“Make you feel safe and then, bang!”: Despite Being Bullied in School Tom Cruise’s Abusive Father Changes Mission Impossible Star’s Life Permanently
Tom Cruise, known as the Tinseltown star of Hollywood, has built a tremendously successful career in the industry. Despite all this fame and accomplishments, there is another side of Cruise that was left unnoticed. The actor was brought up in a tumultuous and abusive household. However, this difficult upbringing ultimately shaped Cruise into the resilient and determined individual he is today.
Tom Cruise opens up about his turbulent relationship with his father
The iconic movie star has always gone by the name ‘Tom Cruise, but in reality, he was named Thomas Cruise Mapother IV. The actor, who was brought up in an ordinary background, was born to an electric engineer, Thomas Cruise Mapother III, and a special schoolteacher, Mary Lee.
While many celebrities and movie stars fondly recall their childhood experiences and memories of their parents, Tom Cruise, however, has nothing left but some of the stories of his bullying. The CBS News reports the actor in the 2006 interview with Parade Magazine revealed that his father is the man behind his abusive past, who “was a bully and a coward”.
He described his father as the kind of dad that nobody should ever have to cope with. The 43-year-old actor openly talked about how his father’s manipulative tendencies, created turmoil
“He was the kind of person who, if something goes wrong, kicks you. It was a great lesson in my life—how he’d lull you in, make you feel safe, and then, bang! “For me, it was like, ‘There’s something wrong with this guy. Don’t trust him. Be careful around him. There’s that anxiety.”
“So many times, the big bully comes up and pushes me. Your heart’s pounding, you sweat, and you feel like you’re going to vomit… I don’t like bullies.”
The magazine also reports that Cruise’s parents got divorced in 1974 when he was young. His mother, Mary Lee, left his father and took Cruise and his sister, Lee Ann, with her. Later, he reunited with his father after a decade, who was “in the hospital dying of cancer”.
However, there were conditions attached to their meeting, as his father would only meet him if Cruise refrained from asking about his troubled past. “When I saw him in pain, I thought, `Wow, what a lonely life”, Cruise says. His father had died in 1984, during his late 40s.
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Tom Cruise was estranged from his biological daughter.
Tom Cruise has three children. He shares his only son, Connor Cruise, and daughter, Isabella, with his ex-wife, Nicole Kidman. The couple adopted when they were married. Cruise’s only biological child is named Suri, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Katie Holmes.
Fans asserted a curious interest in the star’s personal life, particularly his relationships and family. Despite his public fascination, the Mission: Impossible star always tightly flipped about his personal life and children and preferred to keep it out of the public eye.
In contrast to his difficult relationship with his father, Cruise appeared to have a positive relationship with his children, Connor and Isabella. However, Cruise’s relationship with Suri has been the subject of rumors suggesting that they have been estranged for many years.
Some reports suggested Suri, who was bought as a Catholic, was kept away from Cruise, due to his involvement in Scientology. After Cruise and Holmes got divorced in 2012, Cruise regained his custody of Suri. Since then, there have been fewer public sightings with his daughter, and the latest one was a decade-old of them visiting Disney Land.
Source: CBS News
