13 celebrities who have saved lives
13 celebrities who have saved lives
Skyler TrepelSat, May 30, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC
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Tom Cruise, Heidi Klum, and Jamie Foxx
Credit: Ron Galella Collection via Getty; Lloyd Bishop/NBCU Photo Bank/getty; Frazer Harrison/Getty
Celebrities aren’t your typical heroes, but they do sometimes rise to the challenge in ways that reflect the characters they play. We’ve all seen Tom Cruise saving the world onscreen, but did you know he’s saved lives in the real world, too?
Recently, Police Academy star Steve Guttenberg made headlines while lending a helping hand during the Palisades fires in Los Angeles — and, in at least one case, took matters into his own hands.
“In a crisis, always remember that you’re part of a community," Guttenberg told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “If you’re able-bodied, you’ve got to help. You’ve got to help. You can’t walk by somebody when they need something. You just can’t walk by them. You have to help them. There are a lot of people who need help.”
From Arnold Schwarzenegger saving a drowning swimmer to licensed pilot Harrison Ford using his flight skills to rescue hikers, here are 13 celebrities who have saved lives.
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan during The 25th Annual Crystal Awards in 2001
Credit: SGranitz/WireImage
In the James Bondmovies, the titular agent is the ultimate hero, known for saving the world and (per one perhaps outdated stereotype) the Bond girl of the moment.
In one specific case, that spy movie trope became all too real when Pierce Brosnan had to save Halle Berry on the set of Die Another Day (2002). While filming a scene, Berry’s Jinx Johnson — a highly capable special agent — is attempting to seduce 007. But things went horribly wrong when the actor started choking on what was meant to be her instrument of temptation.
“I was supposed to be all sexy and seduce him with a fig. And then I end up choking on it. And he had to get up and do the Heimlich,” Berry told Jimmy Fallon in 2020. “So not sexy. So not sexy… You should've seen it… James Bond knows how to Heimlich.”
Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi at Radio City Music Hall in 2001
Credit: Jim Spellman/WireImage
Steve Buscemi is one of those ubiquitous actors who seems like he’s been everywhere for as long as you can remember. From Reservoir Dogs(1992) to Netflix's Wednesday, he's been a beloved and prolific actor for decades.
However, prior to his acting career taking off, he was a New York firefighter in the '80s. While he saved lives during his initial tenure, it was his return to firefighting in the wake of 9/11 to rescue survivors from the rubble that’s lived on in the hearts of fans.
“When 9/11 happened, that connection just came flooding back,” Buscemi told Time in 2021. “And I was really concerned about my company and other firefighters that I knew. The morning of the 12th, I went to my old firehouse just to see... and then I ended up down at the site.”
He still had his old gear, and so he found himself working alongside other firefighters to clear rubble and removed trapped bodies.
Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise after a 1988 taping of David Letterman's show
Credit: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Tom Cruise’s heroics aren’t just limited to his work as secret agent Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible franchise. In fact, he’s saved people’s lives on a number of real-life occasions.
In between takes while filming Cocktail (1988), the actor saw costar Elisabeth Shue darting toward a helicopter's tail rotor — which, when in motion, is barely visible and thus instantly lethal.
According to camera operator Bill Bennett, Cruise “lunged after [Shue], but only was able to grab her legs, tackling her to the ground… [When she realized], she turned white, and he pulled her back towards the front of the helicopter and they walked away. All of us in the helicopter, we’re quite shaken up by the close call, but there was nothing to be said. Tom had, in that instant, truly saved her life.”
That wasn't his last heroic act. In 1996, the same year the first Mission: Impossible film came out, Cruise was on a yacht with his then-wife Nicole Kidman when he saw a nearby boat — which had five people on board — had caught fire. He sent out a skiff to help rescue them.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio at the Japan premiere of 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' in 2019
Credit: Christopher Jue/Getty
First, Leonardo DiCaprio starred in a movie about a famous shipwreck with James Cameron’s 1997 epic Titanic. Then, several years later, he actually saved a man who went overboard in real life.
In December 2019, the Academy Award-winning star was vacationing with friends and then-girlfriend Camila Morrone on a boat in St. Barts when they received an alert about a man who had fallen overboard on a Club Med yacht.
