# Tom Cruise: Yay or Nay (or gay)?... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603 "2003-02-07T23:59:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603/61 "2003-02-14T18:37:56Z")
I don’t care to play the “who’s gay” game, but I wonder if things have changed that much. It’s one thing for a supporting actor on a sitcom to be openly homosexual, but for a leading man in mainstream, big-budget movies? The closest I can think of to a counterexample is Rupert Everett, and he’s not exactly burning up the box office. As for Tom Cruise’s acting, I don’t think it’s as bad as his critics say or as good as his fans would have it. Awards are given for many other reasons besides raw talent. He does seem to have a limited range, but so do most actors. What he does, he does competently. Fortunately, I don’t have to agree with somebody’s religious beliefs to enjoy their work, and I don’t think having his teeth fixed indicates a severe character flaw. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603/62 "2003-02-14T19:56:11Z")
I don’t think he’s gay, but I’m pretty sure he sucked a director’s cock at least once to get a role, just like every actor who wants to make it big in Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603/63 "2003-02-14T21:15:32Z")
wow ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603/64 "2003-02-14T21:22:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PunditLisa \* > \*\*Liberace, Hudson and Chamberlain were all in the limelight in an era where the press simply didn’t report such things. The studios were very powerful and could end a reporter’s career were he to report such a thing. \*\* For those who missed the AMC featurette on Hollywood gossip, I’ll repeat the following tidbit: _Confidential_ magazine in the 50’s wanted to run an expose on Rock Hudson. Hudson’s studio got wind of it, and made a panicky deal with the magazine: they offered up Rory Calhoun in exchange. The studio gave the magazine the info that Rory Calhoun had a criminal record (car theft, as a juvenile). The magazine ran the story, Rory Calhoun’s career crashed, and Rock Hudson’s was saved. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603/65 "2003-02-16T07:52:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sampiro \* > **Does seem strange, but then there were no incriminating pictures of Rock Hudson, Liberace, Richard Chamberlain, George Michael, Michael Stipe, or any other celebrities about whom the rumors were later confirmed.** There **were** smoking guns. Rock Hudson’s wife and private detective Fred Otash secretly recorded a conversation in which she confronted Hudson about a homosexual affair he had while filming on location in 1957. Otash included a transcript of their conversation in his 1976 book _Investigation Hollywood_, while Hudson was still alive. Liberace’s live-in chauffeur Scott Thorson spilled his guts to the public with a breach of contract “palimony” suit against Liberace in 1982. As for Michael Stipe, he’s pointed out that he always cultivated a “queer” persona, in several senses of the word, so it wasn’t like he was hiding much of anything. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603/66 "2003-02-16T08:04:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jsc1953 \* > \*\*The magazine ran the story, Rory Calhoun’s career crashed, and Rock Hudson’s was saved. \*\* Rory Calhoun’s career did not crash. When he got wind that _Confidential_ magazine was going do to a story on his juvenile delinquency, he beat them to the punch by revealing the story himself to a friendly fan magazine. Calhoun continued to star in three to five Hollywood pictures per year throughout the 1950s, and the CBS western _The Texan_ in 1958-60. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603/67 "2003-02-16T08:23:01Z")
Nay. (Except for _Rain Man_) ---
**Author:** ![lilbtagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@lilbtagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilbtagna)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603/68 "2003-02-16T08:31:06Z")
**Sampiro** , is there a cite about David Hyde Pierce? I’d never even heard anything about his orientation. Not that it matters, but I didn’t know before this and I can’t seem to find anything about it. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603/69 "2003-02-16T09:05:55Z")
Regarding David Hyde Pierce: he lives in Silverlake. (That was enough evidence for me.) Of course, I am kidding. Sort of. It just seems like a lot of gay people live in Silverlake, that’s all. Also, he sets my “gaydar” off like crazy. And I think I read (in the LA Times? Can’t remember) that he had a “partner”. But it was the Silverlake thing that cinched it for me. 😉 Not that it matters, of course—I love Hyde Pierce and always will. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603/70 "2003-02-16T14:46:13Z")
Ok, while Tom Cruise isn’t as talented as say, Kevin Spacey or Meryl Streep, he is talented, IMHO. I think a lot of folks (as shown by some comments in this thread) judge his work by his religion, perceived attitude, etc. His role in Minority Report was great–and I am so disappointed it didn’t get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. I don’t even like science fiction and I loved Minority Report. ---
**Author:** ![Rie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a6a055/32.png) [@Rie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rie)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603/71 "2003-02-16T15:06:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SolGrundy \* > \*\*…Penelope Cruz, who I think looks like a young Mexican boy. Or the main character from the Rankin/Bass “Little Drummer Boy” cartoon. \*\* LOL - I’m with you on that one, Sol - cut her hair, give her some raggedy clothes and a drum and the resemblance is uncanny. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603/72 "2003-02-16T19:34:20Z")
Nay. _Born on the Fourth of July_ is the only good performance he’s ever really rendered. Aesthetically, he grosses me out. Several months ago he was on the cover of Vaity Fair – shirtless with his hands on his hips. His chest was freshly waxed and his little underarm hairs were poking out. Oh, yuck! … Put me off men forever. And a make-up woman I work for has had long chats with Nicole Kidman (that long-winded chatty girl-talk) about their relationships (Tom and Nicole’s). Interesting inside scoop there. I don’t give a rat’s ass about Mr. Cruise. Though I find him so utterly bland and his movies formulaic that I don’t watch them unless they are free on TV. Am I the only one who thought that _Minority Report_ had pretty much the same type of plot as _Misison Impossible_? [spoiler]“Squad Leader” suddenly finds himself pursued by his own organization – in particular “The Agent” (who you kind of think is a bad guy, but really is’t – he just wants justice). “Squad Leader” does through a series of escapes and other sneaky stuff: Action – climbing on top of speeding train/cars. Suspense – almost caught by drop-of-sweat/small-air-bubble Discovers he was betrayed by “Old Mentor.” Clears his name by revealing truth through sneaky video… [/spoiler] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603.md?page=3)