Superman Dies...

Flashgalaxy

Cupcake
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.

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nashpl

New Member
Christopher Reeve

This is sad and distressing news. Christopher was a great man and actor who will be massively missed. My thoughts and prayers are with his family. Christopher you suffered so much pain at the end of your life, rest in peace.

Nash
 

suziwong

Administrator
Staff member
Bad News !!!

I was sad !! He was very handsome and wonderful actor.
I pray for him and his family.
May he rest him peace

God Bless

suzi
 

pantera

New Member
I really liked him as superman. Tha cinema world has lost a big man. But in a way i think it's better for him, he hadn't a good looking those last times. probably some complications.
 

ORANGATUANG

Wildfire
Yes i just heard about him passing away that means that three great actors have passed on in just an couple of weeks..first Janet Leigh.then Rodney Dangerfeild and now Christopher Reeves...never mind thats the circle of life isnt it we are born, we live and we die...
 

Trinity

My Hero.
Very sad!He was doing so well with being able to move parts of his body they said he would never move!Blessings wished for his friends and family.
 

Mama San

Administrator
A sad day indeed!!!
A wonderful actor, a great humanitarian
and a very brave man. He will be sadly missed.
My thoughts and prayers go out to his precious
family and please Lord, my he rest in peace!!
God bless,
Mama san
 

katw_03

New Member
God Bless You Christopher Reeve

A very brave man. his courage amazed me!
He will be missed! :( I contribute to the
Christopher Reeve Foundation and will continue
to do so. My sympathies to his wife and children.
 

Amos Stevens

New Member
I turned on the tv this morning & they're showing a past interview with him & flashed at the bottom of the screen his birthdate & 2004...then they barely mentioned him dying on the news-felt he deserved more recognition than that.


Christopher Reeve dies at 52
'Superman' actor known for activism in spinal cord research
Monday, October 11, 2004 Posted: 1:34 PM EDT (1734 GMT)




(CNN) -- Christopher Reeve, who portrayed a hero in the "Superman" films and embodied one as an advocate for spinal cord research after being paralyzed in an accident, has died. He was 52.

Reeve went into cardiac arrest Saturday at his home in Westchester County, New York, after developing a serious systemic infection during treatment for a pressure wound. He slipped into a coma and died Sunday afternoon at a hospital near his home.

Reeve's wife, Dana, issued a statement thanking "the millions of fans around the world who have supported and loved my husband over the years."

"He put up with a lot," his mother, Barbara Johnson, told the syndicated television show "The Insider." "I'm glad that he is free of all those tubes."

Reeve first gained renown when he was selected from 200 candidates to play the title character in the 1978 movie "Superman," which was followed by three sequels. But he made a bigger impact on the public consciousness after becoming paralyzed in May 1995, following an equestrian accident in Virginia.

The actor went through months of therapy to train himself to breathe without the continuous aid of a respirator. He then became an advocate for the disabled, lobbying Congress, appearing at the Academy Awards and returning to acting and directing. His name was mentioned by Sen. John Kerry during Friday's presidential debate when the talk turned to stem cell research.

Reeve himself was vocal on the subject. In 2001, while President Bush considered a decision on stem cell research -- he eventually allowed federal funding of research using existing stem cell lines -- Reeve spoke to CNN's John King about the impact of delaying study.

"That would be a big mistake because you could spend the next five years doing research on the adult stem cells and find that they are not capable of doing what we know that embryonic cells can do now," he said. "And five years of unnecessary research to try to create something that we already have would cause -- well, a lot of people are going to die while we wait."

Model form
Christopher Reeve was born September 25, 1952, in New York City, the son of a novelist and a newspaper reporter. He appeared on the soap opera "Love of Life" while attending college at Cornell University; his senior year, he was also one of two students selected to attend New York's prestigious Juilliard School to study under John Houseman (the other, according to the Internet Movie Database, was Robin Williams).

