It's a girl for Katie Holmes
2006-04-19 08:33
Los Angeles - The Tomkitten has arrived.
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, the public lovebirds dubbed TomKat by the media, had a baby girl Tuesday, said Cruise spokesperson Arnold Robinson.
The baby, named Suri, weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces (3.4kg) and measured 20 inches (50.8cm) long, he said.
"Both mother and daughter are doing well," Robinson said in a prepared statement.
The name Suri has its origins in Hebrew, meaning "princess," or in Persian, meaning "red rose," the statement said.
The baby was born in Los Angeles but the exact location was not disclosed.
"Yay, yay, yay," said actress and fellow Scientologist Kirstie Alley. "Bring her over so I can meet her."
The news was announced just in time for comedian Jay Leno to pass along word during taping of his Tonight Show monologue.
"I just got a phone call that Tom Cruise had a baby girl about two minutes ago. No joke," Leno said.
It's the first child for Holmes, 27. Cruise, 43, has an adopted daughter and son from his marriage to Nicole Kidman.
Details surrounding the birth, which was planned under the tenets of the Church of Scientology as a silent procedure, weren't disclosed.
Scientologists believe words spoken during times of pain are recorded by the "reactive mind" and can potentially cause problems for mother and baby later in life.
A spokesman from the Church of Scientology International declined comment and referred inquiries to Cruise's publicist.
Ironically, Suri was born the same day as Brooke Shields' daughter, Grier Hammond Henchy.
Shields and Cruise had a public spat last year after he criticised the actress for taking antidepressants following the birth of her first child.
Appearing on the Today show, Cruise said there was no such thing as chemical imbalances that need to be corrected with drugs, and that depression could be treated with exercise and vitamins.
About a dozen reporters and photographers stood outside the Beverly Hills home where Cruise and Holmes live. Security officers inside the compound videotaped the journalists.
A security guard at the gate - which was shrouded in black to prevent anyone from seeing in - refused to release any information. A few cars did arrive and were allowed into the estate. A police motorcycle officer stopped and sat watching the goings-on.
A publicity blitz for Cruise's new movie, Mission: Impossible III, was set to begin on Wednesday but the actor cancelled all press appearances, a Paramount representative said.
It was just about a year ago that Cruise's romance with Holmes became a world sensation.
Cruise hopped up and down on a couch during an interview with Oprah Winfrey as he professed his love.
"I can't be cool. I can't be laid-back," Cruise declared at the time. "Something happened and I want to celebrate it."
He and Holmes, a star of TV's Dawson's Creek, had been first photographed together in Rome in April 2005.
- AP