Late American actor Christopher Reeve is best known for portraying Superman in four films. At this year’s Sundance Film Festival, a documentary titled Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story was premiered. The documentary showcased the emotional journey of the actor and earned positive reviews from the audience. Most importantly, it explained how he got paralyzed in 1995.
Even after his injury, Reeve appeared in the remake of Rear Window in 1998. Furthermore, he directed the film In the Gloaming in 1997 and showed up in Smallville, a Superman-themed television series. On May 27, 1995, Christopher Reeve met with a tragic accident that affected his first and second vertebrae. According to reports, he was thrown from a horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper, Virginia. This paralyzed him from the shoulders down, and he had to use a wheelchair and ventilator for the rest of his life.
Reeve died on October 10, 2004, at the age of 52. His remains were cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery. Apart from playing the DC hero in Superman, Superman II, Superman III, and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, he starred in The Remains of the Day, The Bostonians, Street Smart, and more.
According to IMDb, the synopsis of Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story reads, “Reeve’s rise to becoming a film star follows with a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down. After which he became an activist for spinal cord injury treatments and disability rights.”
Ian Bonhôte, Otto Burnham, and Peter Ettedgui are credited as writers of Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.
What was Christopher Reeve’s cause of death?
According to The New York Times, Christopher Reeve died due to an infection that spread throughout his body. People in wheelchairs suffer from pressure wounds due to constant pressure in one spot. As a result, blood fails to reach that spot, ultimately damaging the affected tissue. On October 9, 2004, after attending his son’s hockey game, he went into a coma. A few hours later, he passed away.
Christopher Reeve was born to Barbara Pitney Lamb and Franklin D’Olier Reeve on September 25, 1952. However, Barbara and Franklin went their separate ways in 1956. Even though young Reeve was academically gifted, he loved sports. He played soccer, baseball, tennis, and hockey and even got into Cornell University and then the Juilliard School. In 1978, his first film role came in the form of a junior officer in Gray Lady Down.
During an interview with Ability Magazine, Reeve opened up about being considered a spokesperson for people with disabilities, saying, “I can’t speak for all people with disabilities because I have very limited knowledge of all disabilities.” He further stated, “I am mostly aware of spinal cord injuries, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, stroke, and Alzheimer’s—all the diseases that affect the central nervous system and the brain. I talk to researchers and mostly focus on those conditions. There are so many other things and I can’t take on the mantle of responsibility for everybody and all conditions.”
Reeve married singer/actress Dana Morosini in 1992 and remained married to her until his passing. According to the People Magazine, the late actor has three children—Matthew Reeve, Alexandra Reeve Givens, and Will Reeve.