As various groups searched the nearby waters for the man, DiCaprio’s boat was the only one in the vicinity of where he’d drifted and led to his rescue. Apparently, the man had been treading water for about 11 hours.
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood at the National Board of Review Gala in 2015
Credit: Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic
Clint Eastwood has delivered more than his share of heroic performances over his decades-long career. But his most impressive moment of all may have been saving the life of golf tournament director Steve John in 2014.
Eastwood was attending a volunteer party on the eve of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February of that year when he noticed John choking on a piece of cheese.
The actor and director, 83 years old at the time, ran over and performed the Heimlich maneuver. It was Eastwood’s first time doing so, but as soon as he saw John, he knew what he had to do.
“I looked into his eyes and saw that look of panic from when people see their life passing before their eyes,” the Oscar winner told The Caramel Pine Cone. “It looked bad.”
Laurence Fishburne
Laurence Fishburne on the set of 'Apocalypse Now'
Credit: Zoetrope Studios/United Artist/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty
Another instance of an actor saving another took place close to the set of Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam epic Apocalypse Now(1979),when Laurence Fishburne saved the life of Emilio Estevez when they were both just 14 years old.
Fishburne was shooting in the Philippines and hanging out with Estevez — who was visiting his father, Martin Sheen — when their boat drifted too close to shore. Estevez got out and tried to push it out of the mud, only to discover it was, in reality, something more akin to quicksand.
Luckily, Fishburne was there to pull his friend out of harm’s way. Estevez has kept that moment close to his heart ever since.
“So, we were out on this boat together, and we started getting too close to the shore and I said, ‘Well, let me jump out, I’ll push us offshore.’ I jumped out, and it was like quicksand mud,” Estevez told The Jennifer Hudson Show in 2023. “I was just sinking. I just saw Fishburne just looking at me going, ‘Grab my hand!’ and he pulled me back onto the boat. We were bonded ever since.”
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Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford at the Deauville Film Festival in 2000
Credit: Alain BENAINOUS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty
As most pop culture enthusiasts know, Harrison Ford is best known for playing an expert pilot in the Star Wars franchise, with his character Han Solo navigating the Millennium Falcon through a number of scrapes. Reality tends to be less heroic, but in Ford’s case, he once used his actual piloting skills to save the lives of some hikers in 2000.
20-year-old Sarah George was hiking Table Mountain in Wyoming when she became sick and unable to move due to a combination of heat, altitude, and dehydration. Her friends called for help. The next thing they knew, Indiana Jones himself was coming in for the save from his helicopter.
A year later in 2001, 13-year-old Cody Clawson got lost in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, and it was Ford who found him. “Boy,” the actor said, according to CBS News, “you sure must have earned a merit badge for this one.”
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx at Open Spotlight at the Oasis in 2016
Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty
Jamie Foxx has played many roles over the course of his career: a cab driver, a vice cop, a bounty hunter, even a couple of musicians. But one day in 2016, he got to play the role of real-life hero.
A driver in Ventura County lost control of his vehicle, which flipped over and burst into flames. Foxx heard the crash from his home nearby. Not only did he call 911 to get help, he did the initial emergency work himself. The Oscar-winning actor went to the scene and was able to pull the still-buckled-in man from the burning vehicle with help from an off-duty paramedic.
The driver suffered mild burns, but thanks in large part to Foxx, his life was saved. “I don’t look at it as heroic,” Foxx told reporters after the rescue, according to The Guardian. “I just look at it like, you know, you just had to do something. And it all just worked out.”
Steve Guttenberg
Steve Guttenberg at the 'SNL50' homecoming concert in 2025
Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty
To many, Steve Guttenberg will always be known as Police Academy’s Carey Mahoney, a rebellious but likable small-time crook who gets nudged into joining the force. In real life, the comedy star used both his rebellious and heroic sides for noble purposes.
During the 2025 wildfires in the Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Guttenberg was one of the most visible and vocal celebrities providing support, guidance, and, when the situation called for it, hands-on assistance.
“What happened was the fire got so close and everybody was trying to get out that it became sort of a little bit of a panic,” he told EW in 2025.
