Mission: Impossible Star Collapses at L.A. Hotspot, Report Says
Mission: Impossible star Ving Rhames, 66, is recovering after reportedly collapsing at his table while dining with family at a Los Angeles restaurant on Wednesday, April 29. He drifted in and out of consciousness as paramedics rushed him to a local facility, TMZ reports.
Ving Rhames gave everyone a scare this week, but the short version is: he says he is OK. Here is what actually happened, plus a quick rewind on why the guy has been a fixture on big screens for three decades.
What happened
Rhames, 66, was out to eat with his family at a Los Angeles restaurant on Wednesday, April 29, when he suddenly collapsed at the table. Witnesses told TMZ he was in and out of consciousness as paramedics arrived and took him to a nearby hospital.
An L.A. City Fire spokesperson told the outlet their EMS team responded to a man in his 60s around 1:30 p.m. ET and transported him for treatment. Yes, they gave the time in Eastern even though this was in L.A., which is a little odd but that is how it was reported.
How he is doing now
"He is feeling fine," his rep told TMZ, adding that Rhames suggested he was "potentially overheated" and was being kept at the hospital for observation out of caution.
Why you know him
Rhames is best known as Luther Stickell, the steady-eyed hacker riding shotgun with Tom Cruise and Simon Pegg in the Mission: Impossible movies. But his career is a whole lot deeper than IMF gadget runs.
- Trained at Juilliard; broke out on stage in 1983 with Shakespeare in the Park's Richard III.
- Early film work in the '90s included Jacob's Ladder and The People Under the Stairs.
- Quentin Tarantino cast him as Marsellus Wallace in 1994's Pulp Fiction alongside John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Uma Thurman.
- Went full action in 1997's Con Air as Nathan "Diamond Dog" Jones; that one cleared $200 million at the box office.
- Other memorable turns: crime caper Out of Sight, John Singleton's coming-of-age drama Baby Boy, and the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead.
- Voice work: Cobra Bubbles, the social worker with the deep baritone, in Disney 's 2002 Lilo & Stitch.
- On TV, he won the 1998 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie for playing Don King in HBO 's 1997 film Don King: Only in America.
Recent and upcoming projects
In 2025, Rhames returned as Luther in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning and headlined the drama Uppercut. Next up is the action thriller The Mongoose, which pairs him with Liam Neeson in a story about a decorated war hero who goes on the run after being accused of a crime he says he did not commit. No release date on that one yet.
Personal life
Rhames has two kids with his second wife, Deborah Reed — daughter Reign Beau Rhames, 26, and son Freedom Rhames, 24 — and another child from a previous relationship. He and Reed married in 2000. He was previously married to publicist Valerie Scott from 1994 to 1999.
Glad to hear he is on the mend. If there is a formal update from his team or the fire department, I will add it here.