A diminutive, aging action hero who is clean-cut but controversial, world-famous yet utterly secretive: Tom Cruise's reign as the world's top movie star has long defied time, expectations and -- when stunts are involved -- gravity.

The daredevil star, who famously insists on doing his own leaps, chases and plunges, is widely predicted to perform a death-defying but top-secret stunt on the roof of the Stade de France for the Paris Olympics closing ceremony on Sunday.

It would be just the latest high-adrenaline feat for a 62-year-old actor who rode a motorbike off a cliff for last year's "Mission: Impossible" installment, and still runs rings around Hollywood's young pretenders when it comes to action sequences.

Cruise first emerged as one of the bratty young stars of 1980s Hollywood with "The Outsiders" and "Risky Business."

The fiercely intense and ambitious actor embarked on one of the all-time Hollywood hot streaks with hits like "Top Gun," "Cocktail," "Rain Man," "A Few Good Men" and "Jerry Maguire." 

Despite standing at just 5′7″, he successfully pivoted toward action films with 1996's "Mission: Impossible." 

Controversy enveloped Cruise in the mid-2000s, particularly over his links to Scientology and his love life. 

But while rival stars of his generation have waned, Cruise still churns out action blockbusters in which he -- not any superhero or franchise -- is the big draw.

His biggest hit came just two years ago with "Top Gun: Maverick."

Cruise flew his own planes for the film, skimming dangerously low above the Earth's surface and enduring intense G-forces.

Cruise "always wanted to go lower," director Joseph Kosinski told AFP.

"I guarantee you'll never see anything quite like it ever again... he was always pushing."

Controversy

Born Thomas Cruise Mapother in New York on 3 July 1962, Cruise had an unsettled childhood. His father left home when he was 11. Cruise is reported to have attended 15 schools in 12 years.

At one stage, he considered becoming a Catholic priest, but got the acting bug after a high school production of the musical "Guys and Dolls."

His film debut came in 1981 romance "Endless Love." But "Risky Business" (1983) -- in which Cruise famously cavorted semi-naked while lip-syncing to "Old Time Rock and Roll" -- marked him as a future star.

Cast as fighter pilot Maverick in 1986's smash hit "Top Gun," Cruise swiftly ascended to leading man status, and never looked back.

His success on the silver screen has been matched by an ability to create controversial headlines off it.

His vocal support for the secretive Church of Scientology, recognized as a religion in the United States but regarded as a cult in several other countries, has often led him to cross swords with media.

Scientology has established a high-profile presence at the Paris Olympics, setting up a new headquarters near the Stade de France. 

Cruise is believed to have been introduced to Scientology by his first wife Mimi Rogers, whom he divorced in 1990.

Cruise went on to have a number of high-profile relationships, including his second marriage to Nicole Kidman.

In 2005, he infamously leapt around on Oprah Winfrey's talk show couch professing love for his much younger, soon-to-be third wife Katie Holmes -- an excruciating moment that threatened to derail his career.

Hollywood studio Paramount even terminated its long relationship with Cruise over "embarrassing" behavior that it blamed for lackluster ticket sales. 

But Cruise was soon welcomed back into the fold.

And no less a figure than Steven Spielberg last year said Cruise and his hit "Top Gun" sequel "might have saved the entire theatrical industry" from the coronavirus pandemic, bringing fans back into theaters.

'Being Tom Cruise'

Critical acclaim has been less forthcoming. Despite four nominations -- three as an actor -- Cruise has never won an Oscar.

And since those mid-2000s missteps, remarkably little has been revealed about Cruise's personal life.

He is rumored to have homes in Florida and England.

Each Christmas, he mails white chocolate coconut cakes to his most favored celebrity acquaintances.

But beyond trademark blockbuster stunts, Cruise closely guards his mystique.

His silence is "a bet that just his being Tom Cruise, offering no further details about what that might entail, is enticement enough for people to watch his movies," said a recent New York Times article.

"Lately, more often than not, he has been right."