Smallville - 'Superman' Christopher Reeve Dies at 52

own worst enemy · 10-11-2004, 11:06 AM

from yahoo.com

Quote:

MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. - Actor Christopher Reeve, who soared through the air and leapt tall buildings as "Superman," turned personal tragedy into a public crusade, becoming the nation's most recognizable spokesman for spinal cord research — from a wheelchair. Reeve went into cardiac arrest Saturday while at his Pound Ridge home, then fell into a coma and died Sunday at a hospital surrounded by his family, his publicist said. He was 52.

His advocacy for stem cell research helped it emerge as a major campaign issue between President Bush (news - web sites) and his Democratic opponent, John Kerry (news - web sites). His name was even mentioned by Kerry during the second presidential debate Friday evening.

Reeve, left paralyzed from the neck down after a riding accident and who pushed for funding to help others like himself, was hospitalized the following day. In the last week Reeve had developed a serious systemic infection from a pressure wound, a common complication for people living with paralysis.

Dana Reeve, Christopher's wife, thanked her husband's personal staff of nurses and aides, "as well as the millions of fans from around the world who have supported and loved my husband over the years."

Reeve's life changed completely after he broke his neck in May 1995 when he was thrown from his horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper, Va.

Enduring months of therapy to allow him to breathe for longer and longer periods without a respirator, Reeve emerged to lobby Congress for better insurance protection against catastrophic injury and to move an Academy Award audience to tears with a call for more films about social issues.

"Hollywood needs to do more," he said in the March 1996 Oscar awards appearance. "Let's continue to take risks. Let's tackle the issues. In many ways our film community can do it better than anyone else. There is no challenge, artistic or otherwise, that we can't meet."

He returned to directing, and even returned to acting in a 1998 production of "Rear Window," a modern update of the Hitchcock thriller about a man in a wheelchair who becomes convinced a neighbor has been murdered. Reeve won a Screen Actors Guild (news - web sites) award for best actor.

"I was worried that only acting with my voice and my face, I might not be able to communicate effectively enough to tell the story," Reeve said. "But I was surprised to find that if I really concentrated, and just let the thoughts happen, that they would read on my face. With so many close-ups, I knew that my every thought would count."

In 2000, Reeve was able to move his index finger, and a specialized workout regimen made his legs and arms stronger. He also regained sensation in other parts of his body. He vowed to walk again.

"I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life. I don't mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting actually is very helpful toward recovery," Reeve said.

Before the accident, his athletic, 6-foot-4-inch frame and love of adventure made him a natural, if largely unknown, choice for the title role in the first "Superman" movie in 1978. He insisted on performing his own stunts.

Although he reprised the role three times, Reeve often worried about being typecast as an action hero.

Though he owed his fame to it, Reeve made a concerted effort to, as he often put it, "escape the cape." He played an embittered, crippled Vietnam veteran in the 1980 Broadway play "Fifth of July," a lovestruck time-traveler in the 1980 movie "Somewhere in Time," and an aspiring playwright in the 1982 suspense thriller "Deathtrap."

More recent films included John Carpenter's "Village of the Damned," and the HBO movies "Above Suspicion" and "In the Gloaming," which he directed. Among his other film credits are "The Remains of the Day," "The Aviator," and "Morning Glory."

Reeve was born Sept. 25, 1952, in New York City, son of a novelist and a newspaper reporter. About the age of 10, he made his first stage appearance — in Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Yeoman of the Guard" at McCarter Theater in Princeton, N.J.

After graduating from Cornell University in 1974, he landed a part as coldhearted bigamist Ben Harper (news) on the television soap opera "Love of Life." He also performed frequently on stage, winning his first Broadway role as the grandson of a character played by Katharine Hepburn (news) in "A Matter of Gravity."

Reeve's first movie role was a minor one in the submarine disaster movie "Gray Lady Down," released in 1978. "Superman" soon followed. Reeve was selected for the title role from among about 200 aspirants.

