Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography pdfdrive com

Dianetics, Ron Hubbard famously described homosexuals as “sexual perverts”
who should be taken from society “as rapidly as possible and uniformly
institutionalized.” Indeed many men—and some women—joined Scientology in
the hope that their homosexuality would be “cured.” After spending $500,000,
painter Michael Pattinson, who reached OT VIII, the highest level attainable,
sued Scientology for his money back because after years of auditing he was still
gay. He eventually dropped the suit when his funds ran out.
While Tom could step into the witness box with a clear conscience, the
upcoming trial troubled him greatly, the actor frequently asking George Carman
to visit him on the set of Eyes Wide Shut and at his rented Hertfordshire home.
From time to time he and Nicole, or Tom on his own, drove to Carman’s
chambers in central London. Even though Carman found Tom’s need for such
extensive hand-holding “bizarre,” he did not begrudge them his time, charging
them about three thousand dollars an hour for consultations that could last
several hours. It was not only the impending court case that bothered Tom; he
was “obsessed” about his public image, continually pointing out articles that
irritated him and discussing the possibility of seeking redress. Over the next few
years he consulted George Carman on at least a dozen occasions.
In the end it was not Tom’s demeanor in the dock that won the day, but
Nicole’s admission that she had suffered at least one ectopic pregnancy during
the early years of their marriage. It was the smoking gun, proof not only that
Tom was fertile but that the couple were involved in a regular, loving marriage.
Once Express Newspapers was informed of these medical facts, they threw in
the towel. While their decision came as a relief to Tom and Nicole, it rather
robbed George Carman of his moment of glory. Instead, the newspaper agreed to
pay $200,000 in damages and publish a comprehensive apology and retraction.
In October 1998, just a year after the original libel suit, Carman and Tom
Cruise appeared at the High Court to confirm that the money would be given to
charity. In an eloquent address, Carman told the court that Tom and Nicole
“married solely because they loved each other and their marriage is a close and
happy one; they both love and are very devoted to their two young adopted
children. They have brought proceedings to put an end once and for all to these
highly offensive rumors which have been so hurtful to their married life together
and to their role as parents.”
The only thing missing as Carman made his victory address was Mrs. Cruise.
While Tom, Carman, and Bert Fields, calling from Los Angeles, had pressured
Nicole to attend the triumphant occasion so they could stand side by side on the
court steps, she had consistently refused. Even though Carman judged Nicole
“cold and distant” during their meetings, he still found her decision one of the

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“oddest” in his professional career. Tom explained her absence by saying that
she had a cold. Carman didn’t believe a word and pressed him further. The plain
answer was that she did not want to be part of the circus. As with most libels, the
winner was really the loser. In order to prove that her husband was virile and
heterosexual, she had to have the secrets of her womb placed on public display.
She had gone along with the case, probably reluctantly, to support her husband
in his legal pissing contest with an unimportant British Sunday tabloid. There
was a price to be paid, as was shown on the steps of the High Court, where Tom
was alone in waving to the crowds and accepting the applause of well-wishers.
Although George Carman feared that it would look “terrible,” the media failed
to comment on Nicole’s absence. Only those associated with the couple
appreciated the significance, seeing it as a further sign of the growing distance
between them. In the year between the publication of the Sunday Express article
and the court victory, cracks were beginning to appear in the marriage. Nicole
bridled more and more at Tom’s controlling behavior, finding fault in everything
he did for her. His constant love notes became irritating, the endless gifts of
flowers a bore.
Romantic gestures like spontaneously taking her to their favorite London
restaurant, the Ivy, or for a weekend away to the Cipriani Hotel in Venice with
dinner at Harry’s Bar no longer made her heart sing. “She was an unhappy
wife,” noted an associate. “She was constantly wrestling with the fact that she
did not love him anymore.” For his part, the more he tried to woo her with gifts,
the more she pulled away. “There came a point where nothing Tom did pleased
her,” recalls an associate. “Tom adored Nic. I have never known a man who was
so loving and giving. But that love was not reciprocated by Nic.”
Nicole’s disgruntlement with her husband was increasingly played out
through their friends. For example, Tom’s buddy Emilio Estevez, best man for
his first marriage, was no longer as welcome as he once was, and on the odd
occasions Tom saw his old school friend Michael LaForte and his wife, Fran,
Nicole seemed ill at ease and distracted, as though the rough-talking New
Jerseyan was not quite socially acceptable. However, in the company of her
girlfriends, like actors Naomi Watts and Rebecca Riggs, as well as gay men
from the world of fashion, she was a different person, smiling, relaxed, and full
of fun, happy to sing and dance the night away at places like the Buffalo Club in
Santa Monica. Curiously, if she went out on her own, she would often take the
couple’s driver Dave Garris, who had worked for them since Days of Thunder,
along for company. If they went to the movies, she would even allow Garris,
who has been described as a Tom Cruise wannabe, to choose the film they were
going to see.

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As she pulled away from Tom, by necessity Nicole became much less
involved with the children’s upbringing than her husband. When she was away
filming or, increasingly, flying to Sydney to spend time with her parents and
sister, it could be days before she would phone to see how Isabella and Connor
were coping. Those who saw the family close up concluded that Tom was much
more comfortable and enthusiastic as a parent. The actor was in constant—and
controlling—touch with the youngsters and their nannies no matter how busy he
was.
In keeping with Hubbard’s theory that children were small adults, Tom never
babied his children, striking a balance between mentoring and nurturing.
Unsurprisingly, Tom was an energetic, noisy dad, always chasing, joshing,
playing with the children, his hearty laugh echoing through the normally quiet
house. Thankfully, after a stage in which Connor gave Bella terrible bites, the
youngsters bonded, Tom appreciating the differences in their characters: Connor
bright but mischievous, Bella assertive but playing by the rules. As soon as
Connor was walking and talking, Tom took him off on boys’ adventures,
whisking him away in his private plane for the weekend with only his
communicator, Michael Doven, for company. Like most fathers, he wanted to
re-create the happy aspects of his own youth for his son, building a ramp at the
family home in Telluride so that Connor could be taught daredevil jumps on a
tiny motorbike.
When Nicole won a leading role in the comedy Practical Magic, it came as no
surprise that she left the children with Tom in London while she flew to Los
Angeles in January 1998 to rehearse her part. A couple of weeks after beginning
work, she was rushed to the hospital for surgery to remove what was officially
described as a benign ovarian cyst. Given that her mother had a history of breast
cancer and that Nicole had her own gynecological difficulties, it was a worrying
time, Tom flying out to the West Coast to be at his wife’s side. She recovered
sufficiently to continue work on the movie, which was shot in Washington state,
allowing Tom to return to London to conclude filming of the interminable Eyes