If you've never heard of Tom Cruise, chances are you haven’t spent much time near a movie screen. But, of those who have heard of him, few would know that the Hollywood icon opted to shorten his name early in his career, distancing himself not just from a clunky surname, but also from a turbulent childhood.
Born in 1962 to Thomas Cruise Mapother III, an electrical engineer, and Mary Lee Pfeiffer, a special education teacher, Cruise grew up in a strict Catholic household alongside three sisters.
The family struggled financially, living near poverty, and the future actor has been candid about his troubled relationship with his father, per the Daily Mail.
“My father was a bully and a coward,” Cruise told Parade magazine in a 2006 interview. “It was a great lesson in my life, how he’d lull you in, make you feel safe, and then bang!”
The Mission Impossible star went on to talk about his childhood anxiety around his father, adding: “I learned not to trust him.”
Cruise’s parents divorced when he was 12, and he lost contact with his father for nearly a decade. The two briefly reunited at his father’s hospital bedside before he passed away from cancer in 1984, per the New Zealand Herald. Reflecting on that moment, Cruise said: “When I saw him in pain, I thought, ‘Wow, what a lonely life.’ It was sad.”
At 18, Cruise moved to New York City to pursue acting, and within a few years, he was catapulted to global fame. It is believed the star - born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV - dropped the "Mapother" name as a means of distancing himself from his difficult upbringing, per the Daily Mail.
Cruise reportedly still uses his full name among close friends and family. His cousin, actor William Mapother (known for roles in Lost and Zodiac), chose to keep the family name on screen.
Another formative struggle Cruise has spoken about is his battle with dyslexia. Diagnosed at age seven, he said he struggled with reading throughout his school years and felt anxious, frustrated, and misunderstood in the classroom. “I asked myself if I was normal or an idiot,” he told Spanish magazine XL Semanal in 2009 (via Times Herald). “I would try to concentrate but I felt anxiety, frustration, boredom.”
By the time he graduated in 1980, Cruise said he was “functionally illiterate,” according to Dyslexia Reading Well. But he credits the Church of Scientology with turning things around. He claims he finally learned to read as an adult using techniques developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
“Finally, as an adult, I learned to read perfectly,” Cruise said. “Nobody gave me a solution until then. I wanted to know why the system had failed.”
Despite controversy surrounding Scientology, Cruise has remained one of its most vocal and high-profile supporters, and one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.