Tom Cruise has a nice house

Tom Cruise’s 10,000+ square foot mansion in Beverly Hills. The actor purchased the home in April of last year for $30.5 million.

NOTE: “. . . is better than you” is a Friday feature showcasing multi-million dollar celebrity homes in the hopes of generating feelings of jealousy, hatred, and animosity towards said celebrity. When you get down to the entertainment-dollar-spending core of it, you helped buy that home. Sucker!

Previews for All My Sons — the Arthur Miller Broadway play starring Katie Holmes — begin September 18, a show rep confirms to Joynews.

The play will officially open October 16 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in NYC.

Ticket prices for the Saturday and Sunday matinees will go as high as $116.50, with Wednesday matinees selling for $111.50.

Holmes and husband Tom Cruise are planning to move to the Big Apple during the show’s 16-week run, producer Eric Falkenstein has said.

Falkenstein said Holmes has the “exact moral fiber” of her character Ann, a woman who visits the family of her former lover, a missing pilot.

At the first table-read, Holmes “took notes… asked questions… [she] loves being around theater people,” Falkenstein said.

“When she signed on, she came here to a bare rehearsal room for a read- through,” the producer said. “She didn’t ask for anything. She was just sweet and deferential.”

Victoria Beckham recently told Joynews that Holmes is “excited” for the role.

“I think Katie’s incredibly talented,” she said. “I’m very proud of her to be doing this play.”

According to Dr. Drew Pinskey (celebrity rehab) Tom Cruise may be suffering from some sort of mental illness.

Dr. Drew stated that,

A lot of people in the public eye, who behave strangely have mental illness we can learn from, and much of it based on childhood trauma, without doubt. Take a guy like Tom Cruise. Why would somebody be drawn into a cultish kind of environment like Scientology? To me, thats a function of a very deep emptiness and suggest serious neglect in childhood-maybe some abuse, but mostly neglect.

Tom Cruise’s lawyer responded by saying that Pinsky is an “unqualified television performer who is obviously just looking for notoriety. The last time we heard garbage like this was from Joseph Goebbels.”

Dr Drew’s rep responded with, “Dr. Drew meant no harm to Mr. Cruise and apologizes if his comments were hurtful.”

Tom’s lawyer said that Pinsky is a “posturing flake” who “pretends to diagnose people he’s never met.”

Drew’s rep said,

Although Mr. Field’s intent is clearly to slander and discredit Dr. Drew, under no circumstances is Dr. Drew making a blanket diagnosis about Scientology nor Mr. Cruise whom he does not know. Dr. Drew was simply using Mr. Cruise as an example of someone who is recognizable to help the public understand. Again Dr. Drew meant no harm.

So does this mean that all of the 55,000 reported Scientologists in the U.S. are suffering from mental illness or just the ones that jump on couches when they get excited? Tell me what you think, is Tom Cruise mentally ill?

If you’re wondering why Tom Cruise flew off the handle about those offhand comments (refresh your memory below) that Dr Drew Pinsky made in Playboy about Tom, you only need to look at Tom’s history. The last time Tom lost it was when Matt Lauer brought up the subject of psychology. Tom roared “I KNOW MORE ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY THAN YOU DO!” Remember, Tom has a high school education. Dr Drew is not only a medical doctor and a professor of psychiatry at USC, but medical director of the psychiatric facility at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena. Psychiatrists (and probably most educated people) are the arch - enemies of Scientology. Tom’s insulting over the top response to the Playboy mention is intended to belittle Dr Drew. Imagine, comparing Dr Drew to a Nazi!