He debuted on Broadway in 1976 in the play "A Matter of Gravity," opposite Katharine Hepburn, and later starred in Lanford Wilson's work "Fifth of July," playing a gay, crippled Vietnam veteran.

But it was "Superman" that thrust Reeve into stardom. At an athletic 6-foot-4, the actor appeared to be a model for the superhero (an image helped by the fact that he performed many of his stunts, including dangerous "flying" exercises) -- and yet, with the merest addition of some glasses and a meek voice, easily turned into the shy and hesitant Clark Kent, often overpowered by Margot Kidder's brash Lois Lane.

Reeve made frequent attempts to avoid typecasting. He starred as a playwright who goes back in time to meet a beauty in "Somewhere in Time" (1980), Michael Caine's rival in the film version of Ira Levin's play "Deathtrap" (1983) and an unscrupulous reporter in "Street Smart" (1987), the film that helped make Morgan Freeman a star.

Among his other films were "The Bostonians" (1984), "Switching Channels" (1988), "Noises Off" (1992) and "The Remains of the Day" (1993).

'Let's continue to take risks'

Reeve with his wife, Dana
An active horseman, Reeve was taking part in an equestrian competition in 1995 when he was thrown from his horse. The event changed his life overnight.

After the accident, he told Barbara Walters that he had considered suicide, but thoughts of his children dissuaded him, according to The Associated Press.

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

He refused to let his injury -- he was left a quadriplegic -- slow him down, and he exhorted others to take chances.

"Hollywood needs to do more," he told the audience at the 1996 Oscar ceremony. "Let's continue to take risks. Let's tackle the issues. In many ways our film community can do it better than anyone else."

He was also master of ceremonies at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta and delivered an opening-night speech at the Democratic National Convention the same year.

Reeve won a Screen Actors Guild award for best actor for his performance in a remake of "Rear Window," about a man in a wheelchair who becomes convinced a neighbor has been murdered. In the original 1954 film, Jimmy Stewart played a photographer whose legs were encased in a cast after an accident; Reeve's portrayal of the character was all the more starker for his real-life disability.

"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 told the AP. "But I was surprised to find that if I really concentrated, and just let the thoughts happen, that they would read on my face."

In the meantime, Reeve vowed he would walk again. In 2000, the actor was able to move his index finger, and he maintained a strenuous workout regimen to make his limbs stronger. In a commercial for the Nuveen investment firm, Reeve -- with the help of computer animation -- appeared to walk.

Despite some criticism, Reeve stood by the ad.

"It is a motivating vision of something that can actually happen," he told BusinessWeek magazine. "... Rather than just imagining a spinal-cord victim walking in the future, I thought it would be even more powerful to see it actually happening."

Dr. John McDonald, who treated Reeve as director of the Spinal Cord Injury Program at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, called Reeve "one of the most intense individuals I've ever met in my life."

"Before him there was really no hope," McDonald told the AP. "If you had a spinal cord injury like his there was not much that could be done, but he's changed all that. He's demonstrated that there is hope and that there are things that can be done."

Reeve tried to maintain an active life.

"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 told the AP in an interview.

The actor is survived by his wife, Dana, and three children: a son, Will, with his wife, and a son and a daughter, Matthew and Alexandra, by a previous relationship with Gae Exton. Plans for a funeral were not immediately announced.

The family has requested that donations be made to the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright 2004 CNN
 

Jampa

New Member
I did not know much about him, but it sounds like he was a grand man...
Now he can really fly.
God speed...
 

kickingbird

candle lighter
Sad day it is. Chris really brought hope to a lot of people, and he will be missed.
The doctor said he developed a massive skin infection (complication common among quads) and I guess his heart just couldn't take it. He held on like a trooper these past 9 years.
May God speed.
Let's say a prayer for Dana and his kids, too - they were so brave too.
 

Nico

Lost without you
very sorry to hear that he died. He was a great man, someone you could really admire, the way he kept going on after his accident. Great loss to everyone who knew him.

