Tom Cruise (born
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV; July 3, 1962) is an American actor and filmmaker. Cruise has been nominated for three
Academy Awards and has won three
Golden Globe Awards. He started his career at age 19 in the 1981 film
Endless Love. After portraying supporting roles in
Taps (1981) and
The Outsiders (1983), his first leading role was in the
romantic comedy Risky Business, released in August 1983. Cruise became a full-fledged movie star after starring as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in the action drama
Top Gun (1986). Since 1996, he has been well known for his role as secret agent
Ethan Hunt in the film series, whose most recent film, , was released in 2015.