In 1961, Dennis Hopper ran into a burning building and emerged with an original Picasso

During the 1961 Bel Air fire, actor Dennis Hopper ran into a neighbour’s burning home and helped get a woman to safety. He also carried out two paintings, including an original Picasso, becoming an unlikely local hero.

Hopper recalled the incident in a conversation with his former wife, Brooke Hayward, and daughter, Marin. Hayward said the family had recently lost a house in the fire and that Hopper saved many people; he remembered a photograph of himself leaving with a Juan Gris in one hand and a Picasso in the other.