Nico
 

Serena

Administrator
Thanks for reporting this, Flashgalaxy, and thank you, Amos, for the additional information. This was so sad, as there was still much he wanted to accomplish and prove to himself and the world and to help so many others. He's done a great deal already, raising public awareness, and I know his family is very proud of him. His wife and children have much to be proud of themselves, having stayed by his side through his entire ordeal. Most people don't have a full understanding of just how difficult it is on the caretakers and family, but they deserve much praise indeed. Quite a remarkable family.
 

Flashgalaxy

Cupcake
He will sorely be missed.

You guys should hear this audio interview that Christopher did with NPR back in 2002. It was very touching and inspiring... it really motivated me to do better and cherish the simple things in life that we so often take for granted.


Click here to hear Real player required.
 

ORANGATUANG

Wildfire
Sadly alot of actors/ actresses that are still alive have been forgotten and that just isnt good enough..i like alot of the older stars they are alot better then the young whipper snappers of today...so they should not be forgotten at all...i like the idea of stars getting there handprints in cement at least they will never die in that sense..
 

pantera

New Member
Amos Stevens said:
I turned on the tv this morning & they're showing a past interview with him & flashed at the bottom of the screen his birthdate & 2004...then they barely mentioned him dying on the news-felt he deserved more recognition than that.


Christopher Reeve dies at 52
'Superman' actor known for activism in spinal cord research
Monday, October 11, 2004 Posted: 1:34 PM EDT (1734 GMT)




(CNN) -- Christopher Reeve, who portrayed a hero in the "Superman" films and embodied one as an advocate for spinal cord research after being paralyzed in an accident, has died. He was 52.

Reeve went into cardiac arrest Saturday at his home in Westchester County, New York, after developing a serious systemic infection during treatment for a pressure wound. He slipped into a coma and died Sunday afternoon at a hospital near his home.

Reeve's wife, Dana, issued a statement thanking "the millions of fans around the world who have supported and loved my husband over the years."

"He put up with a lot," his mother, Barbara Johnson, told the syndicated television show "The Insider." "I'm glad that he is free of all those tubes."

Reeve first gained renown when he was selected from 200 candidates to play the title character in the 1978 movie "Superman," which was followed by three sequels. But he made a bigger impact on the public consciousness after becoming paralyzed in May 1995, following an equestrian accident in Virginia.

The actor went through months of therapy to train himself to breathe without the continuous aid of a respirator. He then became an advocate for the disabled, lobbying Congress, appearing at the Academy Awards and returning to acting and directing. His name was mentioned by Sen. John Kerry during Friday's presidential debate when the talk turned to stem cell research.

Reeve himself was vocal on the subject. In 2001, while President Bush considered a decision on stem cell research -- he eventually allowed federal funding of research using existing stem cell lines -- Reeve spoke to CNN's John King about the impact of delaying study.

"That would be a big mistake because you could spend the next five years doing research on the adult stem cells and find that they are not capable of doing what we know that embryonic cells can do now," he said. "And five years of unnecessary research to try to create something that we already have would cause -- well, a lot of people are going to die while we wait."

Model form
Christopher Reeve was born September 25, 1952, in New York City, the son of a novelist and a newspaper reporter. He appeared on the soap opera "Love of Life" while attending college at Cornell University; his senior year, he was also one of two students selected to attend New York's prestigious Juilliard School to study under John Houseman (the other, according to the Internet Movie Database, was Robin Williams).

He debuted on Broadway in 1976 in the play "A Matter of Gravity," opposite Katharine Hepburn, and later starred in Lanford Wilson's work "Fifth of July," playing a gay, crippled Vietnam veteran.

