After becoming paralyzed in a horse riding accident, Christopher Reeve dedicated himself to raising awareness of spinal cord injuries and advocating for increased research funding. Though confined to a wheelchair and dependent on a ventilator, Reeve traveled extensively giving speeches and helped raise over $60 million for research. He co-founded the Christopher Reeve Foundation to support quality of life programs for the disabled. Reeve approached his injury and advocacy with determination and optimism, inspiring many with his perseverance.

2. After the huge success of 1978's Superman: The Movie, people invariably referred to Reeve
as Superman. Reeve downplayed the disdain he felt for that comment: "As far as I'm
concerned there is Superman and then there's Christopher Reeve, and I'm not interested in
having them merge. What I'm interested in is acting... I've been working since I was
fourteen; I studied at Juilliard. I wasn't Superman before and I don't plan to be Superman
after." He was a very hot young star at that point and was offered the lead in several major
films including American Gigolo and Body Heat. Instead Reeve chose for his next project the
very different Somewhere in Time.
While promoting the movie at the time of its release, Reeve said, "Somewhere In
Time, while it errs on the side of pretentiousness, is an absolutely honest attempt to create
an old-fashioned romance. It's based on love rather than on sex or X-rated bedroom scenes.
I don't know how to talk about a love story without getting all gooey about it, but the script
excited me because of the situation of the leading character... His problem struck me as that
of many people. They've got everything going for them, or so they say, except for a real
commitment, a real love." In 1980, Reeve spent the summer doing theater in Williamstown.
He worked on Superman II and the broadway production of Fifth of July.
In 1987 Christopher Reeve and Gae Exton parted unmarried, but keeping joint custody of
the two children - not an easy arrangement with the Atlantic Ocean between the two
parents. During that summer in Williamstown, Reeve met his soul mate, Dana
Morosini, where she was performing in a cabaret.

3. It was love at first sight for Reeve but Dana was not impressed. Her friend, Bonnie Monte,
recalled: " 'He's going to be an arrogant, stuck-up movie star idiot, and I don't want anything
to do with him,' Dana said. Reeve had to fight for her, and he did. In four months they were
living together, and in 1992 they were married and had a son, William "Will" Elliot born on
June 7, 1992.
Reeve went on to appear in a total of 17 feature films, a dozen television movies, and about
150 plays. In addition, he hosted or narrated numerous documentaries and television
specials, many of which involve interests of his such as aviation or stunt work. His striking
good looks and imposing physique were reminisent of Hollywood's classic leading men like
John Wayne who, after meeting Reeve at the 1979 Academy Awards, turned to Cary Grant
and said: "This is our new man. He's taking over."
But rather than limit himself to the heroic roles for which he seemed so well suited, Reeve
frequently sought the challenge of parts that cast him against type - playing characters that
were gay, sociopathic or villanous. He turned down big paychecks to appear in small films
with directors like Sydney Lumet or James Ivory, whom he greatly respected and worked
with in The Bostonians and The Remains of the Day. But he has always preferred the stage,
considering it an actor's greatest test. 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.

4. He also starred in a well-received production of The Aspern Papers in London's West End
with Vanessa Redgrave and Dame Wendy Hiller. But no matter what he was doing at the
time, Reeve invariably made every effort to spend summers at the Williamstown Theater
Festival.
In addition to his acting career, Reeve was extremely active in political causes. A liberal
Democrat, Reeve said "I became politically active in high school, protesting the Vietnam
War. And when I went to Cornell, I became involved in environmental issues. And then, as
an adult, I became involved in First Amendment issues and funding for the arts..."

5. Some of the causes Reeve supported were Amnesty International, Save the Children, The
National Resources Defense Council, The Lindbergh Foundation, The Environmental Air
Force, and People for the American Way. He was a founding member and past president of
the Creative Coalition, an advocacy group of artists, and was one of the National
Endowment For The Arts most passionate supporters.
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 and an annual award from the Walter Briehl
Human Rights Foundation.

