Tom Cruise
Cruise in 2011, Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Thomas Cruise Mapother IV
Place of Birth: Syracuse, New York, U.S.
Date of Birth: July 3, 1962
Ethnicity: Irish (at least 43.75%), German (43.75%), with the rest a mix of English, Welsh, Scottish, and Cornish
Tom Cruise is an American actor and filmmaker. His legendary roster of film roles includes Taps, The Outsiders, Risky Business, All the Right Moves, Legend, Top Gun, and its sequel, The Color of Money, Cocktail, Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July, Days of Thunder, A Few Good Men, The Firm, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, the Mission: Impossible series, Jerry Maguire, Eyes Wide Shut, Magnolia, Vanilla Sky, Minority Report, The Last Samurai, Collateral, War of the Worlds, Lions for Lambs, Knight and Day, Jack Reacher, and its sequel, Edge of Tomorrow, and American Made. Many of his films have been among the biggest movies in the world between the 1980s and the 2020s.
Tom is the son of Mary Lee (Pfeiffer), a special education teacher, and Thomas Cruise Mapother, an electrical engineer. He was raised partly in Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Canada, and Cincinnati, Ohio. His father was of approximately one half German and one quarter Irish ancestry, with his other roots being English, Scottish, Cornish, and Welsh. Tom’s mother was of three eighths German and five eighths Irish ancestry. All four of Tom’s grandparents were born in Kentucky, as were all eight of Tom’s great-grandparents. Some of Tom’s father’s ancestry goes back to Colonial America.
His first cousin is actor William Mapother (their fathers are siblings). Tom has three children: two, including actor Connor Cruise, with his former wife, actress Nicole Kidman; and a daughter with his former wife, actress Katie Holmes.
Tom was selected People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” in 1990.
Tom’s paternal grandfather was Thomas Cruise Mapother II (the son of Thomas O’Mara, whose name was later changed to Thomas Cruise Mapother, and of Anna Stewart Bateman). Tom’s grandfather Thomas was born in Kentucky. Tom’s great-grandfather Thomas O’Mara’s parents, Thomas O’Mara and Mary Paulina Russell Cruise, were both of Irish descent. Tom’s great-grandmother Anna was the daughter of Thomas J. Bateman and Elvira Eva Tompkins/Thompkins, and had English, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, and Cornish ancestry.
Tom’s great-great-grandmother, Mary Cruise, married twice. Her first husband was Dillon Henry Mapother, by whom she had six children. After Dillon’s death, she remarried to Thomas O’Mara. Their son, who was born as Thomas O’Mara, was listed under that name in the 1880 Census. His name was later changed to Thomas Cruise Mapother. The reason(s) for him changing his name are not clear.
Tom’s paternal grandmother was Catherine Louise Reibert (the daughter of William Reibert and Charlotte Louise Voelker). Catherine was born in Kentucky. William and Charlotte were of German descent. William was the son of Adam Andrew Reibert and Francisca/Francis/Frances Boesser. Charlotte was the daughter of John Voelker and Louisa Steadle.
Tom’s maternal grandfather was Charles Conrad Pfeiffer (the son of Lee Norbert Pfeiffer and Anna/Annie M. Shea). Charles was born in Kentucky. Lee was the son of Charles Conrad Pfeiffer, whose parents were from Cölbe, Giessen, Hesse, Germany; and of Mary Roselle/Rosselle Hawkins, who was of Irish ancestry. Anna was the daughter of Dennis Shea and Mary Brown, who were Irish immigrants.
Tom’s maternal grandmother was Comala Rosella Ramser (the daughter of Joseph Charles Ramser and Susan/Sarah A. Mackey). Comala was born in Kentucky. Joseph was the son of George Ramser, a German emigrant, from Alsatia, and of Catherine Merkel, who was of German descent. Susan was the daughter of Gerald Jeremiah Mackey, an Irish immigrant, and of Bridget Quinn, who was of Irish ancestry.
Cruise with then-wife Mimi Rogers in 1989, photo credit: Alan Light
Sources: Family history of Tom Cruise – https://www.hollywoodancestry.com
Genealogies of Tom Cruise – http://www.wargs.com
https://www.wikitree.com
https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Tom’s father – http://www.findagrave.com
Tom’s maternal great-grandfather, Lee Norbert Pfeiffer, on the 1870 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Lee Norbert Pfeiffer on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Other resources about Tom’s family – http://i.usatoday.net
http://hubpages.com: broken link.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=27549862
No Jewish or Italian?
Most A-list Hollywood leading men do not have Jewish or Italian ancestry. They are usually of Northern European/British Isles descent.
Young actors, on the other hand, are fairly Jewish.
can u give me a list of these actors in A-list?
People like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck.
http://www.adherents.com/movies/adh_actors.html
25 of the “AFI Top 50 Screen Legends of all Time: Actors”.
Only Fred Astaire, Kirk Douglas, The Marx Brothers, Sidney Poitier, and Edward G. Robinson had/have non-British Isles/Central European descent. And Marx and Robinson were not really typical leading men.
