Winslet helped rescue Branson's mother from fire (AP)

LONDON – Academy Award-winning actress Kate Winslet helped rescue Richard Branson's elderly mother from a fire that destroyed his Caribbean home.

The Virgin Group boss said in his blog that he wanted to offer "many thanks to Kate Winslet for helping to carry my 90 year (old) mum out of the main house to safety." He joked that Winslet "was wondering when a director was going to shout 'CUT!'

In a separate statement Tuesday, Branson praised Winslet's two children, 10-year-old Mia and 7-year-old Joe, who were also staying in the house when it caught fire. He called them "two of the bravest kids I've ever come across."

Branson said he was staying in another property around 100 yards (meters) away with his wife, Joan and son Sam, 25. He said Sam noticed the main house in flames and ran over to make sure all the guests had got out. Branson said he also jumped out of bed and ran over to help.

"I tried to get some sympathy for the fact that I'd jumped out of bed naked and rushed to the Great House in pitch darkness and hurricane force winds and ran straight in to a cactus bush," Branson said. "The sympathy was not forthcoming for my injuries."

Branson said the fire broke out around 4 a.m. Monday during a tropical storm with lightning and high winds. He said Tuesday that there is still smoke rising from the house.

Branson, 60, bought the island in the early 1980s and began building the Great House in 1982. He also has developed an exclusive eco-resort on the island showcasing renewable energy technology.

His daughter Holly, who was staying at the house along with Winslet, was due to get married there in December. Branson said the wedding would still take place on Necker Island, and said guests may camp on the beach if the house is not rebuilt in time.

Winslet, 35, shot to international stardom with her appearance opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in James Cameron's "Titanic," and sealed her reputation with a best actress Academy Award in 2009 for "The Reader."

Winslet's spokeswoman, Sara Keene, confirmed the actress was on the island and was unharmed. She said Winslet had no comment.

Her two children are from marriages to directors Jim Threapleton and Sam Mendes.

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Betty Ford helped pave road to recovery for stars (AP)

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer Anthony Mccartney, Ap Entertainment Writer – 1 hr 3 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – Long before it became reality show fodder, Betty Ford helped create the original celebrity rehab.

The center that bears her name has a legacy of rehabbing Hollywood's elite. In the process it became a household name, a punchline, but — above all — a highly respected addiction treatment center.

Since its opening in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in 1982, stars such as Elizabeth Taylor, Johnny Cash and, most recently, Lindsay Lohan have been among the more than 90,000 people who have received treatment at the center.

Taylor met one of her husbands, Larry Fortensky, while in treatment. Kelsey Grammer credited his stay there with saving his life. So, too, did Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin, who paid tribute to the former first lady on social networking site Twitter on Friday evening.

"She & Betty Ford Center helped me beat my addiction & she was an angel to many," Matlin wrote.

"One Day at a Time" actress Mackenzie Phillips, another Betty Ford alumna, wrote on the site, "RIP Betty Ford. A pioneer in treatment of addicts. We owe Mrs. Ford our gratitude and prayers. And love. She was one classy woman."

Ali McGraw, who was treated at the center in 1986, said in a statement Friday that she is grateful for what Ford has done for her.

"She changed so many of our lives with her courage and intelligence, her honesty and humility, and her deep grace," McGraw said. "Her vision impacted my own life as few people have."

Taylor's first stay at the center came in 1983 and provided another high-profile face to those struggling with addiction.

Cash soon became a patient after he broke five ribs and relapsed into abuse of painkillers. "I ended up in the Betty Ford Center for 43 days," Cash told The Associated Press in 1986. "I've had no drugs since then. It has been the best three years of my life, the most productive and the happiest."

One of Ford's defining characteristics was her candor, and that included confronting her own addiction head-on. She revealed a longtime addiction to painkillers and alcohol 15 months after leaving the White House, and regularly welcomed new groups of patients to rehab with a speech that started, "Hello, my name's Betty Ford, and I'm an alcoholic and drug addict."

"People who get well often say, `You saved my life,' and `You've turned my life around,'" Ford once said. "They don't realize we merely provided the means for them to do it themselves, and that's all."

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