Why Sandra Bullock May Just Be The Most Likable Person In Hollywood
Sandra Bullock is proving she may just be the nicest person in Hollywood again after she donated $5,000 to help an elderly homeless man. Svend Peterson, the 89-year-old pool manager of the Beverly Hills Hotel, has recently been down on his luck. After a news story revealed that Peterson was living in different hotels and sometimes even in his car, Bullock swooped in to help him get back on his feet.
According to People, the elderly gentleman Sandra felt compelled to share some cash with has helped care for the pool needs of Hollywood royalty over the past 40 years, including classic stars like Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, and Fred Astaire. Apparently, Peterson came into financial dire straits after the IRS garnished his social security income following the sale of his home. His friends set up a Go Fund Me account with the hope that they could raise enough money to help him get settled into a one-bedroom apartment. That’s where Sandra Bullock and several other members of the community stepped in.
Svend Peterson’s Go Fund Me raised more than $29,000 in just 10 days. Tucked away among the more than 300 donations was one for $5000 from Sandra Bullock with a special message from her 7-year-old son Louis Bullock — “Everything is going to be okay.”
Sandra Bullock has made quite a living off of her portrayal of the nice-girl-next-door kind of roles. Bullock’s inspirational turn in The Blind Side even won Sandra an Oscar. But just because someone portrays a nice person onscreen doesn’t necessarily mean they are that way in real life.
In case you wondering if this was a one-shot deal for Bullock, however, let’s take a look at her history. In 2009, following Hurricane Katrina, Bullock purchased a home in New Orleans and donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to a local school in an effort to help with recovery efforts. According to People, Sandra even took the time to show up in person at Warren Easton Charter High School to praise their efforts in rebuilding.
Bullock reportedly donated millions to the surrounding community over several years. In 2013, Sandra won the Favorite Humanitarian Award during the People’s Choice Awards. On top of her donations to New Orleans, Sandra Bullock has also reportedly given millions of dollars in the wake of other disasters including 9/11, the 2004 tsunami in Asia, and to help earthquake recovery efforts by Doctors Without Borders in Haiti in 2010.
But part of what makes Sandra Bullock come across as down to earth and likable has nothing to do with her pocketbook and more to do with her personality.
Friend and frequent co-star George Clooney discussed how Bullock’s onscreen persona isn’t too much of a detraction from the real Sandra.
“She’s somebody I adore, really, she’s just fun to be in a room with. I’m sure people will assume people aren’t quite who they appear to be onscreen — they’re shorter or taller or meaner or dumber — but Sandy is exactly what she appears onscreen, an incredibly charming woman who’s really just fun to hang out with,” Clooney said of Bullock according to the New York Daily News.
And that might be part of Sandra Bullock’s appeal. Not only is she generous and charming, but she is just as fun as she is heartwarming.
As previously reported by Inquisitr, Sandra Bullock also isn’t afraid to bring laughter to a room, even when it’s at her own expense. Bullock is one only a handful of celebrities to ever show up in person to accept their Razzie, an award given for some of Hollywood’s worst performances. Upon receiving her award, Sandra gave each member of the audience a copy of her movie All About Steve and vowed to come back the following year to return the Razzie should the critics find Bullock had been given the award by mistake.
While Svend Peterson undoubtedly appreciated Sandra Bullock’s generous donation to help him get off the street, we all benefited from the reminder that good people really do exist — even in Hollywood.
[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
