Thomas Cruise Mapother IV was born in Syracuse, New York on July 3rd, 1962, to Mary Lee Pfeiffer and Thomas Cruise Mapother III.

He joined the Church of Scientology while married to his first wife, Mimi Rogers.

From 'Tom Cruise:Unauthorized' by Wensley Clarkson;

"When Tom was a fourteen year old he seriously considered becoming a priest. In later years it became clear that he desperately needed a church to attach himself to as a kind of security blanket after all the lonely years of his childhood. That seems to be how he became involved in the highly controversial Church of Scientology.

Tom--along with a handful of other Hollywood stars--has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on training courses inside the church, invented by an eccentric one-time sexual swinger. He often spends days at the church's basecamp in the middle of the Californian desert.

For years, Tom would not admit he was a Scientologist . . . Some Hollywood observers believe that Tom's association with the Scientologists has helped him maintain his highly focused work ethics and greatly assisted him in dealing with stardom. Others find it more difficult to accept. The fact the members of the church apparently believe in inter-galactic travel, reincarnation and the possibility of a more fulfilled existence through mind control probably isn't a big deal. Who in California doesn't? Yet some reports have suggested that members of the church can end up deprived of their free will.

Tom Cruise
Actor