Tom Terrific - 1996-08-26
Tom Terrific August 26, 1996,
Or, in this case, water. The actor's most recent brush with risky business came on the morning of Aug. 7 as Cruise, 34, and wife Nicole Kidman, 29, were breakfasting on the Talitha G. That's the luxurious chartered yacht on which the couple, their two toddlers and some high-powered pals (including a pair of studio heads) were enjoying a leisurely, weeklong cruise. Mid-croissant, they spotted a sailboat on fire and five people bobbing in a rubber raft nearby.
Wasting no time, Cruise immediately sent over his yacht's skiff to bring the victims to safety. Just moments after the stricken sailors-French paper tycoon Jacques Lejeune, 68, his wife, Bernadette, 42, daughter Eugénie, 7, and two crew members-reached safety, their 63-foot vessel sank. Cruise, who kept his feet dry and caught the whole incident on camcorder from his perch on deck, "did what any decent person would do," proclaimed the actor's delighted publicist Pat Kingsley. "If I ever get in trouble, I hope Tom Cruise is nearby."