Mimi Rogers and Tom Cruise: A Marriage Marked by Spiritual Quest and Tabloid Scrutiny

Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers, who met in 1985 at a dinner party while Rogers was dating a friend of Cruise’s, were married in a quiet ceremony on May 9, 1987, in upstate New York. Emilio Estevez served as Cruise’s best man, while Cruise’s mother, Mary Lee South, expressed her approval, describing Rogers as “top notch.”

Rogers, an actress known for her role in Gung Ho, was previously married to Scientology counselor Jim Rogers, reportedly introducing Cruise to the Church of Scientology. “She took him under her wing,” noted Cruise biographer Wensley Clarkson in a 2000 interview with Entertainment Weekly. Since then, Rogers has distanced herself from the church.

The couple announced their divorce in January 1990. When responding to speculation about the reasons for the split, Rogers told Playboy in 1993, “Is that the story, that I was bored with that child and threw him over, chewed him up and spat him out? Well, here’s the real story. Tom was seriously thinking of becoming a monk. At least for that period of time, it looked as though marriage wouldn’t fit into his overall spiritual need.” She elaborated, “He thought he had to be celibate to maintain the purity of his instrument,” and added, “My instrument needed tuning.”

Rogers, who is six years older than Cruise, later discussed the challenges of their marriage in a 2001 interview with the Telegraph. She remarked on the undue focus on their age difference, stating, “What did annoy me, though, was the age thing. Some of the tabloids brought it up all the time, and exaggerated the gap between Tom and me.” She concluded, “If Tom and I were still married, the tabloids would probably have me in my sixties by now.”

Special Credits: Image Courtesy of Eonline