Thomas Cruise is an American actor and producer. He started his career at age 19, in the film Endless Love (1981), before making his breakthrough in the comedy Risky Business (1983), and receiving widespread attention for starring in the action drama Top Gun (1986) as Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. After starring in The Color of Money (1986) and Cocktail (1988), Cruise starred opposite Dustin Hoffman in the Academy Award for Best Picture-winning drama Rain Man. For his role as anti-war activist Ron Kovic in the drama Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Cruise received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.