At the age of eighteen Tom Cruise was just another pretty face amongst the Brat Pack of aspiring young actors in the 1980s. However, while fellow Brat players have faded Tom Cruise has become one of the single most bankable actor in Hollywood today, whose films have earned an estimated $1 billion worldwide. The Cruise childhood was nomadic and traumatic. By his 14th birthday he had attended a dozen schools and had been diagnosed as suffering from dyslexia. When his parents divorced the young Cruise helped to support his mother and three sisters by finding part-time work after school. He never spoke to his father again until just prior to his death in 1984 of cancer. Hesitating between the church (he studied for a year at a Franciscan seminary) and the sports field as the scene of his future endeavours, Cruise decided on the stage after a high school production of Guys and Dolls. His starring debut in Risky Business established him as the perfect all-American male pin-up and Top Gun, one of the biggest hits of the decade, confirmed his star power. In subsequent years Cruise has made a determined and successful effort to establish himself as a respected actor, and discard the cocky, grinning glamour boy image, by working with numerous noted directors and critically validated older actors and by gradually taking on more demanding dramatic roles (Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July, The Firm). This detailed and absorbing biography pieces together for the first time the full amazing success story that is Tom Cruise.