15 of Tom Cruise’s Dreamiest Throwback Photos in Honor of His Birthday

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All-American Guy

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

A popped collar and double denim? Tom Cruise circa 1980 was totally dreamy. Cruise wouldn’t get his acting break until 1981, when he appeared in the film Endless Love, but he was already a star!

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Totally Preppy

Barry King/WireImage

A young Tom Cruise wearing a corduroy jacket with elbow patches makes us wish he could tutor us after school.

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Greaser Dude

Nancy Moran/Sygma via Getty

Cruise hit the big screen in 1982 as Steve Randle in The Outsiders.

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The Outsiders

Frank Edwards/Fotos International/Getty

At the premiere of the film in 1982, Cruise, Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez made a pretty great-looking trio.

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Taking Risks

Warner Brothers/Getty

In 1983, Cruise starred in Risky Business and we will never look at a men’s dress shirt and tighty-whities the same ever again.

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Cool and Casual

Ron Galella Collection via Getty

At a screening for Risky Business, Cruise had us swooning with his long locks, T-shirt and jeans.

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Long Hair, Don’t Hair

Barry King/WireImage

Cruise let his luscious locks fly free at the premiere of The Breakfast Club in 1985.

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Tough Guy

Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Is there anything more attractive than Tom Cruise going incognito in a leather jacket and sunglasses in 1985?

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An Officer and a Gentleman

Paramount Pictures/Archive Photos/Getty

Well, okay, his character in Top Gun was technically a lieutenant, but you get the picture.

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On the Dot

Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Cruise had a head of hair that defied physics and a jaw that could cut glass at the 1986 Top Gun premiere afterparty.

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Stare Down

Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty

Sorry, we forgot what we were saying, we got lost in Cruise’s blue eyes!

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Black Tie Affair

The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty

Cruise looks just as good dressed to the nines as he does dressed in jeans and a T-shirt.

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Thirsty?

Mondadori via Getty

How about a Cocktail? Cruise starred in the film (and rocked this blue floral shirt) in 1988.

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Winner, Winner

The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty

In 1990, Cruise won the People’s Choice Award for his role in Born on the Fourth of July.

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Standing Firm

Francois Duhamel/Sygma via Getty

Cruise starred in the 1993 legal thriller, The Firm, in which he played a Harvard-educated lawyer, a.k.a. the man of our dreams (despite his character’s shady business dealings).