Tomorrow People

Former WWE superstar Chris "The Masterpiece" Masters saved his mother from burning to death by uprooting a tree with his bare hands and using it as a battering ram to enter her house.

Masters -- real name Chris Mordetzky -- tells us, he rushed to his mother's L.A. home yesterday after his uncle called and said a neighbor had gone crazy and barricaded himself inside her house.

When Chris showed up, the neighbor was shouting through the front door that he would burn the place down if anyone tried to gain entry.

Chris says he tried talking sense into the guy, but he wasn't having it -- so Chris called the cops ... but when they showed up, the neighbor set the house on fire.

Chris jumped into hero mode -- tearing a tree out of the ground and tossing it through a window.

Chris reached through the window and removed his mom from the inferno ... at which point police rushed in and arrested the neighbor on arson charges.

The man is currently still in custody. It's unclear why he snapped.

Some actors play super heroes on the screen, but Taye Diggs really is one ... single-handedly apprehending a guy who tried to break into his L.A. home last night ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Diggs was at his home last night when a man broke into his home shortly after 11:00 PM. We're told Diggs -- who was at the SAG Awards earlier in the evening -- confronted the suspect, who then took off running.

According to our sources, Diggs then actually chased after the guy and eventually caught up to him. We're told Diggs held the man (who we're told was around 20) until cops arrived.

Our law enforcement sources say there was a getaway driver ... but he got away.

"Grey's Anatomy" star Patrick Dempsey's rescue mission in Malibu this week was even more badass than we thought -- just take a look at the scene of the accident!!!

TMZ broke the story ... a teenage driver crashed and flipped his Mustang on the road right outside Dempsey's Malibu home -- and the actor came to the rescue, crowbar in hand to pry the doors open.

Dempsey successfully pulled the driver from the wreckage -- a 17-year-old named Weston Massett -- who tells TMZ, when he opened his eyes, the actor was looking right down at him.

Massett asked, "Are you famous?" ... and Patrick coolly replied, "I'm a doctor."

We're told Patrick called Massett's mother and told her about the accident -- keeping her calm the entire time. Massett was then airlifted to a nearby hospital, and Patrick followed to make sure the kid was okay.

Miraculously, Massett suffered no serious injuries -- just a concussion and a "stretched" optic nerve. He's expected to make a full recovery.

There was also a passenger in the car, Dylan Miller, but thankfully we're told Miller suffered no injuries whatsoever.

P!nk just came through with a canine Christmas miracle -- shelling out $5,000 to pay for emergency life-saving surgery on a puppy that had been tossed in the L.A. river and left for dead.

Sources tell TMZ ... P!nk was surfing the Internet recently, when she stumbled upon a story about a puppy that had been thrown off an L.A. overpass ... and suffered 3 broken legs when it landed in the L.A. river.

We're told the dog was in bad shape ... and required major surgery FAST ... or else.

That's when P!nk sprung into action -- contacting the Ace of Hearts animal rescue organization and offering to pay for any medical expense it took to save the dog's life.

$5,000 later ... the dog went under the knife -- and recovered!!

Law enforcement sources tell us Gary called 911 on Tuesday afternoon after two cars collided on Pacific Coast Highway ... but after the call, Gary was the first person who went down to the scene to help out.

According to a witness, Gary helped slow traffic -- and stayed with one of the injured men until paramedics arrived.

TMZ spoke to the injured man's mother -- who told us Gary was "very sweet and caring" ... and wanted to thank the actor for all of his help. The mom also told us her son only has minor back pain ... but on the whole, he's doing fine.

Liev Schreiber rushed to the aid of a fan in the audience during his performance of Arthur Miller's "A View From the Bridge" in New York City last night.

According to a witness, a woman in the audience started screaming for help during the play. When the lights came up, it was revealed that her husband was slumped over in his seat.

That's when, according to the eye witness, "Liev Schreiber sprung to action." He came from behind the set of the stage and ran up to the seats of the man and woman to try and help as much as he could. There was a doctor in the audience (isn't there always?) and they provided medical attention until help arrived.

Penn -- who runs the Jenkins-Penn Haitian Relief Organization -- drove an hour and a half with his daughter Dylan to rescue a woman and child who were trapped in rubble outside Port-au-Prince, possibly from an aftershock.

An eyewitness tells TMZ Penn helped extricate the woman, who suffered leg injuries, and the child, who suffered head injuries. Penn drove them in his truck to the University of Miami hospital camp in Port-au-Prince.

We're told Penn waited while the woman and child were treated for their injuries and then took them back to his place.

The woman and the child have nowhere to go, and Penn won't leave them until they have a safe place to go.

Cooper claims he had heard gunfire in the area and raced to see what had happened -- when he noticed some people on the top of a store throwing slabs of concrete down at looters ... one of which smashed a child in the head.

As blood streamed down his face, Cooper carried him to a safer area and handed him off to a local for treatment.

No baby shall suffer the perils of cold footsies while Erik Estrada is on the case!

We're told while Estrada was on patrol as a reserve officer for Indiana's Muncie Police Department, he risked his own safety for that of a child.

Police say during one of Erik's midnight shifts, "he spotted a man and his girlfriend walking with a baby in the snow in 10 degree weather at 2 AM ... the baby was only dressed in pajamas."

That's when Erik braved the freezing temperature and "got them inside."

TMZ caught the "Entourage" star leaving Il Sole, where he pulled a photog out of the street -- removing him from the danger of zooming cars -- and told him, "Most people are trying to kill you, I'm trying to save you!"