Quick portrait: Tom Cruise, an American actor and producer born on 3 July 1962, made his name with Top Gun (1986) and the Mission: Impossible saga, performing his own stunts. Standing around 1.70 m tall, he now has a life-size wax statue at the Wax of Legends in Colmar, in the cinema gallery.
He runs. Across the rooftops of Paris, along the edge of a cliff, clinging to the fuselage of a plane as it takes off. For forty years, Tom Cruise has made the same choice: to perform his own stunts, without a double. You think you know that face by heart (Maverick's grin, Ethan Hunt's focused stare) until the day you find yourself right in front of him, motionless, life-size, on the red carpet. That is exactly what awaits you at the Wax of Legends in Colmar: Tom Cruise as a wax statue, in the gallery of cinema stars.
Before joining him on the red carpet, let's take a closer look at the man: his real height, his dyslexia, his great love stories, his stunts, and what he is doing today.
In brief: Tom Cruise, born on 3 July 1962 in Syracuse (New York State), is one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood history. Revealed by Top Gun in 1986, he has since lined up action roles, often performing his own stunts. He stands around 1.70 m tall, was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child, and has been married three times. His statue features at the Wax of Legends, in the museum's cinema section.
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV grew up in a modest family that moved often, between the United States and Canada. A difficult childhood, an absent father, a new school every year: nothing marked this boy out for Hollywood fame. For a while he considered the priesthood, then wrestling, before an injury pushed him toward high-school theatre. At 18, he set off to try his luck in New York, then Los Angeles. Two years later, he was already lighting up the screen.
Who is Tom Cruise? An American actor and producer born in 1962. Nominated three times for the Oscars and a multiple Golden Globe winner, he is best known to the wider public for the Mission: Impossible saga and for Top Gun. His trademark: shooting his own action scenes, without a double.
Across four decades, he has never slipped from the top of the bill. He produces his films, oversees every stunt, and trains for months for a single sequence.
The breakthrough came in 1983 with Risky Business, but it was Top Gun (1986) that turned the young actor into a phenomenon. The bomber jacket, the dark glasses, the motorcycle roaring alongside the runway. Very different roles followed: the shattered brother in Rain Man (1988), the wounded veteran in Born on the Fourth of July (1989), the sports agent in Jerry Maguire (1996), the chilling guru in Magnolia (1999). The last three earned him Oscar nominations and Golden Globes.
Then came 1996 and the first Mission: Impossible. Ethan Hunt became the role of a lifetime. From film to film, the stunts stepped up a notch: he clung to the wall of the world's tallest skyscraper, jumped from a plane in free fall, piloted a helicopter, launched a motorcycle off the top of a cliff. In 2022, Top Gun: Maverick brought him back into the cockpit thirty-six years after the original and broke box-office records, passing 1.49 billion dollars in worldwide takings. The Mission: Impossible saga continues with The Final Reckoning in 2025.
Did you know? For the motorcycle-jump scene in Mission: Impossible, Tom Cruise trained for more than a year: hundreds of parachute jumps, dozens of ramp motorcycle jumps. He was determined to perform the stunt himself, in a single decisive take.
| Marker | Data |
|---|---|
| Birth | 3 July 1962, Syracuse (New York) |
| First major breakout role | Risky Business, 1983 |
| Film that triggered the phenomenon | Top Gun, 1986 |
| Oscar nominations | 3 (Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, Magnolia) |
| First Mission: Impossible | 1996 |
| Training for the motorcycle stunt | more than a year, hundreds of parachute jumps |
| Top Gun: Maverick | 2022, thirty-six years after the original, 1.49 bn$ in takings |
| Latest instalment in the saga | The Final Reckoning, 2025 |
| Height | around 1.70 m |
| Marriages | 3 (Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman, Katie Holmes) |
| Honorary Palme d'Or | Cannes Film Festival, 2022 |
It is one of the most frequently asked questions about him. The answer: Tom Cruise stands around 1.70 m tall. A perfectly average height, one that has never held back his career as an action actor. On screen, framing, editing and the choice of co-stars do the rest.
In front of his statue at the Wax of Legends, you will have the answer at full scale: the sculpture reproduces his exact proportions. A chance to stand right beside him and compare, for real.
Yes. Tom Cruise has spoken publicly about being diagnosed with dyslexia in childhood. At school, he struggled to read, changed establishments constantly, and compensated by memorising in a different way. It is this learning difficulty, not any physical disability, that people mean when they refer to "Tom Cruise's disability".
Another common misconception: no, the actor is not illiterate. Dyslexia makes reading harder; it does not prevent it. Cruise reads his scripts, learns whole passages of dialogue and works on his roles with a rigour acknowledged by his directors. He has even turned his own journey into a message of encouragement for dyslexic children: the difficulty set no limit on his success.
Good to know: Dyslexia is a reading learning difficulty, unrelated to intelligence. Tom Cruise describes it as an obstacle overcome through hard work and suitable memorisation methods.
The actor has been married three times. First to the actress Mimi Rogers, from 1987 to 1990. Then came the most talked-about chapter: his marriage to Nicole Kidman, whom he met on the set of Days of Thunder. The couple, married from 1990 to 2001, adopted two children, Isabella and Connor, and for a decade formed one of Hollywood's most high-profile pairings. It was Tom Cruise who filed for divorce in 2001, citing irreconcilable differences; the precise reasons for the split, however, remained largely private.
