Trivia

  • trivia-1“Menacing” calls featuring Cruise’s voice were placed in December by the geniuses at 20th Century Fox as part of a promotional push for the British video and DVD release of MINORITY REPORT, but a British watchdog group has banned the ad, saying the recorded message could cause undue fear and distress. (February 13, 2003)
  • A Web site is selling items with the logo Free Katie for those fans who aren’t happy about the romance between Cruise and Katie Holmes. (June 10, 2005)
  • A woman with the same name as the woman against whom John Cusack sought a restraining order in 2006 was arrested after showing up apparently unannounced at Cruise’s Beverly Hills home. (March 29, 2007)
  • After having investigated Cruise’s life over the past six years, private detective Paul Barresi has declared that he is not gay. (November 2007)
  • Amazed co-stars with his hip-hop dance during his brief cameo in TROPIC THUNDER. (August 2008)
  • Among the guests on Cruise and Holmes’ wedding in Italy: Jennifer Lopez, David and Victoria Beckham, Jim Carrey and girlfriend Jenny McCarthy, Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett.
  • An Arizona man pleaded guilty to charges connected with an alleged million-dollar extortion attempt against Cruise. (August 30, 2007)
  • At age 14, he enrolled in a seminary to become a priest. He dropped out after one year.
  • At the party to begin EYES WIDE SHUT (1999), two seducing women promise to take Cruise to the other end of the rainbow. Later, while in the costume shop, Cruises’ head is depicted just underneath the near side of the rainbow sign in the shops window.
  • Autographed a Nascar hood to be auctioned off for the Tsunami Relief Fund. (March 23, 2005)
  • Awarded the German Bambi prize for courage for his portrayal of a Nazi officer in the upcoming film, VALKYRIE. (December 2007)
  • Began filming MINORITY REPORT (2002) only days after completing work on VANILLA SKY (2001).
  • Believes in aliens.
  • Best Man at his wedding to Katie Holmes was his best friend David Miscavige.
  • Best-selling crime writer Patricia Cornwell claims that Cruise’s dismissal of psychiatry is dangerous and could jeopardize the lives of impressionable young fans. (December 15, 2005)
  • BORN ON THE 4TH JULY (1989): Director Oliver Stone proposed that Tom Cruise takes a drug to temporarily render him paralyzed from the waist down so he can experience the same thing Kovic did (the drug’s effects would last about a week). Cruise was all for it… but his agent was not, and he was pushed not take the experimental drug.
  • Bought a sonogram machine for pregnant Katie Holmes so they can monitor the development of their child. She plans to donate the machine to a hospital after they are done using it. (November 24, 2005)
  • Briefly attended St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky and was a paperboy for the Louisville Courier-Journal.
  • Britain’s Channel 4 has apologized to Cruise after he was squirted with water as part of a stunt the broadcaster said was meant to be a light-hearted comedy prank. (June 21, 2005)
  • Britain’s Culture Minister Kim Howells is accusing ’swashbuckling heroes like Tom Cruise’ of staying away from Europe because they’re more scared of bomb threats than globetrotting ‘grannies from New York’ — Cruise, it seems, was singled out for failing to turn up at this year’s Cannes film festival, citing ‘work commitments’. (May 21, 2003)
  • Caused a stir in the medical community when he claimed, in an interview, that Scientology cured him of his dyslexia (1992).
  • Celebrated his 43rd birthday atop the holiday box office with WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005).
  • Channel 4’s ‘Ultimate Film’ show states that, in terms of UK cinema audience rather than revenue, Cruise’s most successful film in the UK was AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER (2002).
  • Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#41) (1995).
  • Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world (1997).
  • Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world (1991).
  • Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world (1990).
  • Chosen Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine (1990).
  • Considered for the role, in CRIMSON TIDE (1995), that went to Denzel Washington.
  • Considered for the role, in END OF DAYS (1999), that went to Arnold Schwarzenegger.
  • Co-star Hiroyuki Sanada came close to cutting off Cruise’s head when filming a sword fight scene in THE LAST SAMURAI. (November 12, 2003)
  • Criticized Hollywood pal Brooke Shields‘ misguided use of the anti-depressant Paxil to fight post-natal depression following the birth of her daughter Rowan. (May 26, 2005)
  • Criticizes women who take anti-depressants, claiming mothers suffering post-natal depression should take vitamins instead. (May 30, 2005)
  • Cruise and his production company, United Artists, are being sued for $11 million by 12 extras from his forthcoming movie VALKYRIE who claim they suffered broken bones, cuts and bruises during filming in Berlin in 2007 when the side panel of a period German army truck flew open. (August 2008)
  • Cruise and Holmes had their honeymoon in the Maldives.
