NEW YORK (WP) - Actor and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno, best known for his role as The Incredible Hulk, played real-life superhero at the Fanboy Expo's Knoxville Comic Con in Tennessee last week, when he came to the aid of a man who was having a seizure.

It started when a fan named Ted McAlister visited the actor's convention booth.

While looking through pictures, he began leaning forward, Ferrigno recalled.

"You could tell he was a little shy," Ferrigno told the Knoxville News Sentinel.

"I thought he was trying to tell me something, and then I realised there's something wrong with the picture. And then he started to collapse and fall backwards.

"I ran to grab him to make sure he wouldn't injure himself."

According to the fan's father, Ferrigno jumped into action, clearing his booth and calling for medics. After the fan recovered, Ferrigno helped him get back on his feet - and insisted he come back when he was feeling better to take a picture together.

Later, they ended up posing side by side, smiling - with their fists clenched in Hulk mode.

"The whole time The Incredible Hulk made sure that I had everything that I needed," Mr McAlister wrote on Facebook. "Talk about a real life Action Hero! This man is the real deal.

"It was an absolute honour to shake his hand and a greater honour to say Thank You to a gentle Giant."

Ferrigno said he is a reserve deputy for the sheriff's departments in both Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo counties, and that his training as a first responder came in handy.