Christopher Reeve
Before a horseback riding accident paralyzed him from the neck down, Christopher Reeve was best known for his portrayal of Superman in the 1978 film directed by Richard Donner. The film was Reeve's second appearance on the big screen, after a role in Gray Lady Down, earlier that year. He made three sequels to Superman, and, in an interview he once said that when he asked Sean Connery how to avoid being typecast, Connery answered, "First you have to be good enough that they ask you to play it again and again."
Christopher Reeve was born on September 25, 1952, in New York. He studied at Cornell University, while at the same time working as a professional actor. In his final year of Cornell, he and Robin Williams, who became a life-long friend, were selected to study at the Julliard School of Performing Arts. When it became financially difficult for him to continue his studies, Reeve took a role in the soap opera Love of Life. In 1976, he dropped out of Julliard to take a role in the Broadway play, A Matter of Gravity, starring Katherine Hepburn. Reeve since appeared in many feature films, TV movies and some 150 plays. He also hosted many specials and documentaries. Some of his better-known films include, Somewhere in Time (1980), Deathtrap (1982), The Bostonians (1984), The Remains of the Day (1993), and Above Suspicion (1995). In addition to his early stage work, Reeve appeared in The Marriage of Figaro in New York, Summer and Smoke with Christine Lahti in Los Angeles, and he toured with Love Letters in several major cities. He also starred in a well-received production of The Aspern Papers in London's West End with Vanessa Redgrave and Dame Wendy Hiller. He liked to spend summers at the Williamstown Theater Festival.
Politically active, Reeve was a founding member and past president of the Creative Coalition, an advocacy group of artists, and was a passionate supporter of the National Endowment For The Arts. In 1987, he faced tear gas and real personal danger when Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman asked him to travel to Chile and lead a demonstration in support of 77 artists targeted with death warrants by the Pinochet government. For his successful efforts to free the artists, Reeve received a special Obie Award in 1988.
In May, 1995, Reeve was thrown from his horse during a riding event, and, landing on his head, broke the top two vertebrae in his spine. Left paralyzed from the neck down, Reeve became an active advocate for bringing greater public awareness to the needs of those with spinal cord injuries. He and his wife created a fundraising foundation called the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation to raise research money and provide grants to local agencies that focus on quality of life for the disabled. He was also an outspoken advocate for the need for stem cell research.
Despite his injury, Reeve continued to work, both as an actor and as a director, winning accolades for his role in a TV production of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, and acclaim for his directorial debut of the HBO-film In the Gloaming. His autobiography, Still Me, was a bestseller, and he won a Grammy for his spoken album, of the same title.
Reeve died of heart failure on October 10, 2004, after being treated for a systemic infection that resulted from a pressure sore, a common affliction for people living with paralysis. He was survived by two children, Matthew and Alexandra, from his relationship with Gae Exton, and by his son Will and wife Dana Morosini, whom he married in 1992.
Personalities
Christopher Reeve, Actor
Born: 25 September 1952
Birthplace: New York, New York
Death: 10 October 2004 (heart failure)
Best Known As: The Superman star who later was paralyzed
Christopher Reeve's leading role in Superman (1978) made him a star, but it was his recuperation after a 1995 horse riding accident that made him a symbol of persistence and courage. Reeve was a little known stage actor from New York when he was chosen out of 200 candidates to star in a big-budget movie version of the comic book hero Superman. He appeared in three sequels, Superman II (1980, with Gene Hackman), Superman III (1983, with Richard Pryor) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), and starred in several other films, stage plays and TV movies. In May of 1995 Reeve was thrown from his horse in a jumping competition and sustained a near-fatal injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Confined to a wheelchair, he went on to make public appearances and eventually resumed his career, doing mostly voice work and some directing. He also wrote about his recovery in the book Still Me (1999).
Christopher Reeve was not related to actor George Reeves, who played Superman in the 1950s television series The Adventures of Superman.
FOUR GOOD LINKS
Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation
Official site of his non-profit organization
Christopher Reeve Homepage
Unofficial tribute, with a biography, photo gallery and movie reviews
The Uncommon Strength of Christopher Reeve
1998 profile from USA Weekend magazine
Christopher Reeve Obituary
From ABC News
Biography
Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve was born on September 25, 1952 in New York. He died on 11 October 2004.
Reeve made his film debut in Gray Lady Down but it was with the eponymous role in Superman (1978) that he shot to fame.
In 1987, Reeve faced tear gas when he travelled to Chile to support writer Ariel Dorfman and demonstrate for artists threatened with death warrants by the Pinochet regime.
In May 1995, Reeve was thrown from his horse, and was paralysed from the neck down.
He became very involved in disability issues.
You can find a fuller biography of him at Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation
Wikipedia
Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve
Actor, director, producer, writer and advocate for stem cell research. Known for role as Superman.
Born September 25, 1952
New York City
Died October 10, 2004
Mount Kisco, New York
Reeve was born in New York City to writer Franklin Reeve and journalist Barbara Johnson. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree at Cornell University in 1974, after which he was selected to study at Juilliard School of Performing Arts under John Houseman. While at Juilliard, he became friends with a wildly improvisational classmate named Robin Williams.
In 1995 Reeve was paralyzed in a riding accident and spent the rest of his life wheelchair-bound, becoming a spokesperson for the disabled and for stem cell research.
Acting career
Reeve's first big break as an actor came in 1975 when he was selected to co-star opposite Katharine Hepburn in the Broadway play A Matter Of Gravity. Reeve stayed with the play throughout its year long run and was given very favorable reviews. He and Hepburn became very close. Reeve credited the legendary actress with giving him many valuable lessons on acting. Hepburn in turn praised her young co-star. She predicted great things for him and joked that he would "support me in my old age". Reeve joked back "I don't think I'll live that long Miss Hepburn".
