This guy will never stop running

This article was originally published in 2022 with 60 facts, to celebrate Tom Cruise’s 60th birthday. It has been updated in 2024 to include 62 facts, in celebration of his 62st. 

The life, career, and legacy of Tom Cruise is epic, dramatic, sometimes complicated, but impossible to ignore. One of our last remaining old-school movie stars, who’s proven capable of great range over the years, Cruise has wielded his power in Hollywood to create unforgettable film moments and behind-the-scenes innovations, constantly pushing himself to new extremes with each passing day.

To appreciate his complexity and talent on the occasion of this, his 62nd birthday, we’ve compiled 62 facts that only hint at why Tom Cruise remains one of the most famous men on the planet. He’s been grinning that signature grin and running his damn heart out for over 40 years on screen, and he shows very little sign of stopping anytime soon.

01. Tom Cruise’s real name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV.

02. Tom Cruise’s cousin William Mapother is also an actor, most notably known for playing the role of Ethan in Lost.

03. Here is an incomplete list of the directors that Tom Cruise has worked with over the years: Barry Levinson, Ben Stiller, Brad Bird, Brian De Palma, Cameron Crowe, Christopher McQuarrie, Curtis Hanson, Doug Liman, Edward Zwick, Francis Ford Coppola, Franco Zeffirelli, Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ridley Scott, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Sydney Pollack, Rob Reiner, John Woo, Michael Mann, and Steven Spielberg.

04. At the beginning of his career, the actor starred in six films over the span of only two years: Endless Love (1981), Taps (1981), The Outsiders (1983), Losin’ It (1983), Risky Business (1983), and All The Right Moves (1983).

05. Tom Cruise was 19 in his first film, playing Billy in Endless Love.

06. Top Gun: Maverick is Tom Cruise’s highest-grossing film, surpassing $1 billion at the box office. The film is Paramount’s second domestic highest-grossing film, following Titanic.

07. Attended the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actors Studio in New School University, New York, where he studied drama.

08. Tom Cruise has been nominated for an Oscar three times, twice as lead actor for his roles in Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire, and then as supporting actor in Magnolia.

09. Although he has been nominated three times, Cruise has yet to win an Oscar.

10. Tom Cruise has not been nominated for an Oscar since the year 2000.

11. Cruise did win three Golden Globe awards for Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, and Magnolia.

12. In May 2021, Tom Cruise returned his three Golden Globe Awards to protest the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s lack of racial diversity and alleged moral misconduct.

13. At age seven, Cruise was diagnosed with dyslexia.

14. Tom Cruise was introduced to Scientology in the 1980s by his first wife, Mimi Rogers.

15. Tom Cruise claims that his dyslexia was cured by Scientology.

16. An infamous Tom Cruise promotional video about Scientology, leaked online in January 2008, was parodied in the spoof film Superhero Movie, with actor Miles Fisher playing the Tom Cruise role.

17. The Alliance of Women Film Journalists has nominated him four times for a less than auspicious award: Most Egregious Age Difference Between the Leading Man and the Love Interest. He won in 2019 for Mission: Impossible – Fallout, alongside co-star Rebecca Ferguson.

18. Tom Cruise has exactly one television credit — for directing. He helmed the episode “The Frightening Frammis” for the 1993 Showtime anthology series Fallen Angels.

19. He has yet to act in an actual TV show, outside of talk show and award show appearances.

20. On October 16, 1986, Cruise earned his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

21. Tom Cruise performs a majority of his own stunts, including climbing the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa, in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.

22. Tom Cruise did all of his own stunts in the film Edge of Tomorrow.

23. Tom Cruise helped rebuild the film studio United Artists with Paula Wagner in the 2000s, though the effort was ultimately unsuccessful.

24. Disney used Tom Cruise’s “persona” as a model for the title character of Aladdin.

25. Tom Cruise has refused for his likeness to be made into action figures.

26. Growing up, the actor went to 15 different schools in the span of only 14 years.

27. As a young boy he helped support his mom by doing odd jobs like cutting grass and selling Christmas and Easter cards.

28. Tom Cruise took up acting after a knee injury put a halt on his wrestling career in high school.

29. As a teenager, Cruise starred in Glen Ridge High School’s production of Guys And Dolls, playing Nathan Detroit.

30. In terms of cars, Tom Cruise’s “coming of age ride” was a used Dodge Colt.

31. In 1994, Cruise received his pilot license. He owns a Gulfstream G450.

32. In addition to flying, Cruise also skydives and scuba dives in his free time.

33. David Miscavige, leader of the Church of Scientology, was Cruise’s best man for two of his weddings — first in 1990 to Nicole Kidman and then in 2006 to Katie Holmes.