Active in many sports, Reeve owned several horses and competed in equestrian events regularly. Witnesses to the 1995 accident said Reeve's horse had cleared two of 15 fences during the jumping event and stopped abruptly at the third, flinging the actor headlong to the ground. Doctors said he fractured the top two vertebrae in his neck and damaged his spinal cord.

While filming "Superman" in London, Reeve met modeling agency co-founder Gae Exton, and the two began a relationship that lasted several years. The couple had two sons, but were never wed.

Reeve later married Dana Morosini; they had one son, Will, 11. Reeve also is survived by his mother, Barbara Johnson; his father, Franklin Reeve; his brother, Benjamin Reeve; and his two children from his relationship with Exton, Matthew, 25, and Alexandra, 21.

No plans for a funeral were immediately announced.

A few months after the accident, he told interviewer Barbara Walters that he considered suicide in the first dark days after he was injured. But he quickly overcame such thoughts when he saw his children.

"I could see how much they needed me and wanted me... and how lucky we all are and that my brain is on straight."

+*~*+SASHA+*~*+ · 10-11-2004, 12:38 PM

I heard it on the radio earlier...it's terrible news

*Sugi* · 10-11-2004, 02:47 PM

Thanks for starting a thread @ L L S T @ R, I was so shocked when I first heard about it, it's so sad.

The Fifth Element · 10-11-2004, 03:21 PM

Oh my God...my day totally sucks now.

Thanks for the thread though...

**ETA**: Found a great memorial avatar:

Wildcat492002 · 10-11-2004, 04:16 PM

I saw it on CNN this morning and couldn't believe it. I feel sooo bad for his family. He wasn't even that old. I just hope that he is in a better place right now.

MissCongeniality · 10-11-2004, 05:38 PM

I read about it this morning over at tvguide.com and thought that I had misread it. It is really sad that he had to go now, but I'm glad that he lived as long as he did after his accident and was able to impact the world has much as he did as a result. My heart goes out to his family and I pray for their comfort.

Jaxx333 · 10-11-2004, 07:58 PM

A truly talented man, may he rest in peace!

Dark omega zer0 · 10-11-2004, 08:33 PM

RIP...

Although I wonder if they'll have something written into Smallville about Dr. Swann

~*Echo*~ · 10-11-2004, 09:35 PM

I heard about this last night on my local news. Very sad; my heart goes out to his family. He did a lot of good work in his life, and he always struck me as someone who tried to make the best of his condition rather than just giving up.

I wonder how they'll deal with Dr. Swann on Smallville now. Hopefully, they won't just forget about the character, even though he (obviously) can't appear on screen anymore.

**LilMouse** · 10-11-2004, 09:48 PM

This is really sad news. It's even sadder that he never got to walk again.

**BehrItAll** · 10-12-2004, 02:48 AM

This is so sad and my heart goes out to his family. I was looking forward to a day when he would walk again and I really believed he would b/c he just seemed so determinded to do so.

I wonder how they will address Dr. Swann's character now?

MissShannon · 10-13-2004, 05:21 AM

This is really very sad. I'm going to have to make some Superman animations and stuff as memorial. I'm glad I've got all the movies on DVD.

whose seen Somewhere in Time? that's a great one too.

own worst enemy · 10-13-2004, 12:27 PM

I was actually gonna go get the Superman Boxed set with all the movies like 3 weeks ago. and then this happened, so now i have to wait cause its sold out where i usually go. but i have them on tape.

i actually watched "rosetta" last night, and i almost cried. im just so heartbroken by all of this. i mean, he was an amazing person.

Stephan R · 10-14-2004, 12:20 AM

I read this on the newspaper, and I was deeply saddened by this. Christopher Reeves is an extraordinary person. To me, he was full of life, a very good actor, but a unique person. Him being paralyed is really sad, meaning that he will never ever get to walk again or get to feel that. But I applaud him for setting up his own foundation to find a cure... since we got a long way to go, he has helped all of us understand this whole thing.

May he rest in peace... My heart and thoughts goes out to the family.

Thank you CR, for wonderful memories... We all have enjoyed you being in Smallville and other movies... such as Superman and You made us believe a man could... fly No one could ever replace him...

same old story · 10-30-2004, 03:58 AM

NO ONE!!