| October 11th, 2004 06:46 AM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
`Superman' Star Christopher Reeve Dies
BEDFORD, N.Y. - Christopher Reeve, the star of the "Superman" movies whose near-fatal riding accident nine years ago turned him into a worldwide advocate for spinal cord research, died Sunday of heart failure, his publicist said. He was 52.
Reeve fell into a coma Saturday after going into cardiac arrest while at his New York home, his publicist, Wesley Combs told The Associated Press by phone from Washington, D.C., on Sunday night. His family was at his side at the time of death.
Reeve was being treated at Northern Westchester Hospital for a pressure wound, a common complication for people living with paralysis. In the past week, the wound had become severely infected, resulting in a serious systemic infection.
"On behalf of my entire family, I want to thank Northern Westchester Hospital for the excellent care they provided to my husband," Dana Reeve, Christopher's wife, said in a statement. "I also want to thank his 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 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 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 had 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.
Reeve's support of stem cell research helped it emerge as a major campaign issue between President Bush and John Kerry. His name was even mentioned by Kerry earlier this month during the second presidential debate.
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.
"Look, I've flown, I've become evil, loved, stopped and turned the world backward, I've faced my peers, I've befriended children and small animals and I've rescued cats from trees," Reeve told the Los Angeles Times in 1983. "What else is there left for Superman to do that hasn't been done?"
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 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."
[Edited by Ten Thousand Motels] |
| October 11th, 2004 07:02 AM |
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| FotiniD |
I've heard it this morning on the radio. So sad  He was so young.
The twists of life are crazy. |
| October 11th, 2004 08:05 AM |
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| JaggerLips |
A sad loss didn't realise he was only 52.
I heard somewhere that they are trying to do a new Superman film but cannot cast anyone for the lead of Superman, people won't touch it with a bargepole! Such great a mark Christopher Reeve left on the cinematic representation of the comic book hero.
Christopher Reeve you will always be Superman
R.I.P |
| October 11th, 2004 10:34 AM |
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| jb |
Very sad news...Christopher Reeves made many appearances down here in support of the Mark Buoniconti foundation for spinal cord paralysis. The man refused to give up hope despite the tragedy he suffered. Christopher Reeves was a strong, outspoken voice for stem-cell research and didn't mind offending someone if it meant getting his message heard. This is not only a sad loss for his family, friends and fans, but for the continuing fight to allow scientific research to be conducted to help those suffering from spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders. God bless and rest in peace .
[Edited by jb] |
| October 11th, 2004 10:36 AM |
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| Gazza |
An actor who in his last few years lived up to the title of his most famous role.
Very sad news indeed |
| October 11th, 2004 10:38 AM |
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| Gimme Shelter |
RIP Mr. Christopher Reeve |
| October 11th, 2004 11:02 AM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation Mourns the Death of its Chairman Christopher Reeve
October 11, 2004
Kathy Lewis, President and CEO of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation (CRPF) issued the following statement today in response to the death of CRPF�s Chairman, Christopher Reeve.
(Springfield, NJ) � �On behalf of the entire Board of Directors and staff of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, we are deeply saddened and shocked by the sudden death of our Chairman, Christopher Reeve,� said Lewis.
Mr. Reeve passed away yesterday of heart failure. He was 52 years old. Mr. Reeve fell into a coma after going into cardiac arrest while at home. Reeve was being treated for a pressure wound that he developed, a common complication for people living with paralysis. In the past week, the wound had become severely infected, resulting in a serious systemic infection.
Mr. Reeve�s death was not a direct result of his spinal cord injury, but an example of how secondary complications can have fatal consequences for people living with paralysis.
�Christopher was a hero to many people, yet he always said it was the ordinary people living with disability who were truly extraordinary� said Lewis. �His memory will serve as inspiration for the work of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation and we will continue in his honor to be steadfast in our goal of finding treatments and cures for paralysis.�
�The Foundation extends condolences to the entire Reeve Family. Our thoughts are with all those who mourn in the passing of our Chairman. He will be missed for his life, his work, his passion and his ceaseless courage in the face of adversity that brought hope to millions around the world,� added Lewis.
For those who care to do so, the family has requested that donations be made in his honor to the Foundation. Cards may be sent to the family in care of the Foundation at 500 Morris Avenue, Springfield, New Jersey 07081.
For those who care to do so, the family has requested that donations be made in his honor to the Foundation. Cards may be sent to the family in care of the Foundation at 500 Morris Avenue, Springfield, New Jersey 07081. |
| October 11th, 2004 06:49 PM |
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| Scottfree |
quote:
jb wrote:
Very sad news...Christopher Reeves made many appearances down here in support of the Mark Buoniconti foundation for spinal cord paralysis. The man refused to give up hope despite the tragedy he suffered. Christopher Reeves was a strong, outspoken voice for stem-cell research and didn't mind offending someone if it meant getting his message heard. This is not only a sad loss for his family, friends and fans, but for the continuing fight to allow scientific research to be conducted to help those suffering from spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders. God bless and rest in peace .
