Movie Star Zac Efron Attacked in London

Teen heartthrob and movie star Zac Efron was attacked in London on Wednesday night by what some described as a "deranged fan."

Zac, the star of Disney's High School Musical (HSM) series was exiting the Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in London's West End theater district with his long time girl friend and HSM co-star, Vanessa Hudgens. They had just watched Rain Man starring Josh Hartnett.

Suddenly an unlikely fan, a spectacled middle-aged man, began shouting loudly and pointing his finger at Zac. The man, who was quite close to Zac at the time, then lunged for Zac and tried to grab either Zac or his hair.

Fortunately for Zac, a security guard was near enough to step in the way of the attacking man. The guard placed himself between the man and Zac so the hot heartthrob was able to avoid any injury.

Had the security guard not been so close, there is no telling what might have happened. The attacker carried a laptop computer under his left arm and reached for Zac with his right.

Zac is used to throngs of teen-age girls swooning and screaming at him whenever he is seen in public, so the thought of a middle-aged man lunging at him is not something Zac is used to or probably cares to get used to.

It was definitely a taste of the dark side for Zac because one never knows what one lone man is capable of when he is near a celebrity. Thoughts of the death of John Lennon drift in when something like this happens.

According to one witness to the incident, "Some guy was just stood (sic) near the door where Zac and Vanessa emerged.

"He just reached over and grabbed the side of Zac's head. There was no provocation. It all turned into a bit of a mess.

"He was shouting all kinds of things at Zac. Their security team eventually dealt with it. They had to bundle Zac into a car, but at one point it looked as though the man was going to be pushed into it with him."

Zac was unhurt during the incident, and the man was initially held by the security staff but was then released. No one reported the attack to the police, which means that the security staff apparently believed that the man was not really so "deranged" after all.

It appears that the incident did not ruffle the young film star who portrays Troy Bolton in High School Musical 3, which is to be released in US theaters on October 24th.

Zac, Vanessa, Ashley Tisdale and Corbin Bleu are all in the cast of High School Musical 3, and they were all in London for the film's London premiere, which occurred Tuesday night.

Zac, Vanessa and entourage were spotted eating together at the Floridita restaurant in Soho later that evening.

One of the restaurant's patrons said Zac "was quite relaxed and looked like he was enjoying himself."

"Some of them were dancing to salsa music, so they must have put the scuffle out of their minds."

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