Thomas Cruise Mapother IV was born in Syracuse, New York on July 3rd 1962. After abandoning his initial plans to become a priest, he dropped out of school to pursue a career in a slightly different field, that of acting.

He made his debut with a small part in the movie Endless Love (1981) and followed that up with more meaty roles in Taps (1981) and The Outsiders (1983). However, it was his impressive performance as Joel Goodsen in Risky Business (1983) that set him on the way to stardom.

Two years later he made the leap from promising young actor to Hollywood superstar through his role is the hugely popular Top Gun (1986). And he has been there ever since. In those nineteen yearshe has made over twenty movies and not once has he misfired at the box office. He is probably the biggest actor in the world and he has been for quite some time.