The actor has had his membership application for the Hurlingham Club turned down.

Cruise, currently living in Kensington with his wife Nicole Kidman and their two children, was hoping to use the private club's tennis and croquet facilities, according to The Times.

Cruise was told that the club has a 10-year waiting list which is "not open to negotiation" and there is no "back route" to win membership.

Cruise and his family have been living in London for the past two years during the filming of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, and they will be staying in the capital for the next few months while Kidman stars in a stage production of The Blue Room, which opens this week.

Cruise is not the only star to find that his fame does not buy favours from exclusive clubs.

Sylvester Stallone has been suspended from his Miami Beach country club after he was caught speeding in his golf buggy.

"They're very strict down there," Stallone told the New York Daily News, "I got a little too close to one of the greens, and that carries an automatic two weeks suspension."

I don't believe it: Dougal has a new voice

A new version of the classic 1960s children's show The Magic Roundabout is to be given a modern twist with actor Richard Wilson providing the voice for one of the cult characters.

Wilson - best known as grumpy Victor Meldrew in the hit BBC comedy, One Foot in the Grave - has been cast as the voice of the shaggy, sugar-lump scoffing dog, Dougal in a special video to be released this Christmas.

The popular show, which originally ran for 10 years, was the brainchild of the French animator Serge Danot.

It was later re-written and voiced by Eric Thompson, father of Oscar-winning actress, Emma.

Baby's father remains a mystery

Reclusive new mother Jodie Foster has finally appeared in public with her two-month-old son, Charles. However, she still remains reticent about the identity of the baby's father.

The 35-year-old star, who once famously claimed that women over 40 only have kids so they would have someone to love them, has become more tolerant since she herself took the plunge into motherhood.

"I rue the day that I ever opened my mouth on that one. It was a really dumb thing to say," she confessed.

Astley: 80s icon

Eighties crooner Rick Astley has put the fickle world of pop behind him and bought a hairdressing salon in London's trendy Fulham area.

However, Astley, who had a string of hits on both sides of the Atlantic in the mid-80s courtesy of Stock, Aitken and Waterman, will be leaving the actual cutting to his business partner.

The 32-year-old, whose song "Never Gonna Give you Up" was the top selling UK single of 1987, has not had a record in the charts since 1993.

Springfield's finest

Hit cartoon, The Simpsons - which famously satirises Americans' love for their television sets - has been keeping school kids from their history homework, if the results of a recent survey are anything to go by.

The survey conducted among American youngsters has concluded that children know more about the notoriously dysfunctional TV family than they do about their own national heritage.

More than 70% of the school pupils know that Bart Simpson was born in the town of Springfield, whereas only 12% were aware that the US's most famous president, Abraham Lincoln was born in Springfield Illinois.

Mirren: relieved at reptilian co-star's return

A snake which vanished before its debut appearance in a play starring Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman has been found.

The foot-long asp has a starring role in the National Theatre's flagship autumn season production of Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra.

"Cedric" disappeared from his secure box at the Olivier Theatre two weeks ago. At the weekend, he suddenly slithered back into the costume room, giving staff a bit of a shock.

The way we were: first series of the US sitcom

Another battle for the cash of America's TV networks is in the offing with the stars of hit comedy, Friends reportedly fed up with their current pay scale.

Although each of the New York-apartment sharing stars earns around $60,000 for every episode of the show, they are getting only a small slice of the cake compared to other TV personalities.

Mad About You star Helen Hunt earns about $600,000 per show while Jerry Seinfeld turned down an offer of $5m per episode to make another series of his hit show.

Coronation Street legend Hilda Ogden will once again tread the cobblestones of Weatherfield, it has been announced.

Jean Alexander, the actress behind the sharp-tongued Ogden, will don her famous curlers for a special two-hour video about Corrie's female characters due out this Christmas.