Acting

Cruise first appeared in a small bit part in the 1981 film Endless Love, followed by a major supporting role as a crazed military school student in Taps later that year. In 1983, Cruise was part of the ensemble cast of The Outsiders. That same year he appeared in All the Right Moves and Risky Business, which has been described as A Generation X classic, and a career maker for Tom Cruise, and which, along with 1986s Top Gun, cemented his status as a superstar. Cruise also played the male lead (Jack O the Green) in Legend (released 1986).

Cruise followed up Top Gun with The Color of Money, which came out the same year, and which paired him with Paul Newman. 1988 saw him star in Cocktail, which earned him a nomination for the Razzie Award for Worst Actor. Later that year he starred with Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, which won the Academy Award for Best Film and Cruise the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor. Cruise portrayed real life paralyzed Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic in 1989s Born on the Fourth of July, which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Drama, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor, the Peoples Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actor, a nomination for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Cruises first Best Actor Academy Award nomination.