We have to give Dr Drew credit - although he was clearly insulted by Cruise’s grammatically challenged comeback, he simply apologized in a civilized manner and said he meant no harm. Meanwhile, Tom Cruise has lost even MORE credibility.
Dr Drew to Playboy: “A lot of people in the public eye who behave strangely have mental illness we can learn from, and much of it is based on childhood trauma, without a doubt. Take a guy like Tom Cruise. Why would somebody be drawn into a cultish kind of environment like Scientology? To me, that’s a function of a very deep emptiness and suggests serious neglect in childhood - maybe some abuse, but mostly neglect.”
Tom’s retort through his lawyer Bert Fields: “This unqualified television performer who is obviously just looking for notoriety is so grotesquely unprofessional as to pretend to diagnose Tom and others without ever meeting them. He seems to be spewing the absurdity that all Scientologists are mentally ill. The last time we heard garbage like this was from Joseph Goebbels.”

“Celebrity Rehab’s” Dr. Drew Pinsky has apologized to film star Tom Cruise over comments he made in the July issue of Playboy.

Bert Fields, Cruise’s attorney, claimed Dr. Drew, a board certified specialist in addiction medicine, should be “ashamed of himself” for statements the doctor made in the Q&A section of the magazine related to the star.

“No competent professional would ever pretend to diagnose anyone he’s never met,” Fields said in a statement. “[Pinsky’s] opinions are ridiculous. He’s out to use names of celebs to attract attention to his television show. He should be ashamed of himself.”

Pinksy, who for over two decades has served as the medical expert on the radio show “Loveline,” was asked by Playboy interviewer David Hochman how people end up “screwed up” in adulthood. After suggesting such things occur based on abuse in childhood, Pinsky brought up Cruise.

“A lot of people in the public eye who behave strangely have mental illness we can learn from, and much of it is based on childhood trauma, without a doubt. Take a guy like Tom Cruise. Why would somebody be drawn into a cultish kind of environment like Scientology?” Dr. Drew said. “To me, that’s a function of a very deep emptiness and suggests serious neglect in childhood – maybe some abuse but mostly neglect. If you feel completely empty and suddenly you find a family that fills you in a deep and spiritual way, you will go in that direction.”

Pinksy went on to suggest Cruise’s promotion of Scientology was worrisome.

“His taking that narrow base of expertise and using it to influence so many people is a dangerous combination,” Pinksy told Playboy. “But he is just gratifying his emptiness.”

Following Fields’ statement slamming Pinsky’s comments, the doctor released a statement of his own through a rep, apologizing for his remarks, if they caused offense.

“Dr. Drew meant no harm to Mr. Cruise and apologizes if his comments were hurtful,” the statement read. “Although [Mr. Fields’] intent is clearly to slander and discredit Dr. Drew, under no circumstances is Dr. Drew making a blanket diagnosis about Scientology nor Mr. Cruise whom he does not know. Dr. Drew was simply using Mr. Cruise as an example of someone who is recognizable to help the public understand. Again, Dr. Drew meant him no harm.”

Copyright 2008 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Are America Ferrera and long-time boyfriend Ryan Piers Williams engaged to be married, as recent reports would have it?
“I make a point of not talking about my personal life,” declares the “Ugly Betty” star. “”But Ryan and I are still together. No, we’re not engaged. We’ve never been engaged — though there have been at least 100 reports this past year that I was engaged to Ryan.”

As her fame has soared, so, too, has the misinformation being spread about all aspects of her life. “You have to ignore some of the things that are said about you,” she says, “Laugh at others — and just shake your head over the fact that there are people who can’t find anything better to do with their time then literally create quotes out of thin air. Some of the things are awful. One magazine, for instance, quoted me as saying that when I was younger, I used to cry at my reflection. I never said such a thiing!”

America, who’ll be before the “Ugly Betty” cameras until May 9, then prepare for a movie shoot — and she has the big-screen “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2″ upcoming — doesn’t feel that the invasion of her private life is the price she should have to pay for fame.

“I don’t think I should have to sacrifice self-respect,” she declares. “People should have respect for others and not chase personalities in their cars or show up in front of their homes. That said, I do enjoy it when fans come up to me and say they love my series and like my work. But there’s a time and place for everything. Having strangers approach you when you’re out having an intimate dinner or, for instance, when you’re on the cell phone, well that can get pretty obnoxious.”

