20 Celebrities You Didn't Know Were Badasses

Mark Harmon

"NCIS" star and former teen heartthrob Mark Harmon has a heroic moment in his past that few talk about. In 1996, Harmon was outside his Brentwood home when he witnessed a car careen out of control, crash through a fence and burst into flames. Grabbing a sledgehammer, Harmon rushed into the fire, shattering the car’s windows and pulling out the driver and passenger. Just as the car exploded, Harmon got the second teenager free, shielding him with his own body. If he hadn’t been there, they both would have burned to death.

Sean Penn

A lot of celebrities pay lip service to suffering around the world, going to fancy benefits and donating money. But Sean Penn has gone a couple hundred steps further, traveling around the planet putting himself in danger to help others. After the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Penn traveled to the deathly poor island nation with a boat, rescuing trapped people and providing essential food and medicine. He’s also worked to convince Iran to release two imprisoned American hikers, and more.

Ed McMahon

Johnny Carson’s long-time sidekick didn’t seem to do much besides keep a couch warm and dole out Publisher’s Clearing House checks, but in his early years McMahon was a serious tough guy. At the age of 18, he took a job selling knives on the Atlantic City boardwalk, then joined the Air Force during World War II, trained as a combat pilot, and went back into action during the Korean War. His military achievements included earning six medals and the rank of Colonel.

Ryan Gosling

Hey girl – Ryan Gosling is actually a pretty solid dude. The actor has put himself in harm’s way more than once looking out for others. In early April he was walking down 6th Avenue in New York City when he spotted a female journalist about to get hit by a taxi. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the street. Earlier in 2011, Gosling was on St. Mark’s Place when he saw two dudes getting into a punch-up over a painting and intervened to defuse the situation.

James Doohan

The avuncular Scotty from "Star Trek" wasn’t a crewmember who got physical most of the time – he preferred to spend his time down in Engineering making sure the Enterprise was working perfectly. But actor James Doohan had experience shooting more than phasers. During World War II, Doohan was a member of the Royal Canadian Artillery, seeing his first combat assignment at the Normandy beachhead on D-Day. Doohan personally shot two Nazi snipers and led his men through a minefield before catching six machine gun bullets – one near-fatal one was stopped by a cigarette case he was carrying in his breast pocket. So sometimes smoking can save lives!

Tim Heidecker

You wouldn’t think that chubby comedic genius Tim Heidecker (of "Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" and "Bridesmaids") would have a badass bone in his body – or any bones in his body for that matter. But here’s a story that shows you his inner tough guy: In 2006, Heidecker was awoken by a female neighbor knocking at his door. When he opened it, she confided in him that her son was acting unusual and she was worried that he might hurt himself. When Heidecker got there, the son (high on PCP) grabbed a knife and chased him out of the building and across Sunset Boulevard, frantically stabbing him in the back. Heidecker survived, the kid got the help he needed, and everything turned out OK.

Ed O’Neill

Of all the actors in Hollywood, you’d probably feel decent picking a fight with Ed O’Neill. His two famous roles – Al Bundy on "Married With Children" and Jay Pritchett on "Modern Family" – are both henpecked husbands always getting the short end of the stick. But in real life, O’Neill has been practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for almost two decades, earning the rank of black belt and sparring with masters from the Gracie family. Don’t think this is just a show belt, either. Dude can really grapple.

Vidal Sassoon

When you think of famous hairstylists, “badass” isn’t a word that comes to mind too often. But recently deceased Vidal Sassoon, the man who revolutionized women’s coifs in the 60s with asymmetrical bobs, was a tough guy in his younger days. After World War II, young Sassoon joined an organization called “43 Group,” which was composed of Jewish ex-servicemen who roamed the streets of London throwing down against Fascist organizations. Cohorts recall Sassoon, one of the youngest men in the group, as a vicious fighter who feared no man.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

Let’s close out this new list with a very unexpected badass lady, just for a little variety. Diminutive sex therapist Dr. Ruth had a very eventful young womanhood, escaping to Switzerland from Germany before World War II and then moving to Palestine, where she joined the paramilitary organization Haganah and trained as a sniper. You read that right – the tiny, orgasm-loving old lady was an expert at taking killshots, and bragged throughout her life that she could break down and reassemble a rifle blindfolded.