[Edited by jb]
GWB is the only President to allot any funds to stem cell research......Bless GWB |
| October 11th, 2004 09:23 PM |
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| Soldatti |
Sad news, god bless him. |
| October 11th, 2004 10:48 PM |
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| BILL PERKS |
HE WAS A TRUE INSPIRATION-ALWAYS THERE TO REMIND YOU YOUR PROBLEMS WERE USUALLY MINOR TO WHAT HE HAD TO ENDURE..A LOSER LIKE KEN CAMINITTI DIES THE SAME DAY WHO HAD EVERYTHING AND THREW IT ALL AWAY.MY HEART GOES OUT TO HIS FAMILY |
| October 11th, 2004 11:57 PM |
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| kath |
very brave man..it seems so ironic that a bedsore would spell his demise after all he went through.
he was inspirational and strong and a pioneer. and he gave people hope.
he is flying now..flying like superman. |
| October 12th, 2004 12:38 AM |
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| gypsy |
My heart goes out to his family, God bless them.
I do hope that his involvement in stem-cell research helps others in the future. I recall a program about it on television, and it looked as though it was very productive, and possibly could become even more so in the future.
I know my Aunt is just heartbroken. I haven't spoken to her, but she has an infatuation with him that is on par with our infatuation with the Stones.
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| October 12th, 2004 03:41 AM |
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| IanBillen |
Christofer Reeve= A real life Super Hero
He was so determined, and so damn strong willed. What a man.
And to think he only considered suicide for just a few short days after the accident. Then he pressed onward and never looked back. Most would of crumpled or at least went over it and over it and asked why. He NEVER asked why.
Now he is doing what ever he wants I am sure.
May God be with him.
By the way is it me or does it seem celeberities are dropping left and right anymore.
Take note:
John Ritter, Johnny Cash=same day no less, Ray Charles, Rodney Dangerfield, Rick James, Ronald Regan
and I think there is one or two others.
Wow,
Ian
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| October 12th, 2004 04:47 AM |
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| Gazza |
Marlon Brando!!! |
| October 12th, 2004 01:19 PM |
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| BILL PERKS |
quote:
IanBillen wrote:
Christofer Reeve= A real life Super Hero
He was so determined, and so damn strong willed. What a man.
And to think he only considered suicide for just a few short days after the accident. Then he pressed onward and never looked back. Most would of crumpled or at least went over it and over it and asked why. He NEVER asked why.
Now he is doing what ever he wants I am sure.
May God be with him.
By the way is it me or does it seem celeberities are dropping left and right anymore.
IT SEEMS LIKE IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE
Take note:
John Ritter, Johnny Cash=same day no less, Ray Charles, Rodney Dangerfield, Rick James, Ronald Regan
and I think there is one or two others.
Wow,
Ian
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| October 12th, 2004 01:29 PM |
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| Gimme Shelter |
In the last two weeks:
Janet Leigh
Rodney Dangerfield
Christopher Reeve |
| October 12th, 2004 03:32 PM |
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| glencar |
Meanwhile in Darfur, thousands died. Sorry but I'm about out of tears(!) for dead celebs. I worry more about the people I know personally or those in the 3rd world who've lived lives of total shit & then die. Reeves was a poor horseman & while I do have general sympathy for the family, I can't seem to loosen a tear at his demise. |
| October 12th, 2004 03:50 PM |
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| jb |
quote:
glencar wrote:
Meanwhile in Darfur, thousands died. Sorry but I'm about out of tears(!) for dead celebs. I worry more about the people I know personally or those in the 3rd world who've lived lives of total shit & then die. Reeves was a poor horseman & while I do have general sympathy for the family, I can't seem to loosen a tear at his demise.
Well, celebrity deaths alwasy get more attention...but you are correct, millions of people dying b/c we can't or won't get involved...very sad... |
| October 12th, 2004 04:12 PM |
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| Bloozehound |
quote:
Gimme Shelter wrote:
In the last two weeks:
Janet Leigh
Rodney Dangerfield
Christopher Reeve
yup they always go in 3's
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| October 12th, 2004 05:22 PM |
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| IanBillen |
quote:
Gazza wrote:
Marlon Brando!!!
Thanks yes. |
| October 14th, 2004 02:00 AM |
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| Bovine49 |
Dammit, quit telling that joke about Christopher Reeve holding the $10 bill under his chin in the titty bar! |
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