Tom falls from No 1 celebrity spot

Even by Hollywood standards it's a spectacular fall from grace. Twelve months ago, Tom Cruise was the world's number one box office draw, worth an estimated £300 million and named in a survey of the rich and famous as the most powerful celebrity on the planet.

But now, just short of his 40th birthday, the actor has completely dropped out of the list of the 100 most powerful public figures.

At the same time, his ex-wife Nicole Kidman, 34, has seen her career go into the stratosphere - picking up a host of awards for her performance as Satine in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, and joining the list for the first time in a respectable 27th place.

The list, put together by the American chronicler of wealth Forbes Global magazine, ranks celebrities by measuring their global earnings, US press clippings, US magazine cover stories and internet and US television appearances over the past 12 months.

Number one in the list of powerful celebrities was Britney Spears.

Coming in at second was Tiger Woods, followed by Steven Spielberg and Madonna.

Dennis Kneale, managing editor of Forbes, said: "It's an unprecedented fall. Tom has suffered a big decline in the last year but Nicole has gone luminous. I don't think we've ever had someone at number one going right off the list before. He's had what we call a seriously down year."

It was a rough 12 months for Kidman too, despite her professional triumphs, with the very public collapse of her 10-year marriage to Cruise. The Australian said she was taken completely by surprise when he requested a divorce in February last year - so much so that she asked him to try marriage counselling.

Critics predicted that the break-up would destroy her career, but she proved the doubters wrong, striking box office gold with a series of hit films.

She has also been linked with a number of leading Hollywood men, cattily observing that the split from the diminutive Cruise allowed her to wear high-heels again.

Many people were impressed with the composed and dignified way Kidman handled the public and media scrutiny into her love life.

Sir Elton John heaped praise on her, saying after the divorce: "She looked cold and in his shadow before, but now she's blossomed. I really fancy her - she is sexy."

Kidman climbed to 27th position in the Forbes list by earning more than £10 million, registering 312,000 web hits and generating six magazine cover stories and nearly 20,000 press clippings in the last 12 months.

Her position in the top 100 placed her ahead of Hollywood heavyweight stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford and Robert DeNiro.

Cruise and Kidman avoided an embarrassing and bitter court battle by agreeing a private divorce settlement in November last year.

Details of the deal remain secret but it is known Kidman gained a substantial share of Cruise's fortune.

The pair also agreed to share custody of their two adopted children, Isabella, eight, and Conor, aged six.

While Kidman has gone from strength to strength - even notching up a British No 1 single for her duet of Something Stupid with Robbie Williams - Cruise's recent films such as Vanilla Sky have not repeated the success of previous smash hits Top Gun or Mission Impossible.

But Cruise, who is currently dating Spanish born actress Penelope Cruz, is hoping his new £54 million sci-fi thriller Minority Report will restore him to the big time.

Mr Kneale added: "Tom's had a bad year but I don't think we should feel too sorry for him. He's still worth an enormous amount of money. The list looks at a person over a year - not their net worth. He's not on skid row quite yet."

Best-placed Briton on the list was Sir Elton John at number 25, ahead of Harry Potter author JK Rowling at 34.

Others to make the cut were world number one boxer Lennox Lewis at 38, veteran rocker Eric Clapton at 52 and wild rocker Ozzy Osbourne and his family at 85.