Tom Cruise: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Tom Cruise (born July 3, 1962 in Syracuse, New York), born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, is an American film actor who has starred in a number of top-grossing movies and is considered a sex symbol.

Cruise's parents moved frequently when he was a child, residing in a number of locations throughout the United States and Canada, including Ottawa, Ontario, Louisville, Kentucky and Glen Ridge, New Jersey. Before going into acting, Cruise attended a Franciscan seminary and aspired to become a Catholic priest.

He received Academy Award nominations for Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire, both as Best Actor; and for Magnolia, as Best Supporting Actor. He has been married twice, to Mimi Rogers and later Nicole Kidman. Cruise divorced Kidman in 2001, and for a time he was romantically linked with Penelope Cruz, the lead actress in his film Vanilla Sky.

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 a role of this type, Cruise has portrayed a character who, as the film begins, is seen as a cocky, stuck-up, self-centered egoist who cares for little other than himself. But 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, Jerry Maguire, Cocktail, The Last Samurai, and others.

Cruise is a well-known member of The Church of Scientology (as of 1990), a fact that has occasionally led to protests at openings of his movies in Europe.

As a sex symbol, Cruise's physique has been subject to close scrutiny of the media. While many fans contend that his smile is one of his most notable features, one of his upper front incisors is off-color, and he started wearing braces in 2002. (He removes them during filming.)

Selected Filmography

• Endless Love (1981)
• Taps (1981)
• The Outsiders (1983)
• Risky Business (1983)
• All the Right Moves (1983)
• Legend (1985)
• Top Gun (1986)
• The Color of Money (1986)
• Cocktail (1988)
• Rain Man (1988)
• Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
• Days of Thunder (1990)
• Far and Away (1992)
• A Few Good Men (1992)
• The Firm (1993)
• Interview with the Vampire (1994)
• (1996)
• Jerry Maguire (1996)
• Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
• Magnolia (1999)
• (2000)
• Vanilla Sky (2001)
• Minority Report (2002)
• The Last Samurai (2003)
• Collateral (2004)
• (2005)
• The Few (2005)
• The War of the Worlds (2006)