The 'Green Mile' star was once almost thrown into the general population area of a detention center after refusing to pay a fine for his arrest, but authorities soon nixed the idea.
- January 28, 2020
AceShowbiz - Actor James Cromwell has his celebrity to thank for keeping him out of trouble in prison.
The "Babe" star has been arrested numerous times for his animal rights and environmental activism over the years, and while he is usually booked and released shortly after being taken into custody, one occasion in 2017 landed him behind bars for three days.
The punishment was the result of Cromwell refusing to pay a fine for an arrest at a New York power plant, and he was almost granted his request to be thrown into the general population area of the detention centre, until prison bosses nixed the idea - and saved him from possible injury.
"The way they (inmates) make their bones (gain respect) in prison is to rape or beat up some guy. What better guy to beat or rape than a movie star?" Cromwell told the New York Post's Page Six.
"So (prison officials) knew, 'Oh boy, don't put him in there!' So my celebrity got me out of a very difficult situation."
However, the towering actor, who turned 80 on Monday, January 27, insists his fame doesn't usually help him when it comes to run-ins with the law.
"They put the cuffs on just as hard," he said. "They stick you in the back of a car that I can't get into."
Cromwell was most recently arrested in October (2019), when he joined a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) demonstration at Texas A&M University, demanding an end to scientists' canine muscular dystrophy experiments.
