 Cruise is an outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology and its associated social programs, and credits it with helping him overcome dyslexia.In the 2000s, he sparked controversy with his Church-affiliated criticisms of psychiatry and anti-depressant drugs, his efforts to promote Scientology as a religion in Europe, and a leaked video interview of him promoting Scientology.Cruise was born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV in Syracuse, New York, on July 3, 1962, the son of special education teacher Mary Lee (née Pfeiffer; 1936–2017) and electrical engineer Thomas Cruise Mapother III (1934–1984).