Tom's biography

     "Thomas Cruise Mapother IV" (this is his real name) was bornon the 3rd of July (almost as in the film "Born on the 4th of July), 1962 in New York State.  He was the third of four children, all the rest being girls.
He probably inherited his interest for cinema from his mother, who was a teacher with a passion for amateur acting; his father was an eletrical engineer.

 His Childhood: at that time Tom was a shy boy, he found it difficult to estabilish friendships at school and, even at home, he felt like an outsider because he was the only boy.
In 1974, when he was 12 his parents divorced and from that time he had no contact with his father. Money was tight for the family, so all the children did jobs after school. May be this is the reason why Tom Cruise has avoided many of the trappings of the super-rich: this is perhaps due to his previous difficult upbringing.

Tom a priest?! Tom, like his mother, suffered from dyslexia and was put into the remedial classes at school. But he found a method for overcoming his disability and was re-admetted to the mainstream classes.
In 1976 he entered into a seminary for the priesthood, which he left after one year.

In search of fame: after the high school Tom left his family in search of fame and fortune. He found a job as a porter in an apartment block and, in between working, he attended drama classes.
After unsuccessfully auditioning for several TV commercials (he was told he was "too intense"!!!) Cruise was given his first role by the Italian Franco Zeffirelli, himself a new arrival in New York. So he had a small part in "Endless Love", 1980.