AceShowbiz -

Adding another trophy into his shelf, "Top Gun" actor Tom Cruise received a special honor at the 59th annual Bambi Media Prize Awards ceremony taking place in the northern city of Duesseldorf, Germany on Thursday, November 29, 2007.

The three-time Oscar nominee was bestowed the Courage prize for his willingness to take risks in his movies. Prize committee remarked that the star has pursued brave projects that otherwise would not have been made, including the latest one "Valkyrie", in which he plays a German army officer hatching a plot to assassinate Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

"Tom Cruise is making an international public familiar with a story that has never before been the theme of a major Hollywood production: the German resistance against the Third Reich," the competition jury said in a statement.

Apart from Cruise, the ceremony also handed out kudos to other acting names that included Italian actress Sophie Loren and some German actors like Katja Riemann, Benjamin Stadler, and Armin Mueller-Stahl, recently seen in David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises." The awards event is held under the patronage of German publisher Hubert Burda Media, honoring celebrities from the world of entertainment, literature, sport, and politics.