  • Cruise and Katie Holmes‘ daughter Suri has been named Hollywood’s Best-Dressed Little Girl in a poll by OK! Magazine. (July 2008)
  • Cruise and Katie Holmes joke they are calling their baby Dellen – if it’s a boy – in honor of chat show host Ellen DeGeneres during an interview on her show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. (January 16, 2006)
  • Cruise and Katie Holmes signed a $41 million pre-nuptial agreement. (May 5, 2006)
  • Cruise and Katie Holmes stopped to help a couple who had just been in a car accident, as the celebrities returned from a trip to see their friend David Beckham playing soccer. (August 15, 2006)
  • Cruise and Katie Holmes topped FilmThreat magazine’s Frigid 50: The Coldest People In Hollywood 2005.
  • Cruise and Nicole Kidman didn’t consider marriage counseling to save their relationship Cruise’s Scientology beliefs forbid such forms of psychiatry. (May 27, 2005)
  • Cruise and Nicole Kidman were both considering roles in COLD MOUNTAIN (2003), yet Cruise was unaware of Kidman’s involvement. Cruise backed out but Kidman immediately signed up.
  • Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s breakup was voted one of the most explosive of all time by Ipsos U.S. Express (on behalf of CuervoNation). (June 25, 2003)
  • Cruise and Oprah Winfrey hosted the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize concert.
  • Cruise and Salma Hayek’s production companies have both received bomb threats from an anonymous phone caller, which turned out to be a false alarm. (August 5, 2008)
  • Cruise and Steven Spielberg, two of Hollywood’s biggest celebrities, said that they strictly limit how much television their children watch and emphasize reading rather than viewing. (September 27, 2002)
  • Cruise and the crew of his new film, VALKYRIE, held a minute of silence for German anti-Nazi heroes as the team prepared to film at the site where they were executed. (September 23, 2007)
  • Cruise and Tom Hanks have topped the latest Ulmer Scale, which reveals the 10 most bankable actors and actresses in Hollywood. (April 11, 2006)
  • Cruise did his own trick shots for THE COLOR OF MONEY (1986), except for one in which he had to jump two balls to sink another. Scorsese said he could have let Cruise learn the shot, but it would have taken two extra days of practice, holding up production, and costing thousands of dollars. The shot was instead performed by professional player, Mike Sigel.
  • Cruise earned roughly $75 million for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II (2000). He did this by turning down any upfront salary, for instead taking a back-end deal that landed him 30% of the film’s gross for both his producing and acting duties.
  • Cruise had onlookers at a live circus spectacular amazed when he popped into a ladies’ toilet — The actor was taking his children to see the world-famous Montreal performers Cirque Du Soleil, in Los Angeles, when he suddenly needed to relieve himself; he seemed slightly desperate as he rushed for the door, not appearing to notice he was in the wrong place. (September 25, 2003)
  • Cruise has a cameo role in AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER.
  • Cruise has been criticized for speaking about how Church of Scientology teachings helped him overcome his learning difficulties — The International Dyslexia Association has hit back at his claims, insisting his statements are unscientific. (July 18, 2003)
  • Cruise has gone public with his dyslexia trauma in a bid to convince parents of kids with the learning disorder that there is a solution — Cruise is now a board member of Hubbard’s Literacy Foundation, the Hollywood Education & Literary Problem (HELP), and he wants young dyslexics to have the benefit of his findings. (July 14, 2003)
  • trivia-2Cruise launched a campaign to stop kids taking drugs prescribed by their doctors – The actor flew to Washington DC last week to lobby politicians for stricter controls on how medicines are handed out to minors, particularly those with Attention Deficit Disorder. (July 3, 2003)
  • Cruise said his only problem was getting the people on the other end of the line to believe it was really him.
  • Cruise says he’s denied tickets to the upcoming Spice Girls tour by Victoria Adams, because they are sold out. (October 25, 2007)
  • Cruise settled a lawsuit filed against a couple who he claimed defamed him in an article about his sexuality; Cruise filed suit against Kristina Slater last year after she claimed he had a gay fling with her ex-husband Chad Slater (aka Kyle Bradford) and took her story to American Tabloid National Enquirer. (October 12, 2002)
  • Cruise thrilled movie fans at the Hollywood Film Festival when he turned up unannounced and woolly bearded at the premiere of new movie NARC. (October 10, 2002)
  • Cruise used his star status to score some cash for a rural New Zealand school in Wellington – A local radio station, hoping to cash in on the city’s high-profile visitors, offered a payoff of $2,745 to any listener who could get Cruise to call in live on the air; it seems Cruise wanted the radio station to bump up the pot to $3,600 and promised to match the amount if the funds could be funneled to the local Urenui Junior School. (February 14, 2003)
  • Cruise wanted a private set in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES (1994), and hence tunnels were built to escort the actors to and from the set. This was done so that the vampire’s makeup effects would remain a secret.
  • Cruise won the mega judgment ($10 million) in his defamation lawsuit against a gay porn star, who allegedly claimed he had an affair with Cruise — the now debt ridden Chad Slater (who went by the stage name Kyle Bradford) has subsequently admitted that he made the whole thing up; Cruise’s lawyer says he hopes the ruling deters people from saying false things about Tom. (January 16, 2003)
  • Cruise, and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, performed a duet of an Elvis Presley classic when he was in Tokyo to promote his new movie, THE LAST SAMURAI. (August 29, 2003)
  • Cruise’s new German film VALKYRIE has ran into more problems after much of the film material has been deemed “unusable.” (October 9, 2007)
  • Cruise’s best friend, Scientology leader David Miscavige, was the best man, and Holmes’ sister Nancy Blaylock was the matron of honor on their wedding day.
  • Cruise’s movie studio United Artists has made a breakthrough with striking writers after agreeing a deal with the picketers to allow people to go back to work on feature films. (January 6, 2008)
  • David Hans Schmidt, the man who was due to plead guilty to plotting to extort more than $1.1 million from Cruise for the star’s stolen wedding photos, has committed suicide in Phoenix, Arizona. (September 28, 2007)
  • Denies rumors that scientology was the reason he split from Nicole Kidman. (May 27, 2005)
  • Disguised with a beard and mustache and appears as a bad guy that walks out of a door and is shot in YOUNG GUNS (1988). He was added because he was visiting the set and said he had never been in a film gunfight.
  • Donated to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s electoral campaign for the U.S. Senate together with his then wife Nicole Kidman (2000).
  • Drops his sister, Lee Anne DeVette, as his publicist. (November 8, 2005)
  • Earned his pilot’s license in Toronto, Canada in 1994.
  • Eleven extras were injured when they fell out of a truck during the filming of Cruise’s VALKYRIE in Berlin. (August 20, 2007)
  • Emilio Estevez served as best man at his wedding to Mimi Rogers.
  • Enjoys skydiving, scuba diving, and piloting his Pitts Special S-2B stunt plane
  • Famously grins and giggles through tough questions from journalists.
  • Feted pregnant fiancee Katie Holmes for her 27th birthday with a private trip to New York`s FAO Schwartz and a romantic midnight skate.
  • Filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Michael Davis, a man who allegedly offered to sell videotapes of himself having sex with the actor. The lawsuit accuses Davis of making the statements in order to hurt the plaintiff and gain widespread publicity for himself. (May 2001).
  • Fired his longtime publicist Pat Kingsley, and replaced her with his sister. (March 16, 2004)
  • First actor in history to star in five consecutive films that grossed $100 million in the USA: A FEW GOOD MEN (1992), THE FIRM (1993), INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES (1994), MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1996), JERRY MAGUIRE (1996).
  • For 1988, he became the first actor to have the distinction of starring in both the year’s Oscar winner for Best Picture, RAIN MAN (1988) and the year’s Razzie winner for Worst Picture, COCKTAIL (1988).
  • For the ‘knife-in-the-eye’ scene in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 (2000), he insisted that a real knife be used, and that it stop exactly quarter inch from his eyeball, instead of somewhere vaguely near his eye, as John Woo suggested.
  • Gave his pregnant fiancee Katie Holmes an MP3 player. (March 30, 2006)
  • Germany has turned down a request by Cruise to shoot scenes for MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3 in the famous Reichstag parliament building’s giant glass and steel dome. (May 5, 2004)
  • Had his braces removed. (September 26, 2002)
  • Happily repeated his Oprah chair-hopping episode to trumpet his joy about his fiancee Katie Holmes and their soon-to-arrive offspring when he was the guest of honor at Yahoo’s quarterly Influential Speakers event on March 21, 2006.
  • Has acted as cupid for a Portuguese couple, appearing on state television to implore a factory worker to marry her longtime cameraman boyfriend. (January 17, 2004)
  • Has apologized to Brooke Shields for publicly criticizing her for using anti-depressants. (September 4, 2006)
  • Has appeared in films opposite four directors who have also directed his films. Sydney Pollack, who directed THE FIRM (1993), appeared in EYES WIDE SHUT (1999). Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed MAGNOLIA (1999), appeared as an extra in MINORITY REPORT (2002). MINORITY REPORT (2002) director Steven Spielberg appeared in VANILLA SKY (2001) and AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER (2002). Cameron Crowe, who directed JERRY MAGUIRE (1996) and VANILLA SKY (2001), appeared in MINORITY REPORT (2002).
