Allen Funt(1914-1999)

Once helped to avert a potentially disasterous situation simply by being in the right place at the right time. In the early 1970s, a plane on which Funt was a passenger was hijacked to Cuba. The passengers, having seen Funt board the plane, assumed that it was all an elaborate "Candid Camera" gag, thoroughly confounding the hijackers by laughing at and, in one case, applauding their actions. After the incident, in which no one was hurt, the FAA offered to give Funt a citation for bravery. Funt turned it down, claiming that he was just a passenger like anyone else, and more nervous than anyone else because he knew the situation WASN'T a joke.