34. He married Katie Holmes after proposing to her on the top of the Eiffel Tower. Before they even knew each other, Holmes had a longtime crush on Cruise, beginning when she was a young girl.

35. Tom Cruise’s 2005 appearance on Oprah, where he famously jumped the couch, was one of the first viral videos on YouTube. It also spawned several parodies, from Family Guy to Scary Movie 4.

36. Cruise was the recipient of MTV’s first Generation Award in 2005, an award given to a professional with a variety of roles, personal flair, and great talent.

37. Cruise worked with his on-screen idol, Paul Newman, on the film The Color of Money, and the two bonded over their love of racing.

38. After his own struggle with dyslexia, Cruise founded the Hollywood Education and Literacy Project, where he serves as a board member.

39. In 1996, Tom Cruise stopped to help a woman named Heloisa Vinhas after she was in a hit and run accident, and he later paid her hospital bills.

40. In 1998, he also helped chase down robbers who stole nearly $160,000 worth of jewelry during a mugging in London.

Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)

41. Tom Cruise has three siblings, Cass, Marian, and Lee Anne Mathpother. Lee Anne served as his publicist for a short time.

42. One of Tom Cruise’s first big purchases after Risky Business was a car for his younger sister, who he had promised he would pay back for helping him with his paper route.

43. He also paid for his sister’s college tuition.

44. The infamous dance from Risky Business was improvised by Cruise.

45. In 2014, Japan declared October 10th to be Tom Cruise Day. At the time, Cruise had made more trips to the country than any other Hollywood star.

46. His first celebrity crush was Ingrid Bergman in Notorious.

47. Cruise purchased one of his first motorcycles at the age of 10. He hid it from his mother and ended up crashing it not long after purchasing it.

48. While on set for The Last Samurai, Tom Cruise was almost majorly injured due to a stunt malfunction causing his co-star to swing his blade at the wrong time. The other actor stopped himself moments before injuring Cruise.

49. Initially, Cruise was the first choice for the lead in Marvel’s Iron Man, but he turned down the role.

50. Cruise was also reportedly considered for the role of Neo in The Matrix.

51. In the same year — 1988 — Cruise starred in the Oscar winner for Best Picture (Rain Man) and the Razzie winner for worst film (Cocktail).

52. Initially, Anne Rice, author of Interview with the Vampire, was displeased with the casting of Cruise for the movie adaptation. However, after the movie was released, she retracted her position and praised Cruise for his work on the film.

53. Tom Cruise was the first actor to star in five consecutive films that hit $100 million in the box office: A Few Good Men (1992), The Firm (1993), Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), Mission: Impossible (1996), and Jerry Maguire (1996).

54. Famous for his wild stunts, Cruise actually performed the “Knife in the Eye” scene from Mission Impossible II with a real knife. The knife was mere millimeters from his eye.

55. In 2018, Rotten Tomatoes calculated that, on average, films where Cruise runs more distance on screen tend to do better critically and commercially.

56. Cruise set up a private screening of Top Gun: Maverick for The Ohio State Marching Band after the band performed a Top Gun-themed half-time show.

57. Reportedly, sales of Ray-Ban Wayfarers skyrocketed following Cruise wearing them in Risky Business. The sunglasses company was considering discontinuing the now-iconic glasses prior to the spike in popularity.

58. Cruise held his breath for over six minutes while shooting an underwater sequence for Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. (Kate Winslet did manage to break his record during the filming of Avatar 2.)

59. Cruise has said he only eats 1,200 calories a day, most of which is veggies and protein.

60. While there have been questions over the years as to how many movies Tom Cruise has actually seen, we have since confirmed one movie he definitely saw: Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, in July 2020. (He wore a mask.)

61. In February 2023, Steven Spielberg told Tom Cruise that “you saved Hollywood’s ass,” thanks to the record-setting box office of Top Gun: Maverick.

62. Tom Cruise may not seem like the cake-eating type, but he is famous in Hollywood for sending a white chocolate coconut bundt cake to a select list of famous people for Christmas. You can order the cake yourself directly from GoldBelly Bakery, if you like, to celebrate this other, most auspicious occasion.

Happy birthday, Tom Cruise.