London, Jan 3 (IANS) Hollywood actor Charlie Sheen rushed to call his mother when false reports of his death surfaced over Christmas to assure her he is still alive and well.

A death hoax story, which surfaced online Dec 26, suggested the "Two And A Half Men" star had died in Switzerland after crashing into a tree at the Zermatt ski resort.

Though his ex-wife Denise Richards moved quickly to clear up the rumour, insisting Sheen did not spend Christmas in Europe and was on his way to see their two daughters when the story broke, the actor thought the "death" reports were linked to the ratings of his hit TV show and he was quick to call his mother Janet to reassure her he had come to no harm, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"When I heard on the news that I had died the other day, I quickly ran to my PC (computer) and checked the ratings for my show. Hmmm...that's odd, all the numbers appeared solid. Perhaps even up a bit," he said.

"You can only imagine my relief when I discovered shortly afterward that they were referring to my actual literal death... I then quickly called my mom," he added.