Before finding fame as an actor, Ralph Richardson found work as an office boy for an insurance company in Brighton, England. To relieve his boredom one day, he decided to walk around the building -- on a narrow ledge several stories above the street.

Although he had planned his exploit to coincide with the boss's absence, as he edged his way along his outer window, he chanced to gaze in -- just as the boss was entering his office.

Was Richardson immediately frozen with abject terror? No. But his boss was! And Richardson? He simply waved and happily hollered: "I was chasing a pigeon!"