Where's Suri? Cruise Baby Photos Still Under Wraps

July 7, 2006 — -- As if the public's lukewarm reaction to "Mission: Impossible III" has made him skittish to negative reviews, Tom Cruise has yet to release pictures of his new daughter, Suri, and even some of the star's close friends reportedly haven't seen the child.

"No one has seen Suri," an unnamed Hollywood insider said to Us Magazine, adding that such friends as Victoria Beckham, fellow Scientologists John Travolta and Kelly Preston, as well as Will Smith and "Collateral" co-star Jada Pinkett Smith, had yet to see the 2½-month-old infant.

"[The Smiths] keep calling Tom to see her," the source said.

Suri was born on April 18 at the Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., the same day Brooke Shields gave birth to daughter Grier.

Shields, who famously clashed with Cruise over the use of medicine to treat postpartum depression, has since been seen toting her child around Hollywood. Pictures of the baby have been released.

In subsequent weeks, celebrity baby fever hit an even bigger frenzy, when Angelina Jolie gave birth to daughter Shiloh in Namibia, Gwen Stefani gave birth to son Kingston James, and Rachel Weisz welcomed son Henry Chance. Photos of the infants have been captured and published.

Feelers for a Baby Photo Auction

Jolie and Brad Pitt have since sold baby pictures, reportedly raising $4 million for charity.

Cruise reportedly has sent out feelers about the possible auction of a baby photo, Us Weekly reports. Photo agency WireImage approached multiple sources about bidding for rights to publish the image.

On May 11, before bidding was to begin, the agency sent out an e-mail declaring, "The baby shoot is on hold for now." Us Weekly says it received the message because it was one of the potential bidders for the picture.

Days after Suri's birth, Cruise hit the road to promote "M:I:3" and spoke like a proud new father, describing the new child and the moments he'd shared with Holmes.

Cruise and Holmes have spent most of their time at his Beverly Hills mansion, and vacationed at his Telluride, Colo., vacation house in June. While the couple has been pictured in public together, the baby has yet to be seen.

Such a quest for privacy certainly is in contrast to Cruise's highly public courtship of Holmes, highlighted by his famous couch-jumping moment with Oprah Winfrey, and the Eiffel Tower news conference to announce their engagement.

"It's strange that Tom would go from the one extreme of sharing every detail of his life to the other extreme of withdrawing from the public eye," says celebrity style maven Rachel Weingarten, the author of "Hello Gorgeous!"

"On one hand, Tom was such an advocate of silent birth," Weingarten says. "Maybe he and Katie are just focused on keeping things as silent and serene as they can for the kid. Then again, maybe Tom won't show us the kid until he has another movie or DVD to promote."

Cruise was not always so eager to share his private life, even after he became a big star. He and ex-wife Nicole Kidman adopted their daughter, Isabella, in 1993 and son Connor in 1995, but it wasn't until 1996, after Connor's second birthday, that the couple released a family photo to the media.

"We might yet see little Suri on the fall season debut of Oprah, jumping up and down on her own little couch," says Weingarten.