At one point, Guttenberg heard there was an elderly couple who were refusing to leave their home. The actor sprang into action, arguing with them that the fire was bearing down on them and they had to leave. He eventually broke a window to get inside, then carried them out against their will as blazing flames approached.
“They hated me. I mean, the woman's hitting me in the head,” Guttenberg told Maury Povich on his podcast in 2026. “I go, ‘Lady, you can't stay in this house. Your house is going to burn down!’ And it probably did.”
Ken Jeong
Ken Jeong at the 2018 premiere karaoke event for 'The Masked Singer'
Credit: Rachel Luna/Getty
Prior to his comedy breakout in projects like Role Models (2008), the Hangover franchise, and Community, Ken Jeong was a doctor. As such, saving people’s lives was part of his job description.
But one notable life-saving incident came after his medical professional days, when he saved an audience member during a stand-up comedy set. Someone in the crowd in Phoenix began having a seizure as audience members called for Jeong’s help.
“Someone in the third row was like, ‘Mr. Chow, Mr. Chow… someone’s passed out,” Jeong said on The Ellen Showin 2018, referring to his character from The Hangover. “I literally dropped the microphone, jumped off the stage and went to help the patient… It was like Godfather 3, like Michael Corleone: ‘Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in.’ It is so surreal and yet 550 people in Phoenix, like being quiet and helping out this one lady… she had a petit mal seizure and she was passed out. She was unconscious and I'm thinking to myself as a physician I may have to do CPR. I was in doctor mode, very serious.”
Jeong got assistance from an EMT in the audience. Paramedics arrived a short time later to transport the woman to a local hospital.
Michael Keaton
Micahel Keaton at the Golden Globes in 2004
Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty
One of Michael Keaton’s signature roles remains the Caped Crusader himself, as he brought the character’s crafty brand of heroics to the big screen in 1989 and 1992. But while Batman tends to save lives with a plethora of gadgets and advanced combat techniques, the actor playing him wound up needing nothing more than the good old-fashioned Heimlich maneuver.
Keaton’s friend, director Dennis Dugan, was at risk of choking to death when a bit of food got lodged in his throat.
“We were hanging out at his house and everyone had gone home after this party,” Keaton told The Jimmy Kimmel Showin 2017. “All of a sudden, I look at him and he's really red in the face, and then he's kind of getting a shade of blue that was concerning. And he very calmly kind of [pointed at his neck] … And I remember seeing somewhere or someone explaining what the Heimlich maneuver was. So, I got behind him and I thought, ‘Man, I hope this works.’ And I did it really hard, because you're supposed to. And this thing just shot across the room.”
Heidi Klum
Heidi Klum on 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon' in 2013
Credit: Lloyd Bishop/NBCU via getty
Heidi Klum started her career as a supermodel, but over the years, she's proven herself to be incredibly versatile. Later branching out into television as the executive producer and host of Project Runway, Klum has stepped into a number of exciting roles — including life-saver.
While vacationing in Hawaii in 2013, Klum’s then-7-year-old son, Henry, and his caretakers were carried away by a riptide wave. The former Sports Illustrated cover star and her bodyguard boyfriend Martin Kirsten rushed into the water to pull them to safety and prevent them from drowning.
“We got pulled into the ocean by a big wave. Of course, as a mother, I was very scared for my child and everyone else in the water," Klum told Us Weeklyat the time. "Henry is a strong swimmer and was able to swim back to land. We were able to get everyone out safely."
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger at the California Governor's Conference on Women and Families in 2004
Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty
Imagine having your life saved by the Terminator himself. That’s what happened to one man in 2004 when Arnold Schwarzenegger jumped into the water to save him from what could have been a serious situation.
During a vacation on Maui with his wife and kids, the Austrian action star noticed someone struggling in the water; reports have varied on the distance, ranging from 100 yards to 400 yards offshore. Whatever the distance, the erstwhile Mr. Universe leapt into action.
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“I realized he was having trouble and I asked him if he was in trouble and he said he had cramps all over his body,” he told Hello in 2004. “I set him on the beach and told him to relax a little because he was so out of shape… He told me that for two years he hadn’t done any exercise.”
According to one witness, Schwarzenegger sat and talked with the “shaken up” swimmer for a while afterward.
on Entertainment Weekly
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