6. The sobering experience also reinforced his classical music several hours each day and
commitment to advocacy work, which by said in an interview that had he not been
the late 1980's was competing with his an actor, he would have liked to have been
career for his time. Environmental issues a professional musician.
were of particular interest to Reeve. He
addressed the United Nations to
encourage the banning of drift net tuna
fishing and he played a crucial role in
securing a landmark agreement to protect
the Hudson River and New York City's
reservoir system.
Christopher Reeve approached recreation
with the same dedication and intensity
that he brought to his professional and
advocacy work. Reeve set obstacles for
himself and then worked to overcome
them. He believed that progress in one's
life comes from creating your own
challenges and then doing the best you
possibly can to succeed. An accomplished
pianist, he composed and practiced

7. But Reeve was also a superb athlete who
did his own stunts in films and an avid
outdoorsman. He earned his pilot's license
in his early twenties and twice flew solo
across the Atlantic in a small plane. He also
flew gliders and was an expert sailor, scuba
diver, and skier. By the 1990's, horses had
become his passion. He loved the sport
called "eventing" which combined the
precision of dressage with the excitement
of cross-country and show jumping.
In May of 1995, it was during the cross- Upon regaining consciousness and realizing
country portion of such an event in the gravity of his situation, Reeve
Culpeper, Virginia, that Reeve's wondered to his wife Dana if "maybe we
Throughbred, Eastern Express, balked at a should just let me go." Whereupon Dana
rail jump, pitching his rider forward. uttered the words that gave him the will to
Reeve's hands were tangled in the horse's live: "But you're still you and I love you."
bridle and he landed head first, fracturing After 6 months at Kessler Rehabilitation
the uppermost vertebrae in his spine. Institute in New Jersey, Reeve returned to
Reeve was instantly paralyzed from the his home in Bedford, New York, where
neck down and unable to breathe. Prompt Dana had completed major renovations to
medical attention saved his life and accomodate his needs and those of his
delicate surgery stabilized the shattered electric wheelchair which he operated by
C1-C2 vertebrae and literally reattached sipping or puffing on a straw.
Reeve's head to his spine.

8. Ironically, this most self-reliant and active of men was now facing life almost completely
immobilized and dependent on others for his most basic needs. In addition, his condition
put him at constant risk for related illnesses - pneumonia, infections, blood clots, wounds
that do not heal, and a dangerous condition involving blood pressure known as autonomic
disreflexia - all of which Reeve would experience in the coming years.
Even while at Kessler, Christopher Reeve began to use the international interest in his
situation to increase public awareness about spinal cord injury and to raise money for
research into a cure. A 20/20 interview with Barbara Walters drew huge ratings and many
other television appearances would follow. Never a man to turn from a challenge, Reeve
accepted invitations to appear at the Academy Awards in 1996, to host the Paralympics in
Atlanta, and to speak at the Democratic National Convention in August of that year. At such
high-profile appearances Reeve faced risk of embarrassment if he could not speak because
his tracheostomy tube was slightly out of position or if his body suddenly spasmed and
jerked about uncontrollably (as it did just before the curtain went up at the Oscars).
Despite enormous expenses related to his paralysis, Reeve was determined to be financially
self-sufficient. A widespread rumor that his close friend, Robin Williams, had promised to
pay all his medical bills was publicly denied by both Williams and Reeve. Less than a year
after his injury, Reeve began to accept invitations for speaking engagements.

9. Traveling with a team of aides and nurses he crisscrossed the country, speaking at the Peter
Lowe Success Seminars, at universities, benefits, and at many functions relating to disability
issues. Reeve's publicist Maggie Friedman, at the Christopher Reeve Paralysis
Foundation, said: "He speaks off the cuff, using no notes or teleprompter and most of the
time he does not even dictate his thoughts to an assistant.“
Reeve narrated an Emmy Award winning documentary for HBO called Without Pity: A Film
About Abilities which sensitively told the stories of a half-dozen disabled people and also
hosted a Canadian documentary about spinal cord injury called The Toughest Break. He
returned to acting with a small but pivotol role in the CBS television movie A Step Toward
Tomorrow in 1996 starring Judith Light.

10. The next year Reeve made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed HBO short film
In the Gloaming starring his good friend Glenn Close. Gloaming went on to receive five
Emmy nominations and was the most honored film at the Cable ACE Awards in
1997, winning awards in four of the six categories it was nominated including best
"Dramatic or Theatrical Special". Dana Reeve described In the Gloaming as "a godsend for
Chris." She added, "there's such a difference in his outlook, his health, his overall sense of
well-being when he's working at what he loves, which is creative work - directing a
movie, or acting in one. It completely revitalizes him and feeds him." At these times "his
health is at an all-time high, his blood gases are good, he seems to cure skin wounds
faster, he sleeps better, he looks better. It's noticeable - it's like being in love.“
Reeve's activism after becoming spinal cord injured originally involved bringing more
scientists into neurological research to more quickly discover a cure along with doubling the
budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a government agency in the executive
branch that is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. But his
experiences with his own insurance company and, particularly, the experiences of other
patients he had met at Kessler also led him to push for legislation that would raise the limit
on catastrophic injury health coverage from $1 million to $10 million.
Reeve accepted the positions of Chairman of the American Paralysis Association and Vice
Chairman of the National Organization on Disability. In partnership with philanthropist Joan
Irvine Smith, he founded the Reeve-Irvine Research Center in California and he created the
Christopher Reeve Foundation in 1996 to raise research money and provide grants to local
agencies which focus on quality of life for the disabled.