Reeve continued to work on the stage, as well as on the soap opera Love of Life His first role in a Hollywood film was a small part as a submarine officer in the disaster movie Grey Lady Down in 1977. In 1978, he was selected to portray the international icon Superman in the 1978 film directed by Richard Donner. This film was an enormous success and inspired three sequels. Coincidentally, Christopher Reeve's good friend Robin Williams also became a star that same year with the television show Mork & Mindy. Superman was the kind of part Reeve usually disdained. He was a stage actor at heart who preferred doing classical period plays and films that really required him to "act". He once said, "I want to challenge myself in my roles, not run around on screen with a machine gun".
In 1980, Reeve co-starred with Jane Seymour in Somewhere in Time, a time travel romance. Although this film was not popular at the time it was released, it has since inspired a wide "cult" following. Seymour thought so highly of Reeve that she named one of her children after him.
In 1984, Reeve won critical acclaim for his role as a 19th century southern lawyer in The Bostonians. He often said this was the best movie role of his career. It was immediately afterwards that he scored another triumph on the stage. This time it was on a London stage. Reeve had always been fond of England and jumped at the chance to co-star with his friend Vanessa Redgrave in The Aspen Papers which was an adaptation of a Henry James novel. Critics were astounded by his performance and headlines blurted "Superman can act!"
In 1987 he travelled to Chile, at that time under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, to stand in solidarity with several dozen actors and writers who had been threatened with death for their left wing views. Aboard his aircraft, he piloted them to safety and was widely praised as a humanitarian hero. In the same year, the fourth Superman sequel was released. Reeve helped write the screenplay because he wanted to send a powerful message about world peace. The plot focused on Superman ridding the world of nuclear weapons. Also in 1987, Reeve starred in the gritty Street Smart as a reporter who falsified a story about a pimp. Morgan Freeman won an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actor for his role as the pimp "Fast Black". Reeve's performance was dismissed by the critics; one even mocked, "Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane... it's Newsman!". In 1988, Reeve co-starred with friends, Burt Reynolds and Kathleen Turner, in the comedy Switching Channels. This was a modern day remake of the 1930s stageplay "The Front Page" and also provided the first comical role for Reeve. The movie flopped and Reeve was unable to land a major film role for the next four years.
Reeve had a great love for the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He served as an apprentice and on its Board of Directors. Despite becoming famous as Superman, he returned each summer until his accident. Reeve often faulted fellow actors for shunning stagework claiming they were dishonoring their craft. Reeve appeared in over 150 plays during his career.
Later life
On May 27, 1995, Reeve was paralyzed from the neck down after being thrown from his horse, "Eastern Express", in a cross country riding competition at Culpeper, Virginia. Reeve later admitted that he briefly thought of suicide after realizing the extent of his disability. He credits his wife with pulling him out of his depression. She told him, "I still love you no matter what. You are still you". Reeve has often said that these were the words that literally saved his life. He largely retired from the production of films after his paralysis, instead devoting his time to rehabilitation therapy. With his wife Dana, he opened the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center, a facility in Short Hills, New Jersey devoted to teaching paralyzed people to live more independently. He also lobbied against the U.S. government's restrictions on stem cell research. [1] (http://www.accessibility.com.au/news/internat/reeve_vs_biggies.htm)
Reeve also appeared in television movies after his accident, in his wheelchair. As an example, in 1998 he appeared in a re-make for TV of the famous film Rear Window, originally by Alfred Hitchcock. This re-make is set in the time in which it was made and is characterized by its depiction of (useful) gadgets for wheelchair users. This distinguishes the film clearly from the original. For example, in the new film he sends emails by using speech recognition software (instead of the telephone used in the original).
On April 25, 1998 Random House published Reeve's autobiography, Still Me.
On February 25, 2003, he appeared in the television series Smallville as Dr. Swann, who provides young Clark Kent with insightful clues as to his origins. The episode, "Rosetta", was warmly received by critics and the viewing public as a fitting connection from one generation's Superman to the next. Reeve appeared in the role again in the April 14, 2004 episode "Legacy". The character of Dr. Swann died in the episode "Sacred," which aired on February 23, 2005. Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane in the Superman films will continue the plot as Swann's assistant.
On October 25, 2004, A&E aired Reeve's second directorial project, "The Brooke Ellison Story." The film, starring Lacey Chabert and based on a true story, is about the life of an 11-year old girl who becomes a quadriplegic in a car accident.
Reeve died of heart failure on October 10, 2004 after suffering cardiac arrest and falling into a coma the previous day. He was only 52 years old. In the week prior to his death, Reeve was being treated at Northern Westchester Hospital for a pressure ulcer, a common ailment for paralytics, that had subsequently become seriously infected. Patients with the type of paralysis Reeve had, live an average of 7 years, he lived over 9 years.
Selected quotes
"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, 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."
"So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable."
Filmography
An autographed photo of Reeve as Superman.Gray Lady Down (1978)
Superman (1978)
Somewhere in Time (1980)
Superman II (1980)
Deathtrap (1982)
Monsignor (1982)
Superman III (1983)
The Bostonians (1984)
The Aviator (1985)
Street Smart (1987)
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
Switching Channels (1988)
Earthday Birthday (1990) (short subject)
Fear and the Muse: The Story of Anna Akhmatova (1991) (documentary) (narrator)
Noises Off... (1992)
The Remains of the Day (1993)
Speechless (1994)
Village of the Damned (1995)
Above Suspicion (1995)
A Step Toward Tomorrow (1996)
Yankee Irving (2006) (director only) (currently filming)
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