But it was "Superman" that thrust Reeve into stardom. At an athletic 6-foot-4, the actor appeared to be a model for the superhero (an image helped by the fact that he performed many of his stunts, including dangerous "flying" exercises) -- and yet, with the merest addition of some glasses and a meek voice, easily turned into the shy and hesitant Clark Kent, often overpowered by Margot Kidder's brash Lois Lane.

Reeve made frequent attempts to avoid typecasting. He starred as a playwright who goes back in time to meet a beauty in "Somewhere in Time" (1980), Michael Caine's rival in the film version of Ira Levin's play "Deathtrap" (1983) and an unscrupulous reporter in "Street Smart" (1987), the film that helped make Morgan Freeman a star.

Among his other films were "The Bostonians" (1984), "Switching Channels" (1988), "Noises Off" (1992) and "The Remains of the Day" (1993).

'Let's continue to take risks'

Reeve with his wife, Dana
An active horseman, Reeve was taking part in an equestrian competition in 1995 when he was thrown from his horse. The event changed his life overnight.

After the accident, he told Barbara Walters that he had considered suicide, but thoughts of his children dissuaded him, according to The Associated Press.

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

He refused to let his injury -- he was left a quadriplegic -- slow him down, and he exhorted others to take chances.

"Hollywood needs to do more," he told the audience at the 1996 Oscar ceremony. "Let's continue to take risks. Let's tackle the issues. In many ways our film community can do it better than anyone else."

He was also master of ceremonies at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta and delivered an opening-night speech at the Democratic National Convention the same year.

Reeve won a Screen Actors Guild award for best actor for his performance in a remake of "Rear Window," about a man in a wheelchair who becomes convinced a neighbor has been murdered. In the original 1954 film, Jimmy Stewart played a photographer whose legs were encased in a cast after an accident; Reeve's portrayal of the character was all the more starker for his real-life disability.

"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 told the AP. "But I was surprised to find that if I really concentrated, and just let the thoughts happen, that they would read on my face."

In the meantime, Reeve vowed he would walk again. In 2000, the actor was able to move his index finger, and he maintained a strenuous workout regimen to make his limbs stronger. In a commercial for the Nuveen investment firm, Reeve -- with the help of computer animation -- appeared to walk.

Despite some criticism, Reeve stood by the ad.

"It is a motivating vision of something that can actually happen," he told BusinessWeek magazine. "... Rather than just imagining a spinal-cord victim walking in the future, I thought it would be even more powerful to see it actually happening."

Dr. John McDonald, who treated Reeve as director of the Spinal Cord Injury Program at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, called Reeve "one of the most intense individuals I've ever met in my life."

"Before him there was really no hope," McDonald told the AP. "If you had a spinal cord injury like his there was not much that could be done, but he's changed all that. He's demonstrated that there is hope and that there are things that can be done."

Reeve tried to maintain an active life.

"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 told the AP in an interview.

The actor is survived by his wife, Dana, and three children: a son, Will, with his wife, and a son and a daughter, Matthew and Alexandra, by a previous relationship with Gae Exton. Plans for a funeral were not immediately announced.

The family has requested that donations be made to the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright 2004 CNN
I watched cnn yesterday to see if they were going to talk about him but they didn't do it much.
In watching some images of superman i couldn't help droping a tear. His character, the man of steel, made me dream so much when i was a kid.
It still makes me draem, i still enjoy watching superman (especially the 3rd one when he becomes a bad guy because of the kryptonit).
The world has lost a big guy with a big heart. The fate paralized him and he became a model, a real hero thanx to his strenght, his will to survive and his generosity.
As you say in usa, god bless him
 

Littledragon

Above The Law
R.I.P. Chris.

That is very sad, they were spending so long to try to cure Chris. R.I.P. Christopher Reev. You will be truley missed.
 

KATHYPURDOM

Steven Seagal Fan
I was so sad to hear of his passing. Christopher was a great actor. he even when on acting after his accident. The pain that he went through, mind and body, was more than a lot of people can handle, but he did, with the strength that he had.
You will be missed Superman.
 
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