Movie magic can make even the most pathetic milquetoast look like a tough guy, but sometimes a man is as macho away from the camera as he appears on it. These celebs might not have a reputation for toughness, but they hold inner strength and intensity that will surprise you. Here are 10 celebrities who are legitimately badass.

Steve Buscemi

When you look at nebbishy Boardwalk Empire star Steve Buscemi, "badass" isn’t the first word that comes to mind. But Buscemi is probably braver than you. He worked as a New York City firefighter for four years in the 1980s when he was getting his acting career started, and returned to help out his colleagues at Engine 55 after the 9/11 attacks. Badass bonus: In 2001, Buscemi was stabbed in the throat during a bar fight that Vince Vaughn was also involved in.

Daniel Day-Lewis

The release of a new Daniel Day-Lewis movie is always cause for celebration. The English actor commits 100 percent to every role, whether he's playing a painter who can only move his left foot, or a deranged, murderous oilman. His method acting extends to physical training too, and an anecdote from the filming of The Boxer backs this up. Day-Lewis spent nearly three years training with former world champ Barry McGuigan, who commented that the actor could have been a pro boxer if he wanted to.

Christian Bale

We've all heard the audiotapes of Christian Bale freaking out on the set of Terminator: Salvation, but that’s just everyday Hollywood prima-donna crap. But when the star of The Dark Knight was in China promoting The Flowers of War, he earned his badass card for real. Bale took a side trip to visit imprisoned civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng and came into conflict with the Chinese authorities, leading them on a car chase and then getting into a fistfight with Chen's guards. Furthermore, Bale has an insane ability/desire to adjust his weight for movie roles, losing 60 pounds for The Machinist, and putting it all back on plus 60 pounds for Batman Begins.

Christopher Lee

One of the few living horror icons left in this world, Christopher Lee brings his uniquely British gravitas to the screen in films like Hammer's Dracula series, as well as more recent flicks like the Star Wars prequels. But his life before films was even more intense, as he was a member of the Special Operations Executive, Britain's coterie of spies during World War II. The SOE worked from behind enemy lines on all sorts of secret missions.

Brian Blessed

English actor Brian Blessed is famous for his hearty voice and hearty appetite, but he also has a huge appetite for adventure. Blessed has attempted to climb Mount Everest without oxygen three times, on one occasion reaching a record height of 28,000 feet before having to turn back to save another climber. He's the oldest man on Earth to have visited the magnetic North Pole; he once housed over 2,000 animals in his house; and he’s boxed with the Dalai Lama.

Mel Brooks

Before Mel Brooks made movies like Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles, this legend of modern comedy was screwing with the Nazis during World War II. Born Melvin Kaminsky, Brooks spent the war defusing landmines behind enemy lines, as well as performing psychological warfare experiments to unnerve the Nazi horde. Brooks learned a thing or two about psychological warfare as a teenager when he was taught drums by the notoriously hot-tempered Buddy Rich.

Bob Ross

The painter of happy little trees isn't someone that you’d associate with bravado, but Ross spent some time as a hardass drill sergeant in the Air Force. Ross joined up when he was 17 years old and actually learned to paint in the service. When he wasn't dashing off beautiful landscapes, he was busy being the self-described "guy who screams at you." Ross actually renounced his machismo when he left the Air Force, swearing to never yell at a living thing again. Job well done, sir.

Rowan Atkinson

The Mr. Bean star is probably the last man on Earth you’d expect to pull off a daring mid-air rescue, but it happened. When Atkinson and his family were flying in Kenya on vacation, the pilot of the Cessna 202 they were in lost consciousness, sending the plane into a deadly dive. Atkinson rushed the cockpit without any slapstick, grabbed the yoke and kept the aircraft in the air while slapping the passed-out pilot in the face until he recovered his senses.

Sean Bean

Another "Bean" makes the list. The Game of Thrones actor certainly doesn't look like a wuss, but even the Lord of Winterfell can't measure up to Bean’s real-life badassitude. When he was filming the first season of the show in England, Bean was having a pint at a London bar when a local yob insulted his girlfriend. The two started brawling and Bean was stabbed in the arm with a broken glass. Instead of going to the hospital, he calmly dressed his wounds with the bar’s first-aid kit and ordered another drink. And he also has an amazing cinema death reel.