A BIZARRE story has emerged claiming that actor Tom Cruise almost had his arm broken by a walking stick after he caused a stir in a Co. Kerry pub.
Michael Healy-Rae, an Irish independent politician, spoke about the incident on The Pat Kenny Show.
The story goes that Cruise had walked into the Loo Bridge Bar outside Kilgarvan with co-star and future wife Nicole Kidman in 1991 in the midst of filming the Ron Howard drama Far and Away in the county.
Tom Cruise with his co-star and future wife Nicole Kidman in the 1992 film Far and AwayAfter being served a couple of diet cokes (ever the professionals), a furious regular in the pub accused Mr Cruise of stealing a pack of cigarettes and swung at him with his walking stick.
Healy-Rae explained how the Hollywood duo entered the pub one afternoon, wearing jeans and sunglasses, but otherwise going unrecognised.
"There was a man sitting down the end of the counter called Ger the Manny," he said.
"He was an elderly man and he had his stick up on the counter and he was sipping away at a little glass of Guinness."
The bartender working that day, called Matt, served the young couple two glasses of diet coke with ice, before heading into a backroom briefly.
Healy-Rae continued: "When he was gone, the Yank leaned behind the counter and he had his hand dipped inside the counter.
Tom Cruise with Nicole Kidman for the world premiere of his new film, "Mission Impossible""Ger jumped up off his stool, he caught his stick and drew a belt at yer man’s hand trying to hit him across the hand.
"But he just missed and there was a big bang down on the counter right near the Yank’s hand."
After hearing the bang, Matt rushed back to the bar, where Cruise apparently told him: "My goodness, I was just leaning in to get a bit more ice."
But Ger the Manny wasn't convinced and disputed Cruise's claims of innocence, shouting: "You bastard, you were trying to steal Matt's fags!"
But the actor supposedly stuck to his story, according to Healy-Rae: "The Yank looked at them and said, 'I was not, I was trying to steal nothing.' They sipped away at their Diet Coke and left."
He added: "If Ger had been an inch or two longer he could have broke [his] arm."
