Once upon a time there was a little boy who pursuit the dream of becoming a priest. However, through a series of trial by errors like so many others of his generation he decided to drop out of high school eventually pursue the dream of acting. His childhood had been difficult. He had trouble with reading and writing and kept this a well hidden secret from his family and teachers. He lived the life of a nomad, moving from state to state, never staying in one place for more then a year. Moreover, his father abandoned his mother early on so his mom was forced to take on two jobs to make ends meet. He himself was not particularly handsome either. He was below average height but what kept him going was probably his own sense of determination and his discovery for the love of acting at the tender age of 14. At the age of 18 he dropped out of high school and decided to move to New York to pursue an acting career. The next couple of years he spent as a waiter (am not 100% sure) during the day and going to auditions by night until one day he received the opportunity to work as an extra on a movie set. His will power and determination to give his best performance as the extra caught the attention of the director and since the film was plagued with problems of attitude by the main characters the director decided to extend his role into a small supporting role that granted him the extra 15 minutes of fame, which set the course for him to become the superstar that he is known as today. The next few years he started working his way up - first in small supporting roles in movies like "The Outsiders" and at age 24 he became a legend when he was granted to play the role of a fighter pilot (the movie itself is has been questioned for it's glorification of something that should not be glorified). After this movie nothing remained the same however. The next decade he spent making films that grossed $100 mio in box office. In his personal life he also has been going through some sort of a roller coaster ride. He went through two marriages and two divorces. He went through some sort of a spiritual transformation and switched churches. He was diagnosed and admitted to being dyslexic. And his sexual orientation has being scrutinized 24/7 as well as the question whether or not he is fertile to have children of his own. Who is he? He is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV a.k.a. Tom Cruise. In my personal opinion his strength has been his will power to succeed as well as, his desire to control every aspect of his life, and his weakness has been also his will power to succeed as well as, his desire to control every aspect of his life.

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Everyone, please join me in welcoming Kelly McGilliss to the forum, our first celebrity blogger! Life was never the same for her after "Top Gun". Although her acting career crashed and burned after this brief encounter, her life has never lost that warm glow of knowing....I #$%^&* Tom Cruise before he was famous. Mary Kate, Ashley, eat your heart out!