For many, fame is a dream-critical acclaim, privilege, wealth and a world of adoring fans. But in a split second everything can disappear. In this series celebrities' exclusive firsthand accounts accompanied by cinematic reenactments illustrate the moments they were confronted with true danger. Featuring Ice-T, Jewel, Gary Busey, Brett Michaels and more, these true stories could easily have been tragic endings to phenomenal lives-except for one thing: every one of them lived to tell the tale.
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The young undiscovered Ice-T is pronounced dead at the scene of violent car collision; at the height of her fame model Cheryl Tiegs is forced to jump from an out-of-control airplane; a young Ed Begley Jr. is brutalized by a notorious LA gang; and actress Yancy Butler is convinced she's destined to die after being held hostage in a LA slum motel.
Wanting to initiate a truce between two rival Boston gangs, R&B star Bobby Brown instead witnesses the gruesome murder; a teenage Jewel almost dies from a toxic infection; Morgan Fairchild is faced with a hostage situatio; and American Idol star Elliott Yamin barely escapes a crumbling building.
Niki Taylor flatlines three times after a minor car crash turns deadly; Gary Busey has an out-of-body experience caused by massive head trauma when he is thrown from his motorcycle; caught in the wake of another plane Tiffany's passenger jet is nearly brought down mid-flight.
At the height of his success with the Jackson 5, Jermaine Jackson saves his brother Michael from drowning in an ocean riptide; during a routine skydive Angie Everhart's parachute fails to operate properly causing her to free fall for a thousand feet; Elisabeth Rohm is nearly crushed by a spooked horse; Jose Canseco comes inches from nose diving off a rocky cliff when he falls asleep at the wheel.
Lou Diamond Phillips is dragged by a runaway horse through a Wild West movie set; Brooke Burns is nearly paralyzed one night after diving into her own pool; Parker Stevenson is almost burned alive when his race car flips over during an African race car rally.
A young Louis Gossett, Jr. suffers a deadly concussion when he falls into a concrete pit; Charlene Tilton is held hostage during a bank robbery; Jena Malone miraculously avoids death after hitting black ice on a treacherous highway; and Lynn Whitfield is struck by a truck on a street in New York City.
A young Peter Fonda's heart stops on the operating table after he accidently shoots himself in the stomach; Joely Fisher is held at gunpoint and robbed in a posh LA suburb; Annie Potts is thrown through her windshield after colliding with a drag racer.
Scott Baio walks away from a high-speed, head-on collision; Pam Grier stops a vicious mugging in a Denver parking lot; New York City pimps kidnap Morgan Fairchild; and Greg Louganis attempts suicide during one of the most successful periods of his career.
A type-1 diabetic, Bret Michaels experiences a brain hemorrhage while recovering from an emergency appendectomy; Mindy McCready is viciously beaten by the father of her child; and Ty Murray miraculously survives being trampled by a bull.