What you might not know about the American author
The longtime friends were on an ice cream run in New York City when they encountered an in-progress assault. While speaking at the Committee to Protect Journalists awards in 2017, Streep said, "Someone else was being abused, and I just went completely nuts and went after this man. Ask Cher - she was there. And the thug ran away, it was a miracle."
Jeremy Renner famously ended up in hospital with more than 30 broken bones on New Year's Day, 2023, after getting run over by a snow plow. It was later revealed that Renner was trying to save his nephew from being hit by the vehicle when he got crushed. Renner was airlifted to hospital, where he underwent two surgeries in the ICU. He was released two weeks later and underwent months of recovery at home.
The actor spent six months in Costa Rica after he graduated from high school. While he was there, he saved a woman who was drowning.
In 2014, at a PGA Tour party, Eastwood performed the Heimlich maneuver on a fellow guest who was choking on a piece of cheese, saving the man's life.
On a June 2017 Jimmy Kimmel Live appearance, the actor recalled that he used abdominal thrusts to save his friend from choking.
While vacationing with his family in Hawaii in 2004, the then California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, rescued a man from drowning.
The actor was a Good Samaritan when he escorted a pregnant woman and her toddler out of the water in Miami in 2015, after the woman reportedly saw a shark lurking around.
Back in 2022, the actor and his friends stepped in to stop a knife fight between a man and a woman on the street in Adelaide, Australia.
On December 30, 2019, DiCaprio was on a boat that found a Frenchman who had been treading water for 11 hours near the island of St. Barts. The man had fallen off a cruise ship. The actor immediately agreed to have the vessel he was on diverted in order for the crew to save the man.
When a fan had a seizure during his stand-up show in Phoenix, the doctor-turned-actor rushed to help her and stayed with her until she recovered.
Radcliffe was walking in west London when thieves slashed a tourist's face and tried to steal his bag. Radcliffe and other pedestrians came to the aid of the victim.
In July 2023, Jerry O'Connell and his wife, Rebecca Romijn, were driving through Malibu with their 14-year-old twins when they came across a food truck that had gone up in flames. As O'Connell witnessed sheriff's deputies pulling a man out of the vehicle, he decided to get out of his car and help bring the fire under control.
It turns out, Tom Cruise is both a hero on and off-screen. In 1996, the actor ordered the crew of his yacht to pick up five people in a drifting raft. The five had to abandon their own burning sailboat in the Mediterranean.
While signing autographs in New York in June 2019, Holland helped a girl who began suffering from a panic attack due the crowd who were aggressively shoving their way to the front.
In 2002, a motorcycle-riding Vin Diesel spotted a car crash in front of him. He then ran over to extricate the family before the car reportedly went up in flames.
On August 7, 2019, the 'Machete' star rescued a baby trapped in a car seat in an overturned vehicle in Los Angeles. Two vehicles had crashed, causing the rollover. With the help of a bystander, Trejo was able to get the baby to safety.
Cumberbatch and his wife, Sophie Hunter, were in a London Uber when they saw a delivery cyclist being attacked by four men. The actor jumped out of the car to yell at the attackers before physically engaging with them. The muggers ran away.
In 2011, Gosling broke up a nasty fight in the streets of New York. Later, the actor said he was "embarrassed" by the whole situation.
The royal had been chatting with Anna Pollock, an RAF medic, at the trials for the Invictus Games in 2016, when her wheelchair was knocked over by a strong gust of wind. The prince rushed to rescue her.
'Modern Family' star Julie Bowen and her sister helped rescue a hiker when she fainted at Arches National Park in Moab, Utah, in 2021.
The Oscar-winner was staying at the Caribbean mansion of her friend Sir Richard Branson during Hurricane Irene in 2011. After a lightning bolt hit the house and caused a fire, she carried Branson's 90-year-old mother to safety.
