered egotist who cares for little other than himself. As the events of the movie unfold, his character learns to become more open-minded and altruistic, until by the time the climax has been reached, he has undergone a radical change and been transformed into a better human being. Examples of the "Generic Tom Cruise Character" can be seen in Top Gun, Rain Man, A Few Good Men,The Firm, Jerry Maguire, Cocktail, Vanilla Sky, The Last Samurai, War of the Worlds, and others. In many films he appears in his underwear, usually "tighty whities".

In 2006 Tom Cruise earned three Razzie nominations, as worst actor for War of the Worlds and two of the five slots in a new Razzies category for Most Tiresome Tabloid Targets. [2] Cruise was nominated for the award for his anti-psychiatry statements and his very public romance with Katie Holmes the previous year. "He had been a very private person up until this past year," said Razzies founder John Wilson. "It certainly was a bizarre turn in terms of how he handles his personal life and the access that he gave the media to himself. The endless posing on the red carpet and just smooching like they were on the couch at home."

In 1990, 1991 and 1997, People magazine rated him among the 50 most beautiful people in the world.^[3] In 1995, Empire magazine ranked him among the 100 sexiest stars in film history.^[4] Two years later, it ranked him among the top 5 movie stars of all time.^[5] In 2002 and 2003, he was rated by Premiere among the top 20 in its annual Power 100 list.^[6]

However, while most recognize Cruise's entitlement to freedom of religion, it seems his frequent controversial outbursts promoting the Church of Scientology and strong anti-psychiatry beliefs, combined with his unusually erratic behavior throughout 2005 (detailed below) may have led to a drop in his popularity. One survey for example, showed Cruise's popularity drop from 11th to 197th most liked celebrity over a six month period. ^[7]

Cruise is arguably Hollywood's most outspoken member of the Church of Scientology. He became involved with the church in 1990 through his first wife, Mimi Rogers. ^[8] Cruise has publicly said that Scientology, specifically the L. Ron Hubbard Scientology Study Tech, helped him to overcome his dyslexia. ^[9]

A controversy erupted in 2005 after he openly criticized actress Brooke Shields for using the drug Paxil, an anti-depressant, which Shields claims helped her recover from postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter in 2003; Cruise asserted, contrary to assertions in the medical field, that there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance, that psychiatry is a form of pseudoscience. This led to a heated argument with Matt Lauer on The Today Show on June 24, 2005.^[11] At one point, Cruise criticized Lauer's challenging questions, accusing Lauer of being "glib", and telling him "You don't know the history of psychiatry. I do." Consequently, the history of psychiatry according to Scientology involves the leader of the Galactic Confederacy, Xenu, murdering billions of aliens under volcanoes while blowing up hydrogen bombs with the help of psychiatrists seventy-five million years ago.

Brooke Shields responded to Cruise's comments as "irresponsible and dangerous". ^[10], and by declaring that she "wouldn't take advice from someone who devotes his life to creatures from outer space", and that Cruise "should stick to saving the world from aliens and let women who are experiencing postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them". ^[11] Shields also joked about the age difference between Cruise and Holmes, inviting the couple to come and see her in the London production of Chicago, in which she was then appearing, and noting that she would leave two tickets for them at the box office, "one adult and one child". ^[12]

Cruise also claimed in an Entertainment Weekly interview that psychiatry "is a Nazi science" and that methadone was actually originally called Adolophine after Adolf Hitler, a myth well-known as an urban legend. ^[13] In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine, Cruise claimed that "In Scientology, we have the only successful drug rehabilitation program in the world. It's called Narconon... It's a statistically proven fact that there is only one successful drug rehabilitation program in the world. Period". ^[14] While Narconon claims to have a success rate over 70% ^[15], the accuracy of this figure has been disputed. ^[16] It has been reported that Cruise adopted his anti-psychiatry philosophies from Dr. Thomas Szasz, a leading critic of the moral and scientific foundations of psychiatry. ^[17]

It is claimed Cruise recently rose to one of the highest echelons of the Church of Scientology, known as "Operating Thetan Seven" or OT-VII ^[18], and it has been suggested that Cruise's increasing willingness to talk openly about Scientology may be a reflection of this. ^[19] Cruise's fiancée, Katie Holmes, has recently begun studying Scientology, which Cruise says does not conflict with her Roman Catholic upbringing, despite the fact that Scientology is rooted in the denial of God and Jesus Christ, since Scientology preaches at its highest levels that Christianity is a false religion. ^[20]