Nicole Kidman is often presented as the great love of his life, so deeply did their relationship mark the era, but he himself has never publicly settled the question. He later married the actress Katie Holmes, from 2006 to 2012, with whom he has a daughter, Suri.
A look at his private life: Three marriages (Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman, Katie Holmes), three children (Isabella, Connor, Suri). Since his divorce from Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise has made no new relationship official: he guards his romantic life carefully.
With every new public appearance, the same rumour resurfaces: that Tom Cruise's face has changed. A word of caution. The actor has never confirmed any cosmetic procedure, and there is nothing to support the claim. A face changes naturally with age, and the play of light at a red carpet or an event does the rest. In the absence of any statement from the man himself, everything else is speculation.
What is certain, on the other hand, is that the eyes, the smile and the silhouette remain instantly recognisable, so much so that the sculptors were able to render them feature for feature in his wax statue.
Now past sixty, Tom Cruise has not slowed down at all. He continues to shoot big-spectacle action films, still committed to performing his own stunts, and remains one of the rare actors able to fill cinemas on his name alone. In 2022, the Cannes Film Festival awarded him an honorary Palme d'Or for his entire career, a tribute that brought the profession together around the man often described as one of the last great champions of the big-screen experience.
The key takeaway: Still working, still doing his own stunts, still at the top of the box office: Tom Cruise embodies a certain idea of Hollywood spectacle, the one where the star takes every risk on screen personally.
And now, the moment you came for. At the Wax of Legends, Tom Cruise welcomes you onto the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival. The flashbulbs crackle around you, and there you are at his side, like two guests at the same gala, surrounded by other cinema stars. You pose beside the statue and walk away with the photo.
Here, the statue becomes your playing partner. Head on to the casino room and there you are, seated at the roulette table between Brad Pitt and George Clooney, chips down and a knowing smile, the mood of a Hollywood heist, if only for a snapshot. For big-screen buffs, a quiz puts your cinephile memory to the test between rooms. Tom Cruise spent forty years refusing a double; here, the principle is the same: the camera rolls, and you are the one leading the scene.
Visit info: On site, 60 statues stand alongside 30 listening points and 15 interactive experiences, for a visit of 1 hour to 1 hour 30. Opening hours: 10 am to 6 pm, 7 days a week, public holidays included, last entries at 5 pm; audio guide included in six languages.
Once the photo with Tom Cruise is safely in the bag, the day has only just begun. At the same address, two more museums, Choco-Story and Vino-Storia, let you extend the visit without even stepping back outside.
Choco-Story tells the story of cacao (plantations, roasting, production workshops) and dots the route with tastings: a sweet change of pace after the adrenaline of the red carpet. The Vino-Storia route, meanwhile, explores the wines of Alsace and ends with three tastings. An alcohol-free version, based on juices with the same aromatic notes, is available for children: the experience suits terroir lovers and families alike.
Good tip: Nothing obliges you to do everything on the same day: the duo pass (−20%) and the trio pass (−33% = one museum free) stay valid for a week from your first visit. Online booking.
Enough to turn a simple star photo into a real day out in Colmar, one that blends cinema, chocolate and vineyard, without ever getting back on the road.
What is Tom Cruise's disability?
It is dyslexia, a reading learning difficulty diagnosed during his childhood. It is not a physical disability. Tom Cruise speaks about it openly and presents it as an obstacle he learned to work around thanks to suitable memorisation methods.
Is Tom Cruise illiterate?
No. Dyslexia makes reading more laborious but does not prevent it. The actor reads his scripts and learns whole passages of dialogue; he has in fact turned his own journey into a message of hope for the children concerned.
How tall is Tom Cruise, really?
Around 1.70 m. An average height, with no bearing on his career as an action actor. His statue at the Wax of Legends reproduces his real proportions: a chance to check for yourself by standing next to it.
Why did Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise separate?
The couple, married from 1990 to 2001, divorced at Tom Cruise's initiative, on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. The deeper reasons for the split remained within their private sphere; neither of them has given a detailed account.
Who was Tom Cruise's greatest love?
Nicole Kidman is often presented as the woman who marked his life the most; their story defined the 1990s so completely. The actor himself, however, has never publicly named a "greatest love".
Has Tom Cruise had work done on his face?
No cosmetic procedure has been confirmed by the man himself. His face, like everyone's, changes with age. In the absence of any statement from him, the question belongs to the realm of rumour.
Can you see Tom Cruise at the Wax of Legends in Colmar?
Yes. His wax statue features in the museum's cinema gallery, on the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival. You can pose at his side, just as at a real gala.
How many statues and experiences does the museum have in total?
The Wax of Legends brings together 60 statues, 30 listening points and 15 interactive experiences, for a full visit of 1 hour to 1 hour 30.
How much did Top Gun: Maverick earn at the worldwide box office?
Released in 2022, the film passed 1.49 billion dollars in worldwide takings, becoming the biggest success of Tom Cruise's career to date.
Information verified by the Wax of Legends team (June 2026).
Cover photo : © Serge NIED — Wax of Legends
