Mimi Rogers Biography

Date of Birth: January 7, 1956

Mimi Rogers is perhaps best known for what she isn't -- the wife of Tom Cruise. From 1987 to 1990, she and Cruise were married. Then along came the Days of Thunder, the stockcar racing movie starring Tom Cruise and a very tall, very attractive Australian whom Tom happened to fall head over heels in love with at first sight -- Nicole Kidman.

In her BC (Before Cruise) days, the actress from Coral Gables, Florida, said she played at acting for years "as a hobby." Rogers' first experiences in the limelight were on TV where she had a regular starring role on The Rousters (1983 to 84) and Paper Dolls (1984). A trait Rogers shares in common with many actors is a peripatetic, almost nomadic background. Her father was a civil engineer and "we moved at least once a year," she says. "I don't remember how many schools I went to. We moved around so much, I spent a lot of my time reading. Reading was my playmate." Which may go a long way toward explaining how she graduated high school at an age many are just entering it -- 14.

Rogers has moved effortlessly between television and the big screen throughout her career, starting with a recurring role on the hit TV drama Hill Street Blues in 1981. Guest appearances on other shows such as Magnum P.I., Hart to Hart, The X Files, and Dawson's Creek followed. On the big screen she has appeared in over 30 films, including The Doors (1991), The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996), Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), Lost in Space (1998) and The Door in the Floor (2004), with Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger.