In Brief

Tom Cruise Plays U.S. Diplomat in France

By Stephen M. Silverman

08/31/2004 at 08:00 AM EDT

VISITED: Tom Cruise, 42, took time out from a packed promotion schedule for his film Collateral to sit down with French Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday, the ministry said. The hourlong meeting, held at the actor's request, touched on issues including Franco-American relations, which were damaged last year by France's vocal opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. It's not clear why Cruise wanted to meet Sarkozy, who has made no secret of his presidential ambitions but is little known overseas, Reuters reports.

BORN: Frasier star Kelsey Grammer, 49, and his wife, former Playboy model Camille Donatacci, are the parents of a boy, born Saturday through a surrogate mother, the Associated Press reports. Jude Gordon Grammer weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was born at 4:11 a.m. Saturday in Sacramento, Calif. He is now in Los Angeles with his parents, who married seven years ago. "They are happy and healthy," said publicist Stan Rosenfield. The couple's daughter, Mason Olivia, was born to a surrogate mother in October 2001.

CAST: Jimmy Smits, 46, is joining the cast of the The West Wing as a three-term congressman from Houston who might fill the Oval Office being emptied by fictional second-term President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen), NBC has announced. The network used that same phrase to describe Alan Alda's character, a Republican senator from California, when it was announced that the M*A*S*H veteran will appear on the White House drama.

DIAGNOSED: Major Dad actor Gerald McRaney, 56, underwent surgery at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston on Monday to remove a cancerous growth from his lung, AP reports. The actor is a longtime smoker. "I'm sure that he will plan to quit," McRaney spokesman Henri Bollinger said. McRaney will remain in the hospital for several days before returning to his Los Angeles home next week where he is expected to begin work on the new TV series Commando Nanny, which begins airing in September on the WB network.

REUNITED: The cast of the original Star Trek gathered last weekend at a Los Angeles sci-fi convention to pay tribute to cast member James "Scotty" Doohan, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, joined Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, George Takei and Nichelle Nichols, among others, at the gathering, organized by Planet Xpo. On Tuesday, Doohan is to be honored with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

BOOED: Speaking at the Republican National Convention Monday, Arizona Sen. John McCain called the documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 the work of "a disingenuous filmmaker who would have us believe that Saddam's Iraq was an oasis of peace." The remark prompted most of those inside Madison Square Garden to erupt in boos for Michael Moore – who was in the hall, covering the proceedings for USA Today. As delegates chanted, "Four more years," Moore, looking very amused, shouted back, "Two more months." Asked about McCain's statement, Moore told AP, "I can't believe they're dumb enough to bring up the film and help its box office."