Nick Nolte must have learned something on the set of so many movies throughout his career, such as how to jump out of the window of a burning house and land relatively safely and then to grab a garden hose and attempt to extinguish said-fire.

Real life does beat the movies after all. Take it from Hollywood actor Nick Nolte, who was in his Malibu home Tuesday, never suspecting that a fire would burst in his own house and have him fight for his life.

Los Angeles County fire inspectors say the fire was caused by an electrical malfunction inside the living room. Nolte, 67, was upstairs when the blaze arose. He smelled smoke and quickly reacted, breaking a window and jumping to safety.

He only scraped an arm and inhaled smoke and did not go to hospital to receive treatment.

The brave actor tried to put the fire out himself and was already aiming a garden hose at the flames when the fire brigade arrived and completed the job in less than half an hour.

Nick Nolte’s spokesperson, Arnold Robinson, told the media his client was “grateful” to fire fighters and police.

Authorities said damage had been caused to the structure of the house as well as to some of its contents. The building itself was not destroyed. Repairs and renovation will cost at least $3 million though, as that is what the destruction amounts to.

The sexagenarian actor has been nominated twice for an Academy Award during his career, for performances in 1991’s “The Prince of Tides,” opposite Barbra Streisand and 1997’s “Affliction,” alongside Sissy Spacek and Wilem Dafoe.

While he took home neither Oscar, Nolte did win a Golden Globe for the first role and a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for the second.

He recently appeared in Ben Stiller’s comedy “Tropic Thunder.” He next appears in the thriller “Nine Miles Down” from British director Anthony Waller.