# What celebrities have committed heroic acts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 10, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845 "2005-03-10T15:30:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/41 "2005-03-10T21:10:53Z")
I can’t find a cite, but I seem to remember Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits saving someone from drowning in Sydney Harbor some years ago. ---
**Author:** ![bigdfrombigd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@bigdfrombigd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bigdfrombigd)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/42 "2005-03-10T22:01:28Z")
don’t know about heroic as in the usual definition, but Denzel Washington was visiting Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas recently and was given a tour of the “Fisher Houses”, these are houses where the families of injured soldiers stay free of charge while the soldier is recuperating, usually burn vitims. Apparently these houses are always full and are in short supply. Well, acccording to [Snopes.com](http://Snopes.com), he asked how much it cost to build one of said houses and when he was told he pulled out his checkbook and wrote them a check for the full amount on the spot. It doesn’t seem to take much these days to qualify as a hero, but I would definitely say that he is one in my book. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/43 "2005-03-10T23:44:07Z")
> [@bigdfrombigd](#): > > don’t know about heroic as in the usual definition, but Denzel Washington was visiting Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas recently and was given a tour of the “Fisher Houses”, these are houses where the families of injured soldiers stay free of charge while the soldier is recuperating, usually burn vitims. Apparently these houses are always full and are in short supply. Well, acccording to [Snopes.com](http://Snopes.com), he asked how much it cost to build one of said houses and when he was told he pulled out his checkbook and wrote them a check for the full amount on the spot. It doesn’t seem to take much these days to qualify as a hero, but I would definitely say that he is one in my book. 🙂 > **[FACT CHECK: Did Denzel Washington Make a Large Donation to the Fisher House?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/denzel-washington-2/)** > > Actor Denzel Washington once gifted a generous donation to the Fisher House, but he didn't fund the cost of an entire building. \* Denzel Washington visited Brooke Army Medical Center and expressed interest in donating to the Fisher House Foundation: True. ``` * Denzel Washington whipped out his checkbook and "wrote a check out for the full amount (for a new Fisher House) right there on the spot": False. ``` still, putting your money where your mouth is, no matter how much or how little is good, too many people are willing to trash out the military without thinking that a strong military has kept our country free and helped free other countries. Shrub senior and junior and Clinton aside, most of our wars are in response to treatie terms… ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/44 "2005-03-10T23:53:56Z")
Major League Baseball Umpire Steve Palermo. > [@](#): > > In early July, 1991, it seemed that Palermo’s umpire career might have ended, but everyone knows it is difficult to win an argument with an umpire and he refuses to lose this one. On July 7, 1991, Steve and several friends were dining after a Texas Rangers game when they were alerted that two waitresses were being mugged in the parking lot. In an attempt to apprehend the assailants, Steve suffered a bullet wound to his spinal cord, resulting in instant paralysis to the lower extremities. Doctors told Steve and his wife that he would probably never walk again. Yet through rehabilitation and a lot of determination, Palermo is winning his argument…he is walking with the use of one small leg brace and cane and has returned to the game he loves so much, albeit, in a different capacity…baseball. [http://www.wheelweb.com/stories\_steve.htm](http://www.wheelweb.com/stories_steve.htm) ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/45 "2005-03-11T00:23:41Z")
Actor Charles Durning. 3 Purple hearts and a silver star, WW 2. [http://www.pbs.org/memorialdayconcert/wwii/durning.html](http://www.pbs.org/memorialdayconcert/wwii/durning.html) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/46 "2005-03-11T00:55:28Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#): > > While most movie star coasted on their fame during WWII, Jimmy Stewart flew bombing missions over Germany. What with Hollywood being part of L.A. and all, I always thought it would have been a nice and appropriate gesture to name our international airport after Stewart. “Stewart Field” certainly has a nicer ring to it than LAX. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/47 "2005-03-11T00:55:30Z")
I remember a few years ago Sean Hayes (Jack on TV’s **Will & Grace** ) gave first aid to and called an ambulance for a man who had been mugged and shot. I just checked his [IMDB entry](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005003/bio), and it had this to say about the incident: > [@](#): > > Courtney Cunninghan, 33, reported that two men stopped him near the driveway of his Los Angeles home, and then robbed him and shot him in the leg. Hayes who was driving in L.A.'s mid-Wilshire district when he noticed Cunningham lying in the street. The actor then pulled over to help the victim, ripping off his shirt and pressing it against Cunningham’s wound to stop the bleeding. He then called 911 on his cell phone and waited for paramedics to arrive. The other night on Leno Mariska Hargitay (Det. Benson on TV’s **Law & Order: SVU** ) told a story about how she’d been walking somewhere in NYC and saw a pregnant woman collapse on the sidewalk. She said the other onlookers were doing nothing so she went into “cop mode” and took control of the situation, ordering someone to call for an ambulance, getting the woman’s medical info, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/48 "2005-03-11T00:59:38Z")
How about Audie Murphy? He actually _became_ a celebrity, and then an actor, due to his heroics during WWII, but he actually enjoyed a pretty long acting career, rather than just a one-off deal. ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/49 "2005-03-11T01:13:35Z")
