Kate Winslet has son in New York

Baby Joe is a first child for the actress and her husband

Actress Kate Winslet has become a mother for the second time after giving birth to a son, her agent has said.

It is the actress's first child with her second husband, the film director Sam Mendes, who was in New York on 22 December for the birth.

Winslet, 28, and Mendes, 38, have named their son, who weighed in at 3.5kg (7lbs13oz), Joe.

The couple married in secret in the West Indies in May and announced they were expecting a child in July.

They are said to be "overjoyed" by the birth and Winslet phoned her 63-year-old father Roger and mother Sally in the early hours of the morning to tell them the news.

'Wonderful'

Mr Winslet told the Daily Mail: "I answered the phone and it was a very welcome call.

"I took the phone back into bed and we sat there giggling and laughing and feeling how wonderful it was.

"Hopefully we will be seeing the baby soon - we are planning to fly to New York."

Winslet already has a three-year-old daughter, Mia, from her first marriage to British film director Jim Threapleton.

Threapleton and Winslet split after reports in the press of arguments, while family members said the demands of the actress' career had put an impossible strain on the relationship.

The star of the film Titanic began a relationship with the Oscar-winning American Beauty director soon after her divorce from Threapleton in December 2001.