Tom Cruise did not plunge to his death from a cliff in New Zealand on Wednesday morning.

The 46-year-old actor - who has two adopted children with ex-wife Nicole Kidman and a biological daughter with wife Katie Holmes - admits he was as surprised as anybody when he heard internet rumours he had either fallen or jumped off the country's famous Kauri Cliffs.

Tom's representative Jeff Raymond said: "This is completely not true. Tom is not in New Zealand nor has he been there recently. This is erroneous and unreliable internet garbage."

This is not the first time a false report about the cliffs has made it onto the web.

Two years ago, it was reported 'Castaway' actor Tom Hanks had fallen from the sheer drop and died.

It was later discovered the story had stemmed from a hoax website which allows users to type celebrities' names into story templates.

(China Daily/Agencies October 21, 2008)