ACTOR · BORN 1962
Tom Cruise
- Born
- 3 July 1962, Syracuse, New York, USA
- Known for
- Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Oblivion (2013), Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
197 archived facts 5 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Sep 2026
15 Facts From Tom Cruise's Career
- #036
Tom Cruise began acting after losing his place on his high school wrestling team due to a knee injury.
- #037
Tom Cruise starred in a film selected by the Library of Congress for the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Top Gun (1986).
- #045
When Renée Zellweger won the Best Supporting Actress award for Cold Mountain (2003), she thanked Tom Cruise in her Oscar acceptance speech.
- #057
So far, nine actors have received Oscar nominations for roles in a film starring Tom Cruise: Paul Newman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, Holly Hunter, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ken Watanabe, Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
- #059
Although the shooting of Valkyrie (2008) caused controversy in Germany because of his Scientology membership, Tom Cruise was honored at the Bambi Awards in a newly created category, "Courage," by organizers seeking to recognize him for "tackling a story that had never been covered by Hollywood before." The decision was also heavily criticized by journalists and politicians.
- #066
On October 16, 1986, Tom Cruise was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6912 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
- #079
In 1988, Tom Cruise became the first actor to star in both the year's Oscar Best Picture winner, Rain Man (1988), and the year's Razzie "winner" for Worst Picture, Cocktail (1988).
- #098
Tom Cruise has starred in five films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Rain Man (1988), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), A Few Good Men (1992), Jerry Maguire (1996) and Top Gun: Maverick (2022). Rain Man won in the category.
- #117
Tom Cruise has worked with eight directors who won the Academy Award for Best Director: Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Barry Levinson, Oliver Stone, Ron Howard, Sydney Pollack, Steven Spielberg and Robert Redford.
- #128
He was named Best Dressed Male Movie Star.
- #136
He was named the 31st Greatest Movie Star of All Time by Entertainment Weekly.
- #147
Premiere magazine ranked Tom Cruise the 3rd Greatest Movie Star of All Time in its "Stars in Our Constellation" feature.
- #166
Tom Cruise was nominated to the 2017 New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Performing Arts category.
- #193
Tom Cruise attended the second Rome Film Festival in Italy.
- #194
Tom Cruise was diagnosed with dyslexia, a learning difficulty that caused serious reading and writing problems throughout his childhood and the early years of his acting career, at the age of seven. Describing himself as "functionally illiterate" in high school, he overcame these difficulties through special learning methods, including tutoring and Educational Technology.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb
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