Great actor. Tom Cruise was my generation’s movie star.
When we were in high school, he played a teenage cadet in “Taps.” Then he played Joel in “Risky Business.”
In our 20’s, as we tried to get ahead in the workforce, he was playing those roles in the movies.
As we fell in love, started families, divorced... he was playing it out in his movie roles.
I don’t know where it ends up... I guess one day, when we grow older, he’ll play an old man.
I didn’t see all his films, but I loved the ones I saw.
My favorites were his roles in “Rain Man,” “Jerry Maguire,” and “War of the Worlds.”
If you want to see Tom Cruise playing the old fashioned Movie Star check him out on the British show Grand Tour or whatever they were calling it at that point. (Political Incorrectness on the part of the hosts caused a different production/new name kerfuffle somewhere along the line) Guests on the show have to run an econobox around a race course for best time. The show had a long running gag about “Tom Cruise” coming on only to be replaced by a lesser name later. Well one day Cruise shows up. He’s as handsome as he is humble. Witty and intelligent too. When his time in the econobox comes he puts on the helmet and handsomely and humbly blows every single guest who has tried it out of the water. It was exactly like watching some old Clark Gable video.