As of 2005, Tom Cruise has begun campaigning on behalf of the Church of Scientology before politicians and government officials around the world. Such advocacy does not go well in several European countries where this organization is considered to be a cult. As an example, on July 13th, 2005, after it was learned that he lobbied Nicolas Sarkozy and Jean-Claude Gaudin (the mayor of Marseille), the city council of Paris vowed "never to receive [before the council or the mayor] the actor Tom Cruise, spokesman for Scientology and self-declared militant for this organisation" ^{[21] [22]}

It has been alleged on FACTnet that Cruise's involvement in Scientology may be less than voluntary: "Tom Cruise became psychotic during a secret Scientology initiation in which one is told that rather than being one person, one is composed of thousands of aliens from all over the universe fighting for control of your body. After completing this initiation, known as OT III, Tom appeared sickly with black circles under his eyes and pasty skin. He said he wanted to be away from Scientology for good. He just wanted to go back to Hollywood and his home and be left alone by Scientology. This would not happen; David Miscavige ordered Cruise could not be let go. Scientology worked on Cruise day and night until he finally returned to Scientology." This quote was part of an interview with Scientology defector Jesse Prince. [23]

On March 13, 2006, Isaac Hayes quit the television show South Park, reportedly because of a controversial episode that satirized Scientology. In November 2005, South Park satirised the Church of Scientology and its celebrity followers, including actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, in a top-rated episode called "Trapped in the Closet." In the episode, Stan, one of the show's four mischievous fourth graders, is hailed as a reluctant savior by Scientology leaders, while a cartoon Cruise locks himself in Stan's bedroom closet and refused to come out. Dubbed "Closetgate" by the Los Angeles Times, the controversy continued as Comedy Central, the channel that broadcasts South Park in the U.S., pulled the "Trapped in the Closet" episode at the last minute from a scheduled repeat on March 15 2006. It was alleged that Cruise threatened Paramount with withdrawal from promotion of his latest film Mission Impossible 3 if the episode was broadcast. Viacom owns both Paramount and Comedy Central. Though Paramount and Cruise's representatives deny any threats, The Independent reports that "no one believes a word of it". Trey Parker and Matt Stone, in a typically satirical response, claimed to be "servants of Xenu" and declared that the "million-year war for Earth" had only just begun. The LA Times reported that, "For Stone and Parker, Closetgate will be the gift that keeps on giving." ^[24][25]

Cruise was married to Mimi Rogers (married on May 9, 1987, divorced February 4, 1990)^[26]. Orchestrating this divorce was important to Scientology because Rogers was disaffected from Scientology (although she introduced Cruise to the religion in the first place) [27]; in managing the divorce for Cruise, they were able to convince her to accept a relatively paltry $10 million for the settlement. [28]. While Cruise accepted the divorce settlement, he was, in fact married to Rogers when he met his subsequent wife, Nicole Kidman, on the set of their movie "Days of Thunder".

He later married Nicole Kidman (married on December 24, 1990, divorced August 8, 2001)^[29]. He and Nicole Kidman adopted two children, Isabella (born 1993) and Connor (born 1995).^[30] Cruise left Kidman three months pregnant, just shy of their 10 year wedding anniversary; she lost the child[31]. Despite Scientology beliefs of the sanctity of marriage, Cruise strayed yet again. While still married to Kidman, a Catholic who refused to explore Scientology, Cruise met his next paramour, Penelope Cruz, on a movie set (in the same way he met Kidman while still married to Rogers).

Cruise was next romantically linked with Penélope Cruz, the lead actress in his film Vanilla Sky. In March 2004, he announced that his relationship with Penélope Cruz had ended in January. Once again it was suggested that Scientology played a role in the relationship failing. [32]

In early 2005, Cruise had his agent prepare a list of young starlets whom he might date, including Scarlett Johansson. She allegedly rebuffed an offer for a blind date with Cruise, but another young actress with an upcoming potential blockbuster agreed to meet Cruise. Katie Holmes, former TV ingenue, was set to star in Batman Begins. In April 2005, Cruise began dating Katie Holmes, before announcing on 17 June 2005 that he had proposed to her at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. [33] She accepted his proposal, and the couple are expected to be married in the summer or fall of 2006. Most expect this to be a publicity excursion, since Cruise in currently filming Mission Impossible III and Holmes had just released Batman Begins. Cruise has indulged in over-the-top media-friendly expressions of his deep love for Holmes, most notably the "couch incident" which took place on the popular talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. Since their announcement of their nuptials, Holmes' latest movie "Thank You For Smoking" was released, with her sex scene excised. [34].

