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Tom Cruise's career can only be described as remarkable! In order to understand this Hollywood legend's rise to fame, let's a take further look at some of his most recognizable roles...
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Tom Cruise was born in Syracuse, New York on July 3rd, 1962. Cruise grew up in a poor, strictly religious family with his somewhat abusive father. Throughout his educational career, he visited a grand total of 15 different schools in 14 years due to his family moving around a lot. Nevertheless, he did eventually end up graduating Glen Ridge High School in Glen Ridge, New Jersey in 1980. His mother remarried in 1978 and therefore the young Tom Cruise was given the opportunity to pursue acting in New York City at the age of 18 as a blessing from both his mom and stepfather.
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Tom Cruise's first appearance was in the 1981 movie Endless Love. What followed shortly afterwards were his career-making roles in All The Right Moves and Risky Business. Top Gun was just the icing on the cake for the rising star, but this is still one of the roles that gave him the most Hollywood attention.
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In 1988, Cruise received a supporting role in Rain Man alongside Dustin Hoffman. Due to his stunning performance in the film, the actor was promptly awarded the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor. Not quite an Oscar, but still something to be proud of!
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Cruise's next two films were Days of Thunder (1990) and Far and Away (1992). Both of the films starred Nicole Kidman as his love interest. Yes, Cruise had a thing for older women at the time...
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In 1996, Tom Cruise took on the leading role in the movie Jerry Maguire. Tom received his second Golden Globe for his stellar performance as well as another Oscar nomination. On top of that, in 1999, he also took on a somewhat unusual role of motivational speaker in Magnolia. The film also granted him his third Golden Globe and another Academy Award nomination. Well deserved, of course...
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Mission Impossible II was another huge box office success upon it's release in 2000! This film ended up grossing over 500 million dollars worldwide, making it one of the highest grossing films of the year. Cruise won MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance for this film.
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In the following year, Cruise was given the leading role in the romantic thriller Vanilla Sky alongside Hollywood beauties Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz. Another Cruise classic that doesn't disappoint!
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In 2005, Tom Cruise decided to work with Steven Spielberg in War of the Worlds. The film ended up grossing almost 600 million world wide making it the fourth highest grossing film that year. Nine of the ten films he starred in that decade all grossed over 100 million dollars... how about that? Looks like Hollywood couldn't get enough of him!
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From 2006 until 2008, Cruise starred in Mission Impossible III, Lions for Lambs, Tropic Thunder and Valkyrie. His role in Tropic Thunder gained him another gained him yet another Golden Globe nomination. All 4 movies were met with astounding commercial success, as you'd expect...
A legendary action film star! We constantly try to imagine what modern-day action flicks would be without Tom Cruise, but in the end, it's almost impossible!
In order to understand Mr. Cruise's rise to fame, let's take a look at some of the highlights he has had over his long career. We hope you enjoy!