  • Has donated to charities such as The Ashley Flint Fund, The Tsunami Relief Fund, Themoms.biz Diabetes Fund, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Campaign and The Church of Scientology.
  • Has German and English ancestry from his father’s as well as German and Irish ancestry from his mother’s family.
  • Has made history by becoming the first man ever to pose for the cover of long running women’s magazine Marie Claire. (October 29, 2003)
  • Has married two actresses who played Batman’s love interest. Nicole Kidman from BATMAN FOREVER (1995) and Katie Holmes from BATMAN BEGINS (2005).
  • Has persuaded friends Will Smith and David Beckham to take up fencing. (June 2008)
  • Has played a soldier in six different movies. TAPS (1981), TOP GUN (1986), BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (1989), A FEW GOOD MEN (1992), THE LAST SAMURAI (2003) and VALKYRIE (2008).
  • Has purchased three-acres of land worth $3.5 million from actor Rob Lowe and wife Sheryl where they plan to build a lavish new home, a move that will now see him and wife Katie Holmes calling talk show queen Oprah Winfrey their neighbor. (July 19, 2007)
  • Has reportedly purchased land from the Church of Scientology that overlooks the San Fernando Valley for $10M. (May 29, 2006)
  • Has reportedly signed up to star in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 4. (April 30, 2008)
  • Has Scientology tent on the set of his upcoming movie, WAR OF THE WORLDS. (June 13, 2005)
  • Has struck a deal with movie giants MGM to make films under the mothballed United Artists banner, two months after his acrimonious split with Paramount. (November 3, 2006)
  • Has two dogs called Basil and Murray and a cat called Harvey.
  • Has Welsh roots. His real name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV.
  • Has worked with an impressive list of master filmmakers: Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Francis Ford Coppola, Oliver Stone, Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg.
  • Hates emails because he is far too busy to be e-mailing people all the time.
  • Having been friends with Steven Spielberg since the actor shot to stardom with 1983’s RISKY BUSINESS, now joins the director as one of the demigods of modern Hollywood — spent years kicking around ideas for a joint project.
  • He and ex-wife Nicole Kidman made 3 movies together: DAYS OF THUNDER (1990), EYES WIDE SHUT (1999) and FAR AND AWAY (1992). They met on the set of DAYS OF THUNDER (1990)
  • He has been named to the Top 10 Poll of Money-Making Stars 18 times, as ranked by Quigley Publications’ annual poll of movie exhibitors. With his 18th appearance on the B.O. list, he moved out of a tie for 4th place tie with Paul Newman (17 appearances on the list) into a tie for #3 with Gary Cooper. John Wayne is #1 on the all-time list, with 25 appearances in the Top 10, followed by Clint Eastwood with 21 appearances on the list. Gary Cooper rounds out the top three. Due to his young age and continued popularity, it is conceivable that within 10 years, he will exceed Wayne as the #1 box office champ ever.
  • He is a big fan of British singer Joss Stone.
  • He took up acting after losing his place on a high school wrestling team due to a knee injury.
  • He was in two different movies featuring the song Iko Iko on its soundtrack – RAIN MAN (1988) by The Belle Stars and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II (2000) by Zap Mama.
  • He was placed on an elevated platform during some scenes to reduce the height difference between his character and other vampires.
  • Helped raise 1.2 million dollars to treat emergency workers exposed to toxic materials following the September 11 terror strikes in New York. (April 13, 2004)
  • His adopted son, Connor, has landed his first movie role, starring in the upcoming Will Smith drama SEVEN POUNDS. (April 22, 2008)
  • His business partner Paula Wagner insists that Cruise wasn’t fired by Paramount, but rather he quit. (August 25, 2006)
  • His chair dancing antics on Oprah Winfrey’s chat show have made such an impact on pop culture that it spawned a new term, which was recently added to website UrbanDictionary.com. It reads: The defining moment when you know someone has gone off the deep end. Inspired by Tom Cruise’s behavior on Oprah. Sample usage: ‘My new boyfriend Benny… jumped the couch and started rubbing spicy brown mustard on his body at my family reunion.’ (August 8, 2005)
  • His character Lt. Daniel Kaffee in A FEW GOOD MEN (1992) was based on real life U.S. Navy JAG Corp Donald Marcari, who now works as an attorney with Marcari, Russotto, and Spencer P.C. in Cheaspeake, Virginia.
