Tom Cruise turns 55: take a look at his career, marriages and other curious facts about the star - He's had a successful career in the cinema, though his personal life is pretty strange: take a look at the life of Tom Cruise!

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Beginnings - The star was born on the 3rd of July 1962 and is now 55. He's had a successful career, with more than a few curious goings on in his personal life.

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Teenage years - Before he was famous, the film star even studied to be a priest, and went to a seminary in 1976, but he ended up getting expelled for stealing liquor.

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Endless Love (1981) - The first film of his career was 'Endless Love', where he played the part of Billy.

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Risky Business (1983) - Two years later he appeared in 'Risky Business', playing Joel Goodson. The film was a box office success.

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Top Gun (1986) - It was as Maverick in the action film 'Top Gun' that Tom Cruise caught the public attention, particularly with women.

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Rain Man (1988) - In 1988 he played the main part in the film 'Rain Man'. The picture won an Oscar the following year.

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Born on the Fourth of July (1989) - In 1989 he played the protagonist in the film 'Born on the Fourth of July', a film for which he won a Golden Globe for best actor.

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Days of Thunder (1990) - Another stand out role for the actor was his part in the movie 'Days of Thunder'. The film was a success with the public and also with critics. The actor played the protagonist, Cole Trickle.

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Interview with the Vampire (1994) - The 90s were a good decade for the actor, with him appearing in 10 films. In 1994, he was in the suspense/terror film 'Interview with the Vampire', playing the part of Lestat de Lioncour.

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Interview with the Vampire (1994) - The film 'Interview with the Vampire' which also featured Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas, was a big success which raked in over 35 million dollars. In just one film, Tom Cruise became one of the best paid actors in the world.

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Mission Impossible - In 1996 he appeared in the first 'Mission: Impossible' film, as the main protagonist, Ethan Hunt. The actor also served as a producer and actor in subsequent films.

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Mission: Impossible II (2000) - In the year 2000 he won the 'Best Actor' award at the MTV Movie Awards for 'Mission : Impossible II'.

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Vanilla Sky (2001) - Another successful film in which he was both actor and producer was 'Vanilla Sky'.

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War of the Worlds (2005) - After appearing in hits such as 'The Last Samurai', the actor played the protagonist in the film 'War of the Worlds'.

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Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) - He also appeared in many other action films, such as 'Valkyrie' (2008), 'Knight and Day' (2010) and 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' (2011).

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The Mummy (2017) - The actor's most recent film was 'The Mummy' (2017), playing the role of Nick Morton.

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Personal Life - The American actress Rebecca de Mornay was Tom Cruise's first celebrity girlfriend. The actors met during the filming of 'Risky Business'.

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First Marriage - Tom Cruise's first marriage was to actress Mimi Rogers, and lasted 3 years.

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Second marriage - In 1990, Tom Cruise married actress Nicole Kidman. The romance started while they were filming 'Days of Thunder'.

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Children - Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise adopted two children, Isabella in 1994 and Connor the following year. The marriage lasted 11 years and ended with them getting divorced in 2001.

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4 year romance - In the same year as his divorce with Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise began a relationship with Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, which lasted 4 years.

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Controversy - In 2005 he surprised everyone. During an interview with Oprah Winfrey he jumped on the sofa and declared his love for American actress Katie Holmes. On live TV.

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Third marriage - They have a daughter together, Suri, and got married in 2005.

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Third Divorce - After 6 years of marriage, the actors divorced in 2012. Tom Cruise's fanatical devotion to the Church of Scientology was cited as one of the main reasons for his divorce from Katie Holmes.

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Religion - Tom Cruise is an advocate of Scientology, a 'controversial' religion that believes that all human beings are aliens who arrived on earth millions of years ago.

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Mimi Rogers - It was Mimi Rogers who first introduced Tom Cruise to Scientology. Even after this, the leaders of the religion persuaded the actor to end his relationship with the actress.

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Surgery - Tom Cruise is known for his perfect smile, and the actor has had so many surgeries to correct his teeth that his front tooth is in the center of his mouth.

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Curiosities - Tom Cruise is 1.7 m tall, shorter than his three ex-wives, Nicole Kidman (1.82), Mimi Rogers (1.76), Katie Holmes (1.8).

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Career - Tom Cruise is the only actor to have worked with these four great directors: Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg.

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33 years - The Hollywood star's three marriages ended when his respective wives were 33 years old. In Shinto (a Japanese religion), the age of 33 for women is considered to be a year of 'misfortune'.

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