Did you know Tom Cruise's real name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV? On the 53rd birthday of the three-time Oscar nominee and winner of three Golden Globe Awards, we dig up some interesting facts about the Hollywood star that you may not have known -

1. Tom Cruise was diagnosed with dyslexia, but he credits Scientology for helping him overcome it.

2. When he attended the St. Francis Seminary School in Cincinnati, he considered becoming a Catholic priest.

3. While growing up, Tom Cruise attended 15 different schools!

Tom Cruise. Pic/Santa Banta

4. During his study at Glen Ridge High School, he suffered a knee injury which forced him to leave the school's wrestling team. It also prevented him from pursuing any career in sports. So, he decided to take up acting and joined the school's stage production.

5. Tom Cruise improvised the iconic scene from ‘Risky Business’ where he dances in his underwear. The scene was described in one in the script: "Joel dances in underwear through the house."

Watch Tom Cruise’s iconic dance scene from ‘Risky Business’

6. October 10, 2006 was declared ‘Tom Cruise Day’ in Japan to honour the fact that he has visited the country more than any other Hollywood star, according to the Japan Memorial Day Association.

7. Although Tom Cruise didn't have a pilot's license while shooting for ‘Top Gun’ (1986), in which he played the hotshot fighter pilot Maverick, he later earned one in 1994.

8. Tom Cruise professed his love for Katie Holmes on the Oprah Winfrey Show. During the interview, he jumped on the couch shouting "Yes!" and later brought a shy Holmes onto the stage. In June 2005, after a two-month courtship, Cruise proposed to Holmes in a restaurant at the top of the Eiffel tower.