MEANWHILE: America Ferrera alerts fans of “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” to prepare for major changes in the sequel to the 2005 hit. The “Ugly Betty” star, who reprises her “Traveling Pants” role in the August 8 release, says the new flick “is very different in feel from the original.” It takes place three years later, and finds the four girls “grown up and trying to deal with friendship after their lives have taken them in different directions, with experiences the other haven’t shared.”

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Scott Baio tells us his VH1 reality show will probably be coming back for a third season. According to him, “Professional-wise I get a lot of good heat from the show because it’s sort of a different-looking reality show. At network meetings I spend the first 15 minutes talking about the show because they want to know how we do it. They’re like, ‘We don’t know what this show is. Is it real or not?’ I’m like, ‘It’s whatever you want it to be.’ I can’t tell you what’s real and not real because everything is produced – everything. But it is my life and my baby and my wife and my house, but within that we play. We know where the story is. I know sort of where I want to take my life and I try to get it there.”

While Baio is happy to have buzz surrounding “Scot Baio is…” the actor admits it hasn’t necessarily helped in getting the big roles. Nevertheless, he’s just happy to work. His latest project is the Spike TV movie “Finish Line” where he says he enjoyed playing the bad guy. The action flick about a stock car driver whose need for money leads him to unknowingly work for an arms dealer premieres tonight (4/21) in HD. “Very few people have the luxury of saying, ‘I want to do this.’ You do what comes along and you make the best of it. There is only one Clint Eastwood or one Tom Cruise. They’re the type of guys who can pick and choose exactly what they want. Guys like us, we just sort of take what we can get and hopefully it’s good stuff. This was a fun little movie. I wish I could get deeper about it, but I’m not that guy.”

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: Tom Lennon confirms that he and his cohorts hope to bring “Reno 911” back to the big screen. “We have script for a movie called ‘Reno S.O.S.,’ which is basically like ‘Lord of the Flies’ and ‘Lost’ where we crash on an island. I don’t know that they’ll necessarily green light the movie just yet, but they might.”

HAVE SCRIPT, WILL TRAVEL: Having done a string of six films over the past couple years including “Mad Money” and “Superhero Movie,” Christopher McDonald now expects to take a little time off to be with his family. However, he knows the show business rule: “If you want to work, book a very expensive vacation. If you do – and I’m going to take my kids to France – that’s the time when that gem of a role you can’t pass up comes your way.”

Oprah Winfrey went there with Tom Cruise.

I can exclusively report that Ms. Winfrey’s upcoming interview with Cruise includes questions about Scientology, his verbal smackdown with Matt Lauer on the Today show and, yes, the infamous couch jumping incident.

Winfrey actually revealed these details herself during this weekend’s Las Vegas taping of her joint interview with Tina Turner and Cher.

And that isn’t all Winfrey shared.

The first of the two-part Cruise one-on-one has already taken place at his estate in Telluride, Colorado, Winfrey said. “Oprah said Tom gave her a ride on a snowmobile,” one Vegas audience member told me. “She also said that Katie and Suri were there for the interview, too.”

Before the Cher and Turner taping at Caesars Palace, a member of Winfrey’s entourage hit the stage to ask everyone not to repeat anything they were about to see or hear. “She had everyone repeat in unison, ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ several times,” my source said.

Come on, O! Did you really think everyone in the audience of 4,000 or so was going to keep a lid on it?

The Telluride segment is set to air on Friday. Then on May 5, Cruise will return to Winfrey’s Chicago studio nearly three years after his couch jumping fiasco. So why so much Cruise? It’s the 25th anniversary of his breakout movie, Risky Business.

As for Turner and Cher, that segment airs May 8.

I’ve got even more scoop on Winfrey’s trip to Vegas. Make sure to check my video blog tomorrow to hear what happened when Turner announced she was going on tour. Drama!