Cruise and Holmes expecting baby

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise are expecting their first child together. File picture / Reuters

LOS ANGELES - Movie star Tom Cruise and his fiancee, actress Katie Holmes, are expecting a baby together, a spokeswoman for the actor said yesterday.

News that Holmes, 27, is pregnant with Cruise's child was first reported by People magazine on its website.

"I can confirm that," spokeswoman Marlan Willard said when asked about the report, but added that she had no information about a due date or any other details.

A statement from Cruise's chief publicist, sister Lee Anne DeVette, added: "Tom and Katie are very excited, and the entire family is very excited."

No wedding date for the couple has been set.

Cruise, 43, and Holmes began dating in mid-April, and he proposed to her in June at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, announcing their engagement the next day at a news conference.

A month earlier, Cruise had drawn sniggers and raised eyebrows with a manic, couch-hopping appearance on The Oprah Winfrey show professing his love for the actress.

The twice-married Cruise, currently shooting the action movie Mission: Impossible III, adopted two children, Connor, 10, and Isabella, 12, with former wife Nicole Kidman.

- REUTERS