Tom Cruise Divorce

For some people, the third time’s the charm. For Tom Cruise, that would be closer to a mission impossible. After five years of marriage, wife Katie Holmes filed for divorce this week, reportedly seeking sole custody of their six year old daughter.

Holmes filed for divorce in New York, while her tallest building in the world-climbing stuntman husband was on location in Iceland filming his next movie, media reports said. Her move may have taken Cruise very much by surprise, according to some observers. This was Cruise’s third marriage. Oddly, all three marriages, to Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman and Holmes ended when each of his wives turned 33 years old.

In a world of larger-than-life celebrity marriages, none was subject to more tabloid fascination than that of Cruise and Holmes. It began with a maniacal leap onto Oprah Winfrey’s TV couch, when Cruise gushingly professed his love for his betrothed. What began with overtones of a publicity stunt marriage grew into a relationship that produced a child, six year old Suri. The timing of the Oprah stunt coincided with a low point in Cruise’s career, and was thought by many to be a way to regain the public eye.

As the divorce begins to take shape, it seems child custody of their daughter Suri will be a major point of contention. It is unclear whether the couple had a prenuptial agreement.

The decision to file in New York rather than California (where they own a home, as well as in Telluride, Colorado) might have been one of convenience – Holmes and Suri are currently living in New York – but it also might reflect a desire for privacy.”My guess is that she brought it in New York because files are sealed,” Manhattan attorney Raoul Felder, a veteran of high-profile divorce cases, told the Los Angeles Times. “If it was in California, it’s all public and you can walk into the clerk’s office and get the papers.”

Cruise’s publicist released a simple reaction:  “Katie has filed for divorce and Tom is deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children.”