  • His contract with Paramount Pictures was reportedly renewed at $2.5 million a year, down from the previous $10 million-plus a year after the studio decided it wants to tighten its belt. (August 1, 2006)
  • His devotion to Scientology was reportedly nurtured at a low-key southern California desert compound which catered to his needs 24 hours a day. (December 22, 2005)
  • His erratic behavior over his relationship with Katie Holmes has been dubbed vulgar by screen legend Lauren Bacall. (August 2, 2005)
  • His fiancee Katie Holmes gave birth to a baby girl named Suri (Princess in Hebrew or Red Rose in Persian) on April8, 2006.
  • His lawyer attacked an unauthorized biography of Cruise, calling it outrageous, sick stuff, even as publisher St Martin’s Press defended the book. In the biography, writer Andrew Morton is said to claim without citing sources that Cruise’s daughter Suri may have been conceived using the sperm of late Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. (January 8, 2008)
  • His lawyers reportedly sent a letter to Petit Tresor, warning the baby boutique not to discuss with the press what his family buys there. (May 22, 2008)
  • His lawyers threatened legal action against magazines that run pictures of a bald and bearded Cruise with a prosthetic body and chest hair taken on the set of Ben Stiller’s new movie TROPIC THUNDER. (November 19, 2007)
  • His May 2005 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986) was named the #1 Celebrity Meltdown Ever by TV Guide Magazine.
  • His sister and publicist Lee Anne DeVette has slammed reports her brother’s belief in aliens is connected to their controversial Scientology religion. (July 6, 2005)
  • trivia-3His sofa-hopping antics on pal Oprah Winfrey’s talk show, his outward show of devotion for new love Katie Holmes, topped TV Guide poll to find the Wildest Celebrity Meltdowns. (2005)
  • His World War II thriller VALKYRIE has pushed back its release date to February 13, 2009. (April 2008)
  • Huge fan of professional wrestling.
  • In an interview with GQ magazine, Cruise claims he can get someone off heroin in three days through Scientology’s detox programs. (April 13, 2006)
  • In early drawing of ALADDIN (1992), Aladdin resembled Michael J. Fox. As the story developed, Jeffrey Katzenberg didn’t think Aladdin had enough appeal to women, so he asked Aladdin to be beefed up a bit to resemble Tom Cruise.
  • In his bedroom, there is a poster for JULES ET JIM (1961), a French movie in which the climactic scene involves the female star driving a car with her and her lover off a bridge (VANILLA SKY).
  • In the past twenty years since his first hundred million dollar grosser (TOP GUN (1986)), only six of his films have failed to reach that status.
  • In the very beginning of RAIN MAN (1988), a red sports car has MI 3762 4 written on its windshield. The numbers 3762 spell out Cruise’s birthday: 3 July 1962.
  • In TOP GUN (1986), he is an inch too short to be a Navy pilot (minimum height 5′8, based on minimum sitting height 32 and minimum leg length 36).
  • Inaugurated a new center for the Church of Scientology, of which he is a member, in Madrid, Spain. (September 2004)
  • Initially offered to return to the role of Lestat in THE QUEEN OF THE DAMNED (2002), but he declined.
  • In-joke: he goes online with his laptop by typing in, not Usenet, but Cruisenet (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1996)).
  • Is criticized for buying a sonogram machine for his pregnant fiancee Katie Holmes, with health experts warning that he’s putting his unborn child at risk. (December 1, 2005)
  • Is in talks to star in the comic book adaptation Sleeper for director Sam Raimi. (August 19, 2008)
  • Is named the actor with the sexiest bottom on film for his role in TOP GUN according to a poll carried out by Odeon cinemas. (#7) (August 17, 2005)
  • Is raising his two children with Nicole Kidman as Scientologists. (July 12, 2005)
  • Is reportedly a huge fan of The Simpsons. However, he has twice turned down guest roles; once for the part of Tom, which was written specifically for him, in the episode Brother From The Same Planet (eventually voiced by regular Phil Hartman) and the other alongside his then-wife Nicole Kidman in the episode When You Dish Upon A Star (eventually voiced by then-couple Alec Baldwin and Kim Bassinger).
  • Is reportedly so worried about the safety of his wife Katie Holmes and three children he has had bulletproof glass fitted on all his cars. (June 2008)
  • Is right handed when writing, but does most things left handed.
  • Is talked about in the song Though the Wire by Kanye West.
  • Is the biggest movie star of all time, but also the most irritating, according to an Empire magazine poll of 10,000 movie fans. (December 29, 2005)
  • Is the first foreign actor to have his handprint earmarked for a place on a central Tokyo square resembling Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. (2004)
  • Is the first on the list to get Ducati’s newest motorcycle Desmosedici RR— a $72,500 superbike bristling with titanium, magnesium and carbon fiber technology that can scoot up to 200 mph. (January 29, 2008)
  • Is the only actor to ever work with all of the following directors; Oliver Stone in BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (1989), Martin Scorsese in THE COLOR OF MONEY (1986), Stanley Kubrick in EYES WIDE SHUT (1999), and Steven Spielberg in MINORITY REPORT (2002).
  • It was during the filming of DAYS OF THUNDER (1990) that he, then married to Mimi Rogers, fell in love with Nicole Kidman. They were married later the same year.
  • Italian singer Andrea Bocelli serenaded Cruise and Holmes at their wedding reception.
  • JERRY MAGUIRE (1996) was his fifth consecutive $100-million-plus film, a new record.
  • Lack of privacy was one of many themes that resonated with Cruise and Spielberg in MINORITY REPORT. The film presents a world where, along with psychics peering into people’s unconscious thoughts, police can monitor the whereabouts of everyone by eye scans.
  • Launched new website TomCruise.com to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his first starring role in a movie – as a thank you to his fans for supporting him throughout his career. (May 6, 2008)
  • Lived together with VANILLA SKY (2001) co-star Penélope Cruz from 2001 to 2004.
  • Lost out to actor Peter Barton for the lead role in The Powers of Matthew Star (1982).
  • Married Katie Holmes in a Scientology ceremony at a 15th-century Italian lakeside castle in Bracciano near Rome. (November 18, 2006)
  • Matchbox 20 frontman Rob Thomas has rubbished reports he had sex Cruise and is even more mortified he’s been labeled a fellow Scientologist. (July 14, 2005)
  • Mentioned in song Faudrait leur dire by French rap band 3eme oeil.
  • Mentioned in the song ‘High School Never Ends’ by ‘Bowling For Soup’.
  • MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1996) gave him a total of $70 million with percentage of gross included.
  • Named 2006’s ‘Star of the Year’ in ‘Entertainment Tonight’s’ annual Top 20 poll.
  • Named as Hollywood’s most powerful star by Premiere magazine, which ranked the star at No. 13 on its ‘2006 Power List.’
  • Named the tackiest star of the year by readers of the Los Angeles Daily News. (November 28, 2005)
  • Named the top moneymaking star of 2005 in Quigley Poll, a yearly poll of cinema owners.
  • Named the world’s most powerful (#1) celebrity for the second time by Forbes. (2006)
  • New Zealand’s Prime Minister Helen Clark described Cruise as a very attractive young man – Clark spent much of Tuesday with Cruise, his girlfriend Penelope Cruz, and his two children on the set of the THE LAST SAMURAI being shot near the city of New Plymouth, 320 kilometers (200 miles) from the capital, Wellington. (March 5, 2003)
  • trivia-4Nominated for Best Actor at BAFTA Awards for BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (1991)
  • Nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at Academy Awards for JERRY MAGUIRE (1997)
  • Nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at Academy Awards for BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (1990)
  • Nominated for Best Male Performance at MTV Movie Awards for A FEW GOOD MEN (1992)
  • Nominated for Best Male Performance at MTV Movie Awards for THE FIRM (1994)
  • Nominated for Best On-Screen Duo at MTV Movie Awards for FAR AND AWAY (1993) – shared with
  • Nominated for Best On-Screen Duo at MTV Movie Awards for INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES (1995) – shared with Brad Pitt
  • Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama at Golden Globe Awards for THE LAST SAMURAI (2004)
  • Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama at Golden Globe Awards for A FEW GOOD MEN (1993)
  • Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical at Golden Globe Awards for RISKY BUSINESS (1984)
  • Nominated for Best Villain at MTV Movie Awards for INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES (1995)
  • Nominated for Most Desirable Male at MTV Movie Awards for A Few Good Men (1992)
  • Nominated for Most Desirable Male at MTV Movie Awards for INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES (1995)
  • Nominated for Most Desirable Male at MTV Movie Awards for THE FIRM (1994)
  • Nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Theatrical Motion Picture at Screen Actors Guild Awards for MAGNOLIA (2000)
  • Nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at Screen Actors Guild Awards 1997 for JERRY MAGUIRE (1997)
  • Nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role at Screen Actors Guild Awards for MAGNOLIA (2000)
  • Offered to buy Katie Holmes a membership at Los Angeles’ prestigious Bel-Air Country Club so they can all play with her father Martin Holmes. (May 2008)
  • Parade magazine says 4,000 of the 18,000 votes cast in a recent online poll about Cruise came from only 10 computers. The Parade.com poll had 84 percent of poll respondents blaming the media – not the actor – for Cruise’s failing public image. (April 20, 2006)
  • Paramount Studios boss Sumner Redstone says his wife convinced him to fire Cruise reportedly because she “and women everywhere had come to hate him.”