Wikinews has related news:

• Tom Cruise debates psychiatry on Today show

On May 23, 2005, Cruise raised some eyebrows with an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in which he — in the words of The New York Times — "jumped around the set, hopped onto a couch, fell rapturously to one knee and repeatedly professed his love for his new girlfriend." This scene has been parodied in numerous venues in film (Scary Movie 4), TV (the "couch incident" was voted as one of 2005's "Most Surprising Television Moments" on a countdown on E![35]), and the Internet (including one reworking of the scene to make it look like Cruise kills Oprah with Sith lightning emanating from his hands)[36].

Cruise's public image came under further scrutiny after a number of subsequent television interviews in which he was described as acting in an odd manner and espousing a number of controversial views. In his famous Matt Lauer interview, Cruise appeared tired and hostile when discussing psychiatry, which the Church of Scientology considers to be a harmful "pseudoscience". [37] He accused Lauer of being "glib" and insisted that there is "no such thing as a chemical imbalance", and that through "vitamins and exercise" a person's psychiatric problems can be cured. Noting that Katie Holmes was embracing Scientology, Lauer then asked Cruise if he could be with someone who wasn't a Scientologist. He replied: "It's something you don't understand. You can be a Christian and be a Scientologist. It is a religion in that it deals with the spirit, you as a spiritual being." [38]

This short, yet very public love affair took a dramatic turn when Cruise and Holmes got engaged in Paris [39] while on a world publicity tour for their two most recent movies (War of the Worlds for Cruise, and Batman Begins for Holmes). War of the Worlds director Steven Spielberg indicated that he was frustrated by media coverage of Cruise's relationship during promotion of the film, though he believed it to be genuine. [40] On October 5, 2005, it was reported by People magazine that Holmes is pregnant. Cruise came under fire from various medical professionals after he bought a sonogram machine to monitor his baby. The American College of Radiology claims that overuse or misuse of the medical equipment is unnecessary and could be harmful to the baby's health, and that it may be illegal to own. [41] The birth would be the first child for both Holmes and Cruise although the latter has two adopted children: Connor Antony (born January 17 1995) and Isabella Jane (born December 22 1992) from his marriage to Nicole Kidman.^[42]

Cruise's behavior in recent interviews and his very public romance with Katie Holmes led him to become the butt of numerous jokes on late night television shows such as Late Night with Conan O'Brien. [43] The jokes commonly referred to Cruise being insane or parody the Lauer interview.

Speculation has been rampant in the press that the very public affair and engagement were merely designed to promote their then upcoming movies, War of the Worlds and Batman Begins. A poll in People found that 62 per cent of readers believed the Cruise-Holmes affair was merely a publicity stunt [44].

Concern has also been voiced about Holmes and her relationship to Scientology. Roger Friedman of the Fox News Channel claimed that Katie Holmes disappeared for sixteen days in April when even her own family did not know where she was [45].

Allegedly, the last time she had been seen, Holmes had flown to meet with Tom Cruise for a possible role in Mission Impossible 3. When she re-appeared, Holmes stated she was in love with Tom Cruise and studying Scientology. The actress then fired her long-time manager and agent and acquired a new "best friend", Jessica Rodriguez, a prominent member of the Church of Scientology described as part of its "royalty". Rodriguez has been referred to as Holmes' Scientology "minder" as she follows the actress everywhere (literally, including the bathroom) and openly tells Holmes what to say during interviews [46]. The reports have led to claims Holmes has been coerced or brainwashed into marrying Cruise and promoting Scientology. Fans of the actress have established a web-site, Free Katie, promoting this theory, the site claiming to be "devoted to rescuing sweet Katie from the clutches of the mad scientologist Tom Cruise!"

In February 2006 an article in Life & Style magazine reported that Cruise and Holmes were splitting up, but keeping up a public pretense until the Spring (when the birth of their child will roughly coincide with the release of Mission Impossible 3, Cruise's next film). Arnold Robinson, a publicist for the couple, denied there any truth to the story. A representative for Life & Style magazine responded, "We stand 100 percent behind our story", and claims it has been verified by not one, but two anonymous friends of Cruise. [47]

