Born on the Fourth of July (film)
Born on the Fourth of July is a 1989 American epic biographical anti-war film that is based on the 1976 autobiography of Ron Kovic. Directed by Oliver Stone, and written by Stone and Kovic, it stars Tom Cruise, Kyra Sedgwick, Raymond J. Barry, Jerry Levine, Frank Whaley, and Willem Dafoe. The film depicts the life of Kovic (Cruise) over a 20-year period, detailing his childhood, his military service and paralysis during the Vietnam War, and his transition to anti-war activism. It is the second installment in Stone's trilogy of films about the Vietnam War, following Platoon (1986) and preceding Heaven & Earth (1993).
Theatrical release poster
Director Oliver Stone in February 1987
Tom Cruise (pictured in 1989) portrays Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic.
Ron Kovic attending the 62nd Academy Awards on March 26, 1990. He and Stone received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay twenty-two years to the day after he was injured.
Ronald Lawrence Kovic is an American anti-war activist, author, and United States Marine Corps sergeant who was wounded and paralyzed in the Vietnam War. His 1976 memoir Born on the Fourth of July was made into the film of the same name which starred actor Tom Cruise as Kovic, and was co-written by Kovic and directed by Oliver Stone.
Ron Kovic at an anti-war rally in Los Angeles, California, on October 12, 2007.
Kovic (left) leading other disabled veterans after ending their 17-day hunger strike, March 1974
Kovic at the 62nd Academy Awards