  • Parents divorced when he was 12.
  • Praised Steven Spielberg for always knowing exactly what he requires of his actors, so not a second is wasted on set.
  • Producers on Cruise’s new film THE LAST SAMURAI ordered local workers in New Zealand to avoid making eye contact with the star — executives on the new movie reportedly insisted that anyone that works on the project should have a clause inserted into their contract forbidding them from looking at Cruise in the eye. (January 3, 2003)
  • Proposed to Katie Holmes atop the Eiffel Tower on June 17, 2005.
  • Ranked #18 on VH1’s 100 Hottest Hotties
  • Ranked #3 in Empire (UK) magazine’s The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time list (October 1997).
  • Reality TV doctor Dr. Drew Pinsky has apologized for an article set to appear in Playboy, that states Cruise may have experienced ’serious neglect in childhood – maybe some abuse, but mostly neglect.’ (June 12, 2008)
  • Received the John Huston Award for Artists Rights in 1998.
  • Refused to cooperate with a diet plan designed to get him into top shape for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3, because he prefers doing it his own way. (April 15, 2004)
  • Renée Zellweger thanked him in her Oscar acceptance speech when she won ‘Best Actress in a Supporting Role’ for COLD MOUNTAIN (2003).
  • Reportedly asked pal Giorgio Armani to design fiancee’s wedding dress – free of charge. (October 20, 2005)
  • Reports that Angelina Jolie replaces Tom Cruise in the new film EDWIN A. SALT are false – because the actor never signed on for the project. (August 14, 2008)
  • Said he was bullied and beaten by his father as a child. (April 6, 2006)
  • Says he doesn’t care what is said about him in the media. (June 27, 2005)
  • Says he wants 10 children with his fiancee Katie Holmes. (June 22, 2006)
  • Says Katie Holmes doesn’t need to be silent when she gives birth to their first child – just quiet. (November 26, 2005)
  • Says that he and fiancee Katie Holmes took just minutes to agree on Suri, the unusual baby name for their daughter. (April 25, 2006)
  • Says working with Steven Spielberg has inspired him to try his hand at directing.
  • Sent a private jet carrying two of his assistants in order to get supplies when Holmes reportedly developed a thirst for cherry soda. (July 18, 2006)
  • Sent ex-wife Nicole Kidman enough flowers to fill a room to congratulate her on the birth of her baby. (July 2008)
  • Sent Shiloh’s parents Brad Pitt and Angelina a card with bizarre message, Congratulations! You’re doing a fine job following in my footsteps! written inside. (June 14, 2006)
  • Serenaded his new wife Katie Holmes with a rendition of ”You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” during their wedding reception. The serenade re-enacted the scene from his movie TOP GUN where his character Maverick attempted to woo actress Kelly McGillis by singing the song to her. (November 22, 2006)
  • Singer Cher admits she was once crazy about Cruise, who was sixteen years her junior at that time. (April 2008)
  • Spectacularly declared he always will love ex-wife Nicole Kidman when American broadcaster Katie Couric chatted to him over a sushi picnic in Los Angeles’ Will Rogers State Park for an upcoming Dateline news special. (November 14, 2003)
  • Spoke at his niece’s, Lee Anne De Vette’s daughter, graduation from the Delphian School.
  • Sported railtrack-like braces on his famous grin after knocking out a front tooth, smashing another in half and chipping an upper molar while playing with his and Nicole Kidman’s adopted son.
  • Stopped to help a hit and run victim and paid her hospital bills. The victim was aspiring Brazilian actress Heloisa Vinhas (1996).
  • Suffers from dyslexia.
  • The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has sharply criticised Cruise for televised remarks in which he called psychiatry a pseudo science and disputed the value of antidepressant drugs. (June 28, 2005)
  • The Japan Memorial Day Association declared 10 October 2006 Tom Cruise Day.
  • The name Mapother is pronounced like MAY bother, only with a P.
  • The Odescalchi Castle in Lake Bracciano, Italy, where Cruise and Holmes exchanged vows is believed to be haunted by the ghost of a murdered duchess.
  • The tremendous hype around the release of EYES WIDE SHUT (1999) resulted in several rumors about the plot. The most widely circulated was the mistaken rumor that in the film, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman played married psychiatrists having affairs with their patients.
  • The usually private Cruise lost his control, leaping Leaped all over the set of the Oprah Winfrey Show, when asked about girlfriend Katie Holmes. (May 25, 2005)
  • The years of birth of his wives are 11 years apart: Mimi Rogers was born in 1956, Nicole Kidman in 1967 and Katie Holmes in 1978.
  • Time magazine once described him as a baby-faced Christopher Reeve.