• Express newspaper — During his marriage to actress Nicole Kidman, the couple endured public speculation about their sex life and rumors that Cruise was gay. In 1998, he sued a British tabloid that alleged that the marriage was a sham designed to cover up his homosexuality.^[12]
• Chad Slater — In May 2001 he filed a lawsuit against gay porn actor Chad Slater (aka Kyle Bradford). Slater had allegedly told the celebrity magazine Actustar that he had engaged in an affair with Cruise. Both Slater and Cruise denied this, and in August 2001 Slater was ordered to pay $10 million to Cruise in damages.^[13]
• Michael Davis — He also sued Michael Davis, a magazine publisher, who alleged that he had photographs that would prove Tom Cruise was homosexual; this suit was dropped in exchange for a public statement by Davis that Tom Cruise was heterosexual.^[14]
• South Park — In January 2006, Cruise reportedly threatened to sue Paramount Comedy 1, a British television station, if an episode of South Park depicting Cruise unfavorably were to be aired.^[15][16] The episode has Nicole Kidman saying to Cruise, who is literally hiding in a closet, "Don't you think this has gone on long enough? It's time for you to come out of the closet. You're not fooling anyone.". This episode screened in Australia on February 20 2006 on SBS. Cruise has also reportedly forced the American cable network Comedy Central not to air a rerun of this episode, threatening to stop promoting Mission Impossible 3 if it is shown again. Though they denied that Cruise influenced their programming decisions, Comedy Central did not air the episode.

On March 17, 2006, the "Page Six" gossip column in the New York Post reported that Cruise's former wife Nicole Kidman was questioned by the FBI as part of the ongoing Pellicano wiretap investigation. Telephone voice recordings of Kidman speaking to Cruise were found when authorities first raided Pellicano's offices in 2002.

The tapes were allegedly made in 2001, shortly after Kidman and former husband Cruise announced they were separating. Cruise used lawyer Dennis Wasser to negotiate his separation, and Wasser regularly retained Pellicano's services. Although he has not been charged in the case, Wasser has been told by the FBI he is a "person of interest."[48][49]

Cruise's personal attorney Bertram Fields has also been repeatedly connected to the same wiretapping investigation.

Cruise's more open attitude to Scientology has been attributed to the departure of his publicist of 14 years, Pat Kingsley, in March 2004. He replaced her with his sister, fellow Scientologist Lee Anne DeVette, who served in that role until November 2005 [50]. He then demoted his sister and replaced her with veteran publicist Paul Bloch, from the publicity firm Rogers and Cowan. Such restructuring is seen as a move to curtail publicity about his Scientology views, as well as the hard-sell of the Tom/Kat relationship backfiring with the public [51], [52]. DeVette explained that it was her decision to work on philanthropic projects rather than publicity[53].

Cruise recently discussed his bi-racial adopted son on the TV talk show with Oprah Winfrey. Oprah asked Cruise if the issue of his son's race was ever discussed in the household. Cruise responded, "We're from the human race, human kind,". "I mean, what's there to talk about? He's my son. Listen, that's just how I feel about it. He's my son. I've never thought about color, race, I just have not thought about that." [54]

All salaries are reported by IMDB source. They do not account for inflation.

These figures do not account for inflation.

See boxofficemojo.com. Figures are subject to minor adjustments (usually upwards) when studios release revised official figures, which sometimes occurs years after first release.

Tom Cruise co-hosted the annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway with Oprah Winfrey in 2004.

• Anti-psychiatry
• Chemical imbalance theory
• Church of Scientology
• Homosexuality and Scientology
• List of famous Louisvillians
• "Jumping the couch"
• Citizens Commission on Human Rights

• "Actor Tom Cruise Opens Up about his Beliefs in the Church of Scientology", SPIEGEL Online. (April 27, 2005)
• Shields, Brooke. "War of Words", New York Times. (July 1, 2005)
• "Cruise Leaves Big Tip For Accident Victim", NBC4 TV. (December 17, 2004)
• "Tom Cruise Says Scientology Helped with Learning Disability", beliefnet / Associated Press. (July 11, 2003)
• Gonzales, Luis. "New Church of Scientology Opens in Madrid", beliefnet.
• "Cruise lobbies over Scientology". BBC News. (January 30, 2002)
• "Tom Cruise buys sonogram machine to watch baby". (November 25, 2005)
• "Tom & Katie Expecting a Baby". People magazine. (October 5, 2005)

• Tom Cruise at IMDb
• Template:Nndb name
• ScienTOMogy "The Passion of Cruise"
• Tom Cruise "The premier resource for all information regarding Tom Cruise"
• TomCruiseisnuts "Tom Cruise is nuts" website
• Rolling Stone Interview: "The Passion of the Cruise"; 08/11/04
• Tom Cruise Furniture-Hopping Once Again
• A secret gay lover found

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