In 2017, Harrison Ford rescued a woman from a car accident. In 2001, he used his pilot skills to track down a 13-year-old Boy Scout who got lost in Yellowstone National Park. A year earlier, he had already saved the lives of two hikers suffering from altitude sickness in Wyoming. Talk about a real life hero!
In 2009, the star contacted police after a 48-year-old woman tweeted that she planned to end her life. The second time, in 2010, she and actress Nia Vardalos separately called local authorities when a young man threatened via tweet to hang himself.
In 2018, Wilson was involved in a three-car accident in LA. The actor and another witness had to help a woman who was trapped in her BMW, but the driver of the third car died at the scene.
In 2016, Foxx proved he was a real-life superhero when he pulled a man out of a burning car. The A-lister rushed to the rescue when the man crashed his car outside his home in Hidden Valley, California.
While out for a drive, the singer came across four men who'd been stranded near the Oklahoma River for two hours. Shelton first attempted to pull them out by himself; when that failed, the country star successfully used his tractor.
In 2015 while having a beach day in Malibu, California, the actor assisted other bystanders in towing a broken down water craft, and its passenger, out of the water.
The actress once had to call 911 after she spotted a girl who had collapsed near her house. Lawrence helped the young woman until medical assistance arrived.
In 2013, Klum rescued her oldest son Henry and two nannies who were sucked into a riptide on their Hawaiian vacation.
In 2010, T.I. aided Atlanta's police to convince a man who was threatening to jump off a building to step back from the ledge.
Sources: (People) (CNN) (Bustle)
See also: Celebs who've had near-death experiences
On the night of September 10, 2024, rockstar Jon Bon Jovi was filming a music video on a bridge in Nashville. A video posted by the authorities shows that Bon Jovi and his crew stopped when they noticed a woman standing on the outer ledge of the bridge. They approached her to talk, and shortly after pulled her to safety. Bon Jovi and the woman were seen embracing before walking out of the shot. It appears that she was thinking about jumping from the bridge, but was convinced to come off the ledge by Bon Jovi and another individual. “It takes all of us to help keep each other safe,” said Chief of Police John Drake in a statement on social media. The incident took place on the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, over Tennessee’s Cumberland River.
Just because celebrities sometimes play heroic figures on screen doesn't mean they aren't also real-life heroes. Life imitates art more than you'd imagine; several celebs have literally saved lives and rescued a person in need! Whether it's pulling someone out of a burning building, saving someone from drowning, or calling the paramedics and waiting with the victim, these stars did something good.
On November 24, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton saved a child after winning a game against the Carolina Panthers. The incident took place at the Bank of America Stadium in North Carolina. The 26-year-old player was walking off the field when a young fan leaning through a gap in the safety rail to wave suddenly tumbled head-first from the stand, which was around 10 feet (three meters) off the ground. Wharton leaped forward to catch the boy and lifted him back up to safety. “It was a natural reaction,” Wharton said in an interview a few days later. Given the way the child fell, he could have sustained a serious head injury or worse.
Click through the gallery and see more celebrities who went above and beyond to save lives.
Remarkable stories of celebrities saving lives
NFL star Tershawn Wharton saves child who fell from the stands
CELEBRITY Heroes
Just because celebrities sometimes play heroic figures on screen doesn't mean they aren't also real-life heroes. Life imitates art more than you'd imagine; several celebs have literally saved lives and rescued a person in need! Whether it's pulling someone out of a burning building, saving someone from drowning, or calling the paramedics and waiting with the victim, these stars did something good.
On November 24, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton saved a child after winning a game against the Carolina Panthers. The incident took place at the Bank of America Stadium in North Carolina. The 26-year-old player was walking off the field when a young fan leaning through a gap in the safety rail to wave suddenly tumbled head-first from the stand, which was around 10 feet (three meters) off the ground. Wharton leaped forward to catch the boy and lifted him back up to safety. “It was a natural reaction,” Wharton said in an interview a few days later. Given the way the child fell, he could have sustained a serious head injury or worse.
Click through the gallery and see more celebrities who went above and beyond to save lives.