  • Tom Cruise and Lea Thompson had body doubles for the sex scene in ALL THE RIGHT MOVES (1983)
  • Took his new fiancee Katie Holmes to meet his ex-girlfriend Penelope Cruz during a visit to Spain. (June 23, 2005)
  • TV bosses have axed an episode of South Park which ‘outs’ a fictional Tom Cruise character as gay – Cruise is believed to have threatened legal action. (January 21, 2006)
  • Two polls and countless newspaper columns suggest the American public consider Cruise-Holmes’ romance is a publicity stunt. (May 28, 2005)
  • United Artists, the film company run by Cruise and Chief Executive Paula Wagner, raised $500 million through Merrill Lynch to fund 15 to 18 movies over the next five years. (August 17, 2007)
  • Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone wants to be friends again with Cruise, six months after he broke ties with the actor because of his behavior over his romance with Katie Holmes and his aggressive defense of Scientology. (March 5, 2007)
  • trivia-5Voted as the sexiest pint-sized celebrity heart throb in online poll conducted by onepoll.com. (September 2007)
  • Voted Best Dressed Male Movie Star (1997).
  • Voted the best (5th) autographer in Hollywood by Autograph Collector’s 14th annual survey. (2006)
  • Wanted the part of Bud Fox in WALL STREET (1987), but Oliver Stone had already agreed to Charlie Sheen. Oliver Stone later promised Cruise with a role in another picture, BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (1989).
  • Was considered for the lead in THE MATRIX (1999).
  • Was considered to play Nash in A BEAUTIFUL MIND (2001).
  • Was determined to film the dangerous stunts in MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3 but admits he had to clear it with his pregnant fiancee Katie Holmes first. (March 23, 2006)
  • Was first introduced to e-mail on the set of the first MISSION IMPOSSIBLE film.
  • Was honored with a tribute at the Museum of the Moving Image’s (MOMI) 23rd annual black-tie event in New York in November 2007
  • Was introduced to Scientology by his ex-wife Mimi Rogers.
  • Was named the #1 top money-making star at the box office in Quigley Publications annual poll of movie exhibitors a record seven times between 1986 and 2005. Being crowned the top box office champ in 2005 put Cruise one title ahead of Tom Hanks, who has been named #1 at the B.O. six times. Bing Crosby and Burt Reynolds both were named #1 for five consecutive years, and Clint Eastwood also has been #1 five times, but non-consecutively.
  • Was nominated for Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 2000 for MAGNOLIA.
  • Was offered for the lead of REIGN OVER ME (2007).
  • Was originally to star in ENEMY OF THE STATE (1998), but scheduling conflicts with EYES WIDE SHUT (1999) forced him to miss out on the film. His part went to Will Smith.
  • Was set to play Jude Law’s character in COLD MOUNTAIN before he demanded too much money. (December 29, 2003)
  • Was snubbed by double Olympic athlete Kelly Holmes, when he asked to escort her to the UK premiere of his new movie — Holmes admits she was starstruck when she met Cruise, but turned him down because she didn’t have anything to wear. (September 10, 2004)
  • Was the first person to congratulate his ex-wife Nicole Kidman on her Best Actress Oscar triumph – He called her the moment she switched her mobile phone on after the Sunday night ceremony, and she was reportedly stunned, and close to tears upon hearing his voice. (March 26, 2003)
  • Was the original choice for the role of Tom Ripley in THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999).
  • Was ‘Top Money Making Star‘ of 2005, according to the annual Quigley Poll.
  • Wears a mask on six different movies. In all of the three MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movies and in EYES WIDE SHUT (1999), VANILLA SKY (2001) and MINORITY REPORT (2002), where the injection that makes his face disfigured can be considered as a futuristic mask.
  • When attending a Franciscan seminary in Cincinatti, he aspired to become a priest.
  • While a student at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre, he studied one of his courses under legendary acting teacher Sanford Meisner.
  • While filming DAYS OF THUNDER (1990) at Daytona International Speedway, he enjoyed playing football with the truck drivers. He was the receiver – he loved going deep to catch a pass.
  • triviaWhile filming DAYS OF THUNDER (1990) at Daytona International Speedway, he drove one of the Hendricks Motorsports R&D cars around the track. The best time recorded was a lap at 205 MPH.
  • While he was working with Paul Newman in the THE COLOR OF MONEY (1986), he engaged in much conversation with the politically active actor. The resulting conscious raising changed him from an actor who ignored the jingoistic tone of Top Gun (1986) to a performer who chose a film with a strong anti-war tone, BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (1989) to counter his contribution to the former film.
  • Will not allow his likeness to be used in video games or for action figures.
  • Worked as a FedEx deliveryman to research his role for the movie COLLATERAL.