PATRICK T. FALLONAFP
A-list actors, musicians and other celebrities were among the tens of thousands of people affected by deadly wildfires in Los Angeles Wednesday, as the entertainment industry screeched to a halt.
The showbiz capital has been besieged by multiple out-of-control blazes, with Hollywood events, including a glitzy awards show and a Pamela Anderson film premiere, among those cancelled as firefighters battle flames in hurricane-force winds.
Hundreds of homes were destroyed in the swanky Pacific Palisades area, a favourite spot for celebrities where multimillion-dollar houses nestle on beautiful hillsides, while other infernos sprang up across the north of the city.
Mandy Moore, the singer and "This Is Us" actress, told followers on Instagram she had fled with her children and pets from the path of a blaze that had left her Altadena neighbourhood "levelled."
"My sweet home. I am devastated and gutted for those of us who've lost so much. I'm absolutely numb," she wrote in a caption to footage of the destruction.
Emmy-winning actor James Woods posted a video on X showing flames engulfing trees and bushes near his Pacific Palisades home as he got ready to evacuate. They shortly afterwards said all the fire alarms were going off.
"I couldn't believe our lovely little home in the hills held on this long. It feels like losing a loved one," Woods said.
"Star Wars" star Mark Hamill told followers on Instagram that he had fled his Malibu home with his wife and pet dog, escaping down a road flanked by active fires.
Fellow Emmy-winning actor Billy Crystal said the Pacific Palisades house he and his wife lived in for 46 years burned down on Wednesday.
"Words cannot describe the enormity of the devastation we are witnessing and experiencing," he said to People magazine. "Janice and I have lived in our home since 1979. We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love," he said.
Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis was also forced to evacuate, later writing on Instagram: "Our beloved neighbourhood is gone. Our home is safe. So many others have lost everything."
Meanwhile, next week's unveiling of the Oscar nominations was pushed back until January 19 to give Academy members affected by fires more time to cast their ballots this week.
Several other major Hollywood events have been called off or postponed due to the disaster.
The annual Critics Choice Awards gala, which honours the year's best in film and television and is attended by dozens of A-listers, was delayed from Sunday to January 26.
Anderson's premiere for "The Last Showgirl" was scrapped.
Paramount cancelled a glitzy red-carpet screening of the Robbie Williams musical film "Better Man," Netflix pulled the plug on a press conference for its Golden Globe winner "Emilia Perez."
Filming of Los Angeles-based shows such as "Grey's Anatomy," "Hacks" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" was paused.
Universal Studios theme park was closed for the day due to the extreme winds and fire conditions.
Steve Guttenberg , star of the 1984 comedy "Police Academy", was among those helping get people out of Pacific Palisades as the fire began spreading on Tuesday.
The "Cocoon" actor expressed frustration at how some of those fleeing the blaze had abandoned their cars on one of the only roads in and out of the ritzy neighbourhood.
"If you leave your car... leave the key in there so a guy like me can move your car so that these fire trucks can get up there," he told a live television broadcast.
Reality TV personalities Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt from "The Hills," an MTV show that ran until 2010, said they lost their house after evacuating.
"I'm watching our house burn down on the security cameras," Pratt wrote on Snapchat.
© Agence France-Presse
