THROWBACKTHISDAY; Tom Cruise weds, again

 

On thisday November 18 in 2006, the actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are married in a Church of Scientology ceremony at the 15th-century Odescalchi Castle in Lake Bracciano, Italy. A number of the Hollywood super-couple’s celebrity friends were in attendance, including Will and Jada Smith, Brooke Shields, Victoria Beckham, Jim Carrey and Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony. Cruise and Holmes’s whirlwind courtship was obsessively chronicled in the tabloid press and their wedding created an international media frenzy.

Cruise, the star of such Hollywood blockbusters as “Top Gun” and “Mission: Impossible,” and Holmes, who until then was best known for her role as Joey Potter on the popular teen-oriented TV series “Dawson’s Creek,” first appeared together publicly as a couple in the spring of 2005. That May, Cruise went on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and generated headlines by jumping on the host’s couch and expressing his love for Holmes, who is 16 years his junior. The following month, the two actors, dubbed “TomKat” by the media, became engaged in Paris. Around the same time, Cruise sparked controversy for his impassioned advocacy of Scientology as well as his public criticism of anti-depressant drugs and psychiatry. That fall, Cruise and Holmes announced they were having a baby. Their daughter Suri was born April 18, 2006, and the couple wed seven months later.

Cruise, who was born on July 3, 1962, made his feature film debut at the age of 18 in “Endless Love” (1981), which was followed by “Taps” (1981) and “The Outsiders” (1983). After a breakthrough performance in the 1983 hit “Risky Business,” he won international fame for his role as fighter pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in 1986’s “Top Gun.” Cruise received his first Academy Award nomination, for best actor, for his performance as the Vietnam veteran and anti-war activist Ron Kovic in “Born on the Fourth of July” (1989). His second Oscar nomination came for his portrayal as a sports agent in “Jerry Maguire” (1996); a third nomination followed for Cruise’s performance as a self-help guru in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ensemble drama “Magnolia” (1999). Cruise’s numerous film credits also include “The Color of Money” (1986), with Paul Newman; “Rain Man” (1988), with Dustin Hoffman; “A Few Good Men” (1992), with Jack Nicholson; “The Firm” (1993); and “Interview with the Vampire: the Vampire Chronicles” (1994). He starred as superspy Ethan Hunt in 1996’s “Mission: Impossible,” and reprised his role in the hit 2000, 2006 and 2011 sequels. Other Cruise movies include “Minority Report” (2002) and “War of the Worlds” (2005), both of which were directed by Steven Spielberg.

Prior to tying the knot with Holmes, Cruise was married to the actress Mimi Rogers (“Someone to Watch Over Me,” “The Door in the Floor”) from 1987 to 1990. Cruise acted in three films with Nicole Kidman, to whom he was married from 1990 to 2001: “Days of Thunder” (1990), “Far and Away” (1992) and “Eyes Wide Shut” (1999).

Katie Holmes, who was born on December 18, 1978, made her big-screen debut in director Ang Lee’s critically acclaimed “The Ice Storm” (1997), featuring Tobey Maguire. Holmes went on to star in the teen drama “Dawson’s Creek” from 1998 to 2003; she has also appeared in such films as “Go” (1999), “Wonder Boys” (2000), “Phone Booth” (2002), “Pieces of April” (2003), “Batman Begins” (2005), “Thank You for Smoking” (2005) and “Mad Money” (2008).

On June 28, 2012, after more than five years of marriage, Holmes filed for divorce from Cruise. Two weeks later, on July 9, it was announced the couple had reached a divorce settlement.

THROWBACKTHISDAY; makes it 9 years and TBT Blog remembers.