R.I.P. Superman

The death of Christopher Reeves, the actor who fleshed out the role of Superman that it remains a classic till now

No other actors can replace the role of Superman, it is indeed a big shoe left by Reeves to fill for others.

His crippling accident was a shock and his death was another.

OCT 12, 2004
Superman forever

Christopher Reeve, 52, died of heart failure on Sunday. But he will continue to soar in the minds of movie-goers everywhere as one of the world's most enduring superheroes

BEDFORD, New York - 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 of heart failure, his publicist said. He was 52.

He fell into a coma last Saturday after going into cardiac arrest while at his New York home and died at 5.30pm on Sunday, his publicist told The Associated Press.
Reeve was being treated at Northern Westchester Hospital at Mount Kisco, New York, 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.
He was admitted to the hospital on Saturday evening and never regained consciousness. His family was at his side at the time of death.

'On behalf of my entire family, I want to thank Northern Westchester Hospital for the excellent care they provided to my husband,' said his wife, Dana, 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 became famous for his Superman role in the 1978 movie, Superman, and three sequels that followed. He was paralysed in May 1995 after he was thrown from his horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper, Virginia.

A few months after the accident, he protested against tabloid reports which said he had been pleading to die.

'I have not given up. I will never give up,' he said.

Enduring months of therapy to allow him to breathe for longer and longer periods without a respirator, he began to lobby Congress for better insurance protection against life-changing injuries.
He quickly became a powerful advocate for pushing the boundaries of modern medicine, frequently saying he believed that one day he would walk again.

His New Jersey-based Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation emerged under his star power and relentless fund-raising as a leading source for research money, giving out more than US$42.5 million (S$72.3 million) to neuroscientists.

His support of stem cell research helped it emerge as a major campaign issue between President George W. Bush and Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry.

Mr Kerry mentioned him in last Friday's presidential debate, saying he believed embryonic stem cell research should be expanded, as it would be the best way to give Reeve and others like him the chance to walk again.

'Chris Reeve is a friend of mine,' he said. 'Chris Reeve exercises each and every day to keep those muscles alive so that one day he can walk again.'


AIMING FOR THE STARS

REEVE was born on Sept 25, 1952, in New York City, son of a novelist and a newspaper reporter.

He was around 10 years old when he made his first stage appearance - in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeoman Of The Guard at McCarter Theater in Princeton, New Jersey.

He starred in virtually all of the theatrical productions at the exclusive Princeton Day School. By age 16, he had joined the actors' union.

He graduated from Cornell University in 1974 and went on to study at New York's Juilliard School of Performing Arts under the legendary John Houseman.

In 1974, he landed a part as cold-hearted bigamist Ben Harper on the TV soap opera Love Of Life. In 1976, he made his Broadway debut, playing the grandson of a character played by Katharine Hepburn in A Matter Of Gravity.
His first movie role was a minor one in the 1978 submarine disaster movie Gray Lady Down. Superman soon followed. He was selected for the title role from among 200 aspirants.

Despite his disability, he returned to direct and even resumed 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 neighbour has been murdered.
He won a Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor in a television movie or mini-series.

'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,' he 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 March 1996, a year after his accident, he accepted an invitation to the Academy Awards despite the dangers of airplane travel and his tenuous condition.

He received a prolonged standing ovation and brought many in the audience to tears with a plea for more films that address social problems.

'Hollywood needs to do more,' he told the gathered stars. '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.'

As for the strain of travelling to Hollywood, he said: '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.'

Though he owed his fame to his Superman role, he 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-traveller 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, his 1997 directorial debut. Among his other film credits are The Remains Of The Day, The Aviator and Morning Glory.


ROAD TO RECOVERY

ACTIVE in many sports, he owned several horses and competed in equestrian events regularly.
Witnesses to the May 1995 accident said his 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.

When he was finally released from a rehabilitation institute in December 1995, he thanked staff members 'who have set the stage for my continued journey'.
He underwent further rehabilitation at his home in upstate New York.
In 2000, he was able to move his index finger. A specialised workout regimen made his legs and arms stronger. He also regained sensation in other parts of his body.

Last month, he revealed in a BBC interview that he faced setbacks last year that prevented him from continuing in his physical regimen of aquatherapy, treadmill walks and exercise-bike riding.
He said he had been facing new health problems, including a blood infection and osteoporosis, from which he had recovered. He admitted that the problems would make it harder for him to walk again.

While filming Superman in London, Reeve met modelling agency co-founder Gae Exton, and the two began a relationship that lasted several years. The couple had two sons, but were never wed.
He later married Ms Dana Morosini. They had a son, Will, now 11. His wife became his frequent spokesman after the accident.
He is also survived by his mother, Ms Barbara Johnson; his father, Mr Franklin Reeve; his brother, Benjamin; and his two children from his relationship with Exton - Matthew, 25, and Alexandra Reeve, 21.

No plans for a funeral were immediately announced.

A few months after his 1995 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.'