25 Celebrities Who Had A Brush With Death

1. Last year, a Walmart truck slammed into Morgan’s limo van, severely injuring the “30 Rock” star and two friends in the car, while killing one of Morgan’s comedy writers, James “Jimmy Mack” McNair. Morgan sustained brain trauma, a broken leg and broken ribs in the accident and spent over a month in the hospital.

2. By the late 1970s, Tony Bennett and his career were failing. He had no record label, no manager, and he was performing almost exclusively in Vegas. Living in Los Angeles, he had a drug habit, a disintegrating marriage, and mounting debts. When the IRS started proceedings to take away his home, he nearly overdosed, and had a near-death experience which, according to his claims, led him to do some major changes in his life.

3. In 2007 Owen Wilson came close to taking his own life. Wilson was covered in blood and in a state of confusion when he was discovered by his brother Luke Wilson. He had attempted to overdose on pills while simultaneously slitting his wrist.

4. The Rock legend Ozzy Ozbourne has come close to death a few times – mainly from overdose – during his lifetime but according to him in 2003 he came the closest in an ATV accident. He suffered from a broken collarbone, eight fractured ribs that pinched several blood vessels, and a damaged vertebrae in his neck. He said, “The bloody thing nearly killed me. I am lucky to be here today and not dead or paralyzed.”

5. In 1972, Ed Begley Jr was attacked by a gang of teenagers in Compton, CA. He was stabbed and beaten so badly that his lungs collapsed but thankfully he survived the attack and went on having a great acting career.

6. The famous comedian Martin Lawrence almost died after suffering a heat stroke in 1999. Lawrence was wearing several layers of clothing while jogging in the heat in an attempt to lose weight for a role. When he returned home, he had a temperature of 107. Lawrence was rushed to the hospital where he briefly slipped into a coma.

7. Jane Seymour is an actress most noted for the cult classic movie, Somewhere in Time, with actor Christopher Reeves, and the television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. When Jane Seymour was 36 years old, she had a severe case of the flu and was given an injection of penicillin. She suffered an allergic reaction which led to a near-death experience.

8. Rachel Bilson almost died in a car accident when she was 14 years old. She said, “I basically died and then came back. The window went into my head. It was really gross.” The actress suffers from migraines as a result of her injuries.

9. In 1988, Gary Busey was involved in a scary motorcycle accident. He suffered from a cracked skull, and doctors thought he may have permanent brain damage. He was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash but he miraculously survived and went on doing some awesome movies including Point Break, Predator 2 and Surviving the Game.

10. The “king of B Movies” as he refers to himself, Eric Roberts (Julia’s older brother), has starred in many films, including The Dark Knight and The Expendables. Roberts has traveled all over the world encountering many colorful experiences. One of Eric’s most dramatic moments took place in Westport, Connecticut. He was driving along, became distracted by his dog, and crashed. He was hospitalized in a coma and almost died. Eric claimed to have had a surreal out-of-body experience.

11. Ironically, the actress who became famous from the Firestarter film (Drew Barrymore), almost died in 2001 when the house she shared with then-husband Tom Green caught on fire. Their dog woke them up in the middle of the night, saving their lives, even though the house suffered an estimated $700,000 in damages.

12. The famous actor who played the character, Hawkeye Piece (Donald Sutherland), in the movie version of Mash, is another celebrity who claimed to have a near-death experience when ill with meningitis in 1979. According to his own claims, “Suddenly the pain, fever and acute distress seemed to evaporate. I was floating above my body, surrounded by soft blue light. I began to glide down a long tunnel, away from the bed … but suddenly I found myself back in my body. The doctors told me later that I had actually died for a time.”

13. A petrified Anne Hathaway was caught up in a real-life drama when she nearly drowned in a powerful riptide. The Oscar-winning star was injured and had to be rescued by a local surfer after she was dragged under the waves by the strong current while vacationing in Hawaii in 2014.