Fonda was of distant Italian heritage. Grant, Chaplin and Olivier were English-born. Interesting list by AFI btw , enterely about Old Hollywood stars (the omission of Paul Newman is quite surprising). Since the late 60s things have changed, with plenty of stars with differerent backgrounds. many of partly Italian (as De Niro) or Jewish descent (example: Harrison Ford)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Italian-American_actors#1940s
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_actors
Now the best-paid Hollywood stars are Johnny Depp and Robert Downey Jr if I’m not wrong
Henry Fonda’s distant Italian ancestry is unproven. I know the family refers to it often, but one of the last traceable ancestors of Henry’s is Gilles Douwese Fonda, who was born in Gelderland, the Netherlands, in the early 1600s, to Douw Fonda and Douwe Jaasoon de Vries Van Arentzvelt. Some claim that Douw’s dad was an Italian named Latcho de Corgnale Fonda, but I am not sure this is confirmed. So the Italian ancestry could be some kind of family legend. If true, though, it would have made Henry a very small fraction Italian, and pretty irrelevant (i.e. 1/256 or 1/512 or something), almost like Barbara Bush.
Actually, Henry’s daughter, Jane Fonda, is something like 1/32 Italian… through her mother.
Which also brings me to Johnny Depp… who I consider to be a WASP if the only non-white ancestry he has are those remote roots I found, 1/1024 or something.
“Grant, Chaplin and Olivier were English-born” – That still counts! It counts even more, haha.
I don’t think things have actually changed that much since the late 1960s, especially not today (with all those British actors being imported to the U.S.). I didn’t say “all” A-list stars, I said “most”.
It’s funny, but there were probably more A-list Jewish leading men in the 1950s than there are today. There is no version of Kirk Douglas today, and I am only hoping that Logan Lerman becomes the next Tony Curtis (he looks like him).
@ Follers
Tom Cruise has distant/remote Italian ancestry. Checking his genealogy, the Italian name “Allesandro Poe” (born c. 1710) caught my attention. It appears that Poe surname comes from Po Valley in Northern Italy.
Source: Anna H. Poe – Poems and Stories (1893)
https://poefamilyhistory.wordpress.com/poe-family/
I don’t know how accurate that story is. For one thing, it says that Alessandro Poe was a brother of Edgar Allan Poe’s great-grandfather John Poe, and that’s clearly not accurate.
I also found this:
“His father, who was Thomas Poe, was born near Spottsylvania Court-house, Va., in 1749, and was a son of Anson Poe, who was born in England and came to the United States in 1707, settling in Virginia on the Po River, where he lived and died. The father of Anson Poe was born in Italy on the Po River, date not known.” (“Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton Counties, Nebraska, Comprising a Condensed History of the State”, 1890).
https://books.google.ca/books?id=ixI1AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA672&dq=%22Anson+Poe%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjln8jH9P3XAhVL7mMKHZ95CwEQ6AEIGTAB
Whether that’s accurate, I don’t know. If it is, Cruise would be 1/512 Italian, depending on Anson’s mother.
@follers
Thank for having checked that source
yep, Tom is a straight up old-stock WASP.
YOU ARE WRONG
Actually the majorities of the men and women in Hollywood have all an Italian ancestry
All of this people below have an Italian ancestry by mom, dad or both parents
Nicolas Cage, John Travolta, Leonardo Di Caprio, Bradley Coopers, Kaley Cuoco, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Hayden Panettiere, Vin Diesel, Lindsay Lohan, Quentin Tarantino, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorseze, Bruce Springsteen, Hulg Hogan, Paris Hilton,
FOLLERS
YOU ARE WRONG:
ACTUALLY THE MAJORITIES OF THE MEN AND WOMEN IN HOLLYWOOD HAVE AN ITALIAN ANCESTRY BY MOM, DAD OR BOTH ANCESTRY.
ALL OF THIS PEOPLE BELOW HAVE AN ITALIAN ANCESTRY BY MOM, DAD OR BOTH PARENTS. AND ANYWAY IF JANE FONDA IS JUST 1/32 ITALIAN EVEN TOM CRUISE IS ONLY PARTLY IRISH, BUT EVERYBODY THAT HAVE AN ITALIAN ANCESTRY PREFER TO CLAIM TO BE ITALIAN INSTEAD GERMANS OR IRISH
CHECK THIS LIST BELOW OF PEOPLE IN HOLLYWOOD WITH AN ITALIAN ANCESTRY, ENJOY SOME FACTS
JOHN TRAVOLTA, NICOLAS CAGE
BRADLEY COOPERS, VIN DIESEL
LEONARDO DI CAPRIO
KAYLE CUOCO
HAYDEN PANETTIERE
ROBERT DE NIRO
AL PACINO, LINDSAY LOHAN
QUENTIN TARANTINO
MARTIN SCORSESE
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
HULK HOGAN
RAY LIOTTA
JOE PESCI
JANE FONDA
SUSAN SARANDON
SYLVESTER STALLONE
LADY GAGA
MADONNA
AND MANY MANY OTHERS
That is not true a lot of Hollywood actors and actresses have German ancestry German is very common ancestry in America.
I’d say most of white Hollywood stars are of mixed European ethnicity, not just a single one.
http://www.clicktop10.com/2013/05/top-10-highest-paid-hollywood-actors-in-2013/
just Adam Sandler has one ethnicity, the rest are “mixed”.
What about Sacha Baron Cohen and Will Smith?
is Sasha Baron Cohen a “star”? I didnt count Smith who’s AA
Well, I was talking about that top 10 link.
Herr Follers is ze best Nazi race researcher I have ever seen! He reminds me of Heydrich and Himmler!
His obsessiin vith race and ethncity vould make ze Fhurer blush.
Vell done, herr Follers!
not funny mate
I wasn’t trying to be funny; I was expressing my disgust with the fetishization of race that this site represents.
Judging from some of your comments you have the same “fetish”.
@theropod
are u obsessed?
He’s also part Welsh no ?
Tom Cruise admits:
“I’m Irish”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n8myrqS1G0