Hollywood maverick Tom STILL GOING GREAT GUNS AT 60!

His mission to be a high-flier has seen him soar to new heights

He's dangled himself from the side of a canyon wall, a skyscraper, and even a plane in the name of making blockbuster action movies and lived to tell the tale.

Tom Cruise turns 60 on July 3, but take it from him he's not planning on slowing down any time soon.

"I dreamed of making movies from the age the star shrugs when asked why he insists on still doing his own stunts. And besides, he muses, "No one ever asked Gene Kelly, 'Why do you dance?""

After almost 40 years as a Hollywood heartthrob, it seems Tom is taking his milestone birthday in his stride. And why wouldn't he? After a lifetime on the big screen, his films have grossed a whopping $15 billion worldwide - and with his most recent movie, Top Gun: Maverick, he's just enjoyed the most successful opening weekend of his entire career.

It's all a far cry from the poverty he experienced as a child growing up in small-town America.

It's not a period of his life Tom likes to revisit. His father, he recalls, "was the kind of person where, if something goes wrong, they kick you. It was a great lesson in my life - how he'd lull you make you feel safe and then, bang! For me, it was like, 'There's something wrong with this guy. Don't trust him. Be careful around him."

After toying with becoming a Roman Catholic priest as a teenager, Tom moved to New York City at the age of 18 in the hopes of breaking into the acting world.