14. The star of Smokey and the Bandit among many other movies Burt Reynolds, went into a coma when trying to kick a sleeping pill addiction. He stated, “I went into a coma for about eight or nine hours. At one point they tell me that the doctors brought Loni in to say goodbye to me. And I had the whole out of body experience. I heard the doctor say, “We’re losing him.” And I was going…”

15. Orlando Bloom almost died when he was 21 after he fell three stories attempting to climb a drain pipe. The injury left the actor paralyzed for several days but fortunately for the actor he survived.

16. Seth MacFarlane was scheduled to be on American Airline Flight 11 on September 11, 2001; it was the first plane to hit the World Trade Center. A combination of heavy drinking the night before and his assistant messing up the timing of his schedule allowed MacFarlane to avoid being one of the nearly 3,000 people who died in one of the worst terrorist attacks in history.

17. The 2008 South Carolina Learjet 60 tragic crash claimed the lives of four people. The plane reportedly had a tire blow out which caused the pilot to attempt a rejected take off. The two survivors, both celebrities by the way, Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker and Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein suffered severe burns but didn’t die. The pilot, co-pilot, a security guard and Travis Barker’s personal assistant Chris Baker were instantly killed. Barker required 16 surgeries including many skin grafts and blood transfusions after the accident.

18. According to himself (Eminem), the famous rapper almost died in 2005 because of a methadone overdose. He claimed later, “My doctor told me the amount of methadone I’d taken was equivalent to shooting up four bags of heroin. Even when they told me I almost died, it didn’t click.”

19. When asked of a time he came close to death, the Playboy founder Hugh Hefner confessed that he almost died at one instance when he choked on a sex toy. He said, “What is the closest I’ve come to death? There was a moment when I was having sex with four Playmates and I almost swallowed a Ben Wa ball.” For some reason, we are not surprised at all.

20. 50 Cent almost died in 2000 when he was shot nine times at close range. He recalls the incident, saying, “It happens so fast that you don’t even get a chance to shoot back… I was scared the whole time… I was looking in the rear-view mirror like, Oh crap, somebody shot me in the face! It burns, burns, burns.”

21. Joaquin Phoenix had an almost fatal car crash when his brakes failed back in 2006 off of famous Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. The famous star lay upside down in his flipped vehicle, and in a strange twist of fate, German director Werner Herzog pulled him to safety. Having witnessed the crash, the filmmaker also reportedly stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette, which would have burst his car into flames.

22. As a teenager, Ryan Reynolds pursued a skydiving license with a group of friends. After a number of successful jumps, the 13th would prove to be tragic as his parachute failed to deploy, causing him to plummet wildly to the ground below. Ryan told Jimmy Fallon that he was scared to pull his emergency chute for fear of having no backup. Thankfully, the reserve pull saved the famous actor, but he still retains a fear of flying.

23. Basic Instinct star, Sharon Stone, has told how she had a white light experience during her brain scare. Stone says she almost died after internal bleeding caused by a tear in an artery at the base of her skull.

24. From a career standpoint, Motley Crue has had nine lives. However, we’d estimate that bassist/co-founder Nikki Sixx alone has eaten up at least half of those. Of course, none of his near-death experiences have been as infamous as the one on December 23, 1987. After a night of drug-fueled partying with pals (including Guns n’ Roses members Slash and Steven Adler and Ratt’s Robbin Crosby), Sixx was injected with one last syringe of heroin — and promptly passed out cold. Unfortunately, this overdose wasn’t like the others; he had turned blue, and couldn’t be roused. The famous bassist was declared dead after they failed in the E.R. to bring his heart back, but then the miracle of miracles happened: Sixx eventually woke up just a few minutes later. True to his fame, he was not thrilled to be in the hospital, and left it in style.

25. As a youngster, Lucas was considered a loser. According to his father, he was good at only two things: cruising and hanging out. Wanting to race cars seemed to be his only ambition. Then, three days before he was to graduate from high school, without warning or advance-behavior cues, Lucas was involved in a spectacular car crash. For three days he hung between life and death and was hospitalized for two weeks more. During that time he realized his purpose in life and a few years later he “donated” to the world the awesome Star Wars trilogy.