I haven’t seen anything in the news about it lately, but that 80s pop star Michael Jackson once took pity on a young cancer patient and hosted him and his family for a good period of time at the Neverland ranch. I suspect it was a splendid time for all, what with all the celebrity and Peter Pan stuff and all. …wonder what ever happened to that kid? They should check back on stories like this! ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/50 "2005-03-11T01:15:29Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > How about Audie Murphy? He actually _became_ a celebrity, and then an actor, due to his heroics during WWII, but he actually enjoyed a pretty long acting career, rather than just a one-off deal. How about post #18 in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/51 "2005-03-11T01:21:24Z")
What? Nobody’s mentioned baseball legend Roberto Clemente? > [@](#): > > New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1997 marked the 25th Anniversary of a tragic plane crash. The plane was taking medical, food and clothing supplies to earthquake stricken Nicaragua. Vera and friends begged him not to take the trip (poor weather and an unstable cargo plane) but Roberto was determined. He was infuriated that the previous supplies had not made it to the victims. Roberto was going to personally see to it that the victims received the much needed supplies. Unfortunately, the plane went down off the coast of Puerto Rico. Roberto’s body was never found. Just months after Roberto joined an elite group of players with 3,000 hits, he was gone. The Roberto Clemente Award: > [@](#): > > " Since 1971, Major League Baseball has annually presented an award that recognizes the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team. In 1972 the award, formerly know as the Commissioner’s Award, was renamed to honor Roberto Clemente who tragically died in a plane crash while delivering much needed supplies to earthquake-stricken citizens of Nicaragua. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the award." ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/52 "2005-03-11T02:31:52Z")
Actor [Eddie Albert](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000734/bio) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/53 "2005-03-11T02:38:38Z")
Ah! I came in to mention Eddie Albert and missed-it-by-that-much… Since I did I’ll add these: Eddie Foy remained onstage to help calm the panic at the horrible Iroquois Theater fire in 1903. More than 500 of the 1900 people in the theater died from fire and fumes, but had he not remained and done his best to make it an orderly exit it’s believed it could have been more. Joshua Jackson of Dawson’s Creek was in the news a couple of years or so ago for saving a woman who was drowning off the coast of North Carolina. Pam “Mindy” Dawber and her husband Mark Harmon risked their lives to pull two people from a burning car in 1996. (The car was near their home and they passed by as it began to burn.) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/54 "2005-03-11T02:42:16Z")
Also, Ben Curtis (best known… in fact, only known… as [the Dell Dude](http://www.angelfire.com/ultra/shirtless4ever/bencurtis2.jpg)) performed emergency first aid throughout the day on September 11, using rags made from his shirt and relying on his Scout training. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/55 "2005-03-11T15:03:33Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > And again, not sure if he qualifies as a celebrity or not, but left-wing historian and political commentator Howard Zinn was a B-17 bombrdier in WWII, flying missions over Europe. I’d say Dr. Zinn is pretty famous (he was also involved in the civil rights movement when this was dangerous), but all after his stint in WWII as a young man. There’s actually a whole generation of these guys, including Gore Vidal and George McGovern, obviously Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (who turned his POW experience into _Slaughterhouse Five_) and so forth. What’s harder to find are the famous-first, heroic acts-next types. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/56 "2005-03-11T15:13:08Z")
Yes, George McGovern was the real deal, bomber aircrew during The War. He never allowed it to be discussed to protect him from pro-war people. A class act. ---
**Author:** ![Kreekurmudgeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@Kreekurmudgeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kreekurmudgeon)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/57 "2005-03-11T16:22:51Z")
Lee Marvin, IIRC, was wounded in the invasion of Saipan in WWII. He was a private and was wounded on his third day in battle with damage to his sciatic nerve. Spent the next thirteen months recovering. Does that qualify him as a hero? ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/58 "2005-03-11T16:35:10Z")
He risked his life for his country? Yes, but he is no longer kosher, due to damage to his sciatic nerve. 😃 For that matter, so are music stars, actors, politicians, and those who are big names in the left wing, but not the right wing, in response to previous questions. Even actors who have done heroic things, but were also known to beat there children count. Well, ok, right-wingers can be counted too. 😛 However, not people who were famous due only to heroic actions and not to what they had done before saving lives, and certainly not people who enlisted in the army, never saw action, and then left. Nice answers so far. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/59 "2005-03-11T16:39:55Z")
This thread is losing its focus. For the sake of what I thought the OP was asking, I think we should refrain from listing anyone on the basis of simple military service. Let’s stick to specific heroic acts that can be verified and described as discrete events in which a specific person was saved as the result of a specific heroic act (whether or not connected with military service), not simply as a choice to serve. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845/60 "2005-03-11T16:49:47Z")
One of the U.S. Track and Field team’s sprinters once apprehended a thief in an airport in Spain. IIRC, it was in 1999. I’m not recalling the sprinter’s name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-have-committed-heroic-acts/293845.md?page=4)