We're used to seeing movie stars save the day on screen, where there's a script, a stunt team and a director ready to call "cut." These stars did it in real life, with no rehearsal. They helped a sick hiker off a mountain, pulled drivers from wrecked cars, helped carry a 90-year-old woman out of a burning house, and stepped into dangerous street scenes. Each one saw a stranger in trouble and decided to help instead of driving past. Here are their stories, drawn from news reports at the time.
Harrison Ford: Harrison Ford flew his own helicopter to rescue a sick hiker
On July 31, 2000, 20-year-old hiker Sarah George became ill from heat, altitude and dehydration near the summit of Table Mountain, an 11,106-foot peak, and could barely walk. Another hiker called for help on a cell phone. The pilot who came for her was Harrison Ford, a part-time resident of Jackson, Wyoming, flying his own Bell 407 helicopter. Her friend Megan Freeman and two other hikers carried George about two miles down to a meadow where Ford could land. They didn't know who the pilot was until the EMT on board told them. Ford flew George to St. John's Hospital in Jackson. The local sheriff said Ford's volunteer flights saved the roughly $1,000 an hour a private pilot would cost. George later joked, "I can't believe I barfed in Harrison Ford's helicopter."
Jamie Foxx: Jamie Foxx pulled a trapped driver from a burning truck
On the evening of January 18, 2016, a pickup truck crashed on Potrero Road in Hidden Valley, California, right in front of Jamie Foxx's home. According to the California Highway Patrol, the truck rolled several times, landed on its side and caught fire with 32-year-old driver Brett Kyle trapped inside. Foxx heard the crash, called 911 and ran to the scene. With another man's help, he broke a window, used EMT scissors to cut the seat belt and pulled Kyle out. Foxx said the truck went up in flames about five seconds after they got him clear. His property manager said Foxx had minor cuts and burns on his hands. Kyle's father later met Foxx to thank him in person.
Kate Winslet: Kate Winslet helped carry a 90-year-old woman from a burning house
In August 2011, Kate Winslet was staying in the Great House on Necker Island, Richard Branson's private resort in the British Virgin Islands. At about 4 a.m., during the storm system from Hurricane Irene, a fire broke out and destroyed the building. Lightning was the suspected cause. Branson's 90-year-old mother, Eve, was staying in the house, and Winslet helped carry her out to safety. Branson thanked Winslet on his blog and joked that she had been waiting for a director to call "cut." News reports said no one was injured. Branson said he planned to rebuild the house.
Patrick Dempsey: Patrick Dempsey pried open a wrecked car to free a teenager
In April 2012, 17-year-old Weston Masset lost control of his car near Patrick Dempsey's home in Malibu, California, and the car flipped. Masset was trapped inside and barely conscious. ABC News reported that Dempsey, then starring as a neurosurgeon on "Grey's Anatomy," saw the crash, used a crowbar to pry the doors open and pulled him out. Dempsey called paramedics, who flew Masset to a hospital. He was treated for a concussion and an eye injury. Dempsey also phoned the teen's mother to tell her what had happened. She said she was grateful and wanted to thank him in person.
Benedict Cumberbatch: Benedict Cumberbatch jumped out of a car to stop an attack on a cyclist
London police said a delivery cyclist was attacked on Marylebone High Street in November 2017, near Baker Street, the famous fictional home of Sherlock Holmes. The story came out in June 2018. Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Sherlock on television, was riding past in an Uber with his wife, Sophie Hunter. The driver, Manuel Dias, said they saw four men attacking the cyclist and hitting him with a bottle. According to Dias, Cumberbatch jumped out and grabbed one of the attackers while Dias held another. The delivery company Deliveroo publicly thanked the actor. His spokeswoman declined to comment.
Denzel Washington: Denzel Washington stopped his car to help a man standing in traffic
On May 21, 2020, Denzel Washington was driving in the Los Angeles area when he saw a man standing in the street and facing oncoming traffic. According to reports, the actor got out of his car and walked the man to the sidewalk. Video of the encounter showed Washington wearing a face mask and comforting the man. He also spoke with police officers when they arrived. Washington had brought food and a bottle of juice for the man. A representative later explained that he pulled over because the man was in danger of being hit by passing cars.
Ryan Gosling: Ryan Gosling pulled a pedestrian back from a passing taxi
On April 3, 2012, British journalist Laurie Penny was crossing Sixth Avenue in Manhattan while wearing a pink wig. She later wrote that she had been looking the wrong way. Someone grabbed her away from a passing cab, and she tweeted that her rescuer was Ryan Gosling. "I literally, LITERALLY just got saved from a car by Ryan Gosling," she wrote. The local news site DNAinfo reported her account. A woman who saw it happen reportedly told Penny how lucky she was. Gosling's publicist did not respond to requests for comment. Penny later asked fans and the press to calm down about the story.
Sources
- https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/story?id=116341
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Actor_Harrison_Ford_touring_the_Air_Force_Museum_in_Dayton,_Ohio_(cropped).JPG
- https://abc7.com/news/jamie-foxx-pulls-trapped-driver-from-fiery-wreck/1165185/
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TIFF_2019_jamie_foxx_(cropped).jpg
- https://hotelsmag.com/news/fire-torches-great-house-on-bransons-necker-island
- https://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/ryan-gosling-breaks-up-a-street-kate-winslet-rescues-elderly-woman-from-burning-house/?print=1
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kate_Winslet_2024_The_Regime_premiere_01_(cropped).png
- https://abcnews.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/04/patrick-dempsey-saves-teens-life
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Patrick_Dempsey_2011_(cropped).jpg
- https://abc13.com/benedict-cumberbatch-muggers-attackers-uber/3558974/
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benedict_Cumberbatch-67295_(3x4_cropped).jpg
- https://atlantablackstar.com/2020/05/25/denzel-washington-comes-to-aid-of-homeless-man-in-hollywood-roadway/
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Denzel_Washington_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_04_(cropped).jpg
- https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120404/manhattan/ryan-gosling-saves-woman-from-stepping-into-traffic/video/171947
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryan_Gosling_at_SSIFF_2018_(2)_(cropped).jpg