11. Reeve's star power, along with marketing for research dollars, was reasons why spinal cord
injury research was given greater attention and more money allocated to the cause. In
2000, Newsweek noted that, "Thanks to Christopher Reeve, spinal-cord injuries-which affect
250,000 Americans-have won great attention, while mass killers like lung cancer and stroke
attract relatively less." Reeve used the contacts he had made in Washington during his years
of advocacy work to lead the fight to increase funding for spinal cord injury research
which, despite recent breakthroughs by scientists, had previously received inadequate
financial support. Reeve pointed out: "It is one thing to present legislators with
statistics, but quite another to make them face real people who testify at congressional
hearings or speak out in the media." Reeve ultimately raised $55 million in research grants
and more than $7 million for nonprofit organizations that still help improve the quality of
life for people living with disabilities.
Because Reeve found the strength to use his tragedy to help others after facing this
devastating life blow, there were many who came to believe that Reeve really was
Superman. Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton eloquently described this in his Go Make A Life
sermon: "To see Reeve in a severely incapacitated state brought back memories of his
famous acting roles as Superman and Clark Kent. Memory told me that Reeve could leap tall
buildings with a single bound as Superman. Also, I saw Christopher Reeve as a gem of an
investigative reporter... Admittedly, Superman was make-believe... I concluded that
Christopher Reeve is Superman, right here, right now... Reeve shows us the power, the
possibilities and the results of a fierce and persistent commitment to growth and
development.

12. With God's help, Reeve is Superman become Superman for real."
because: 1. He survived the horse riding
accident and challenged himself physically Meanwhile, life for the Reeve family went
during countless months of painful physical on in the most normal way they could
therapy. 2. Because he remained manage. With her husband's enthusiastic
committed to his role as a loving husband support, Dana Reeve gradually resumed
and doting father 3. Because he kept hope her singing and acting career. The press
alive in the face of injury and paralysis that and public sometimes labeled her "Saint
can destroy all hope-in the face of having Dana" or "Superwoman" and Dana told a
to depend on his wife and many others to reporter from Parade magazine in 2005:
feed, wash, change, move and carry him to "Initially I felt very uncomfortable with
the doctor. 4. Because he came to the that. There was nothing superhuman
conclusion that God still had something for about standing by Chris.
him to do... So, Christopher Reeve turned
his focus away from his paralysis and began
figuring out how he could live afresh.
Reeve decided that a lot of people might
like to hear his story. Instead of limiting the
communication of his story to
letters, books and videos subject to
edit, Reeve chose the lecture circuit. That
meant showing up in public, allowing the
public to gawk at his incapacity, talking
about his condition and sharing lessons
learned. Thus, Christopher Reeve has

13. [ That compliment] always felt a little false. Like, what's so saintly about that? Lucky me. I'm
with him!" She laughed. "And I thought, 'Really my job here is to be the voice for the
many, many spouses who are caregivers, who don't have the advantage of the world patting
them on the back every day.'" Matthew and Alexandra visited with Christopher, Dana, and
Will at the house in Westchester County when their school schedules allowed. The family
continued its tradition of spending summers at the vacation home in
Williamstown, Massachusetts, after Reeve's injury. Reeve said: "This accident has been
difficult for all of us. But it hasn't frightened anybody away. We all miss the activities. My
daughter, Alexandra, and I loved to ride together. My son, Will, and I would play piano and
sing together. Matthew and I loved to play tennis. We all used to sail together. I'd be kidding
you if I said I didn't miss that. Ultimately, you have to accept that being together is more
important than doing together."
In the years after his accident, Christopher Reeve gradually regained sensation in parts of his
body - notably down the spine, in his left leg, and areas of the left arm. But he remained
dependent on a ventilator to breathe and was unable to move any part of his body below
the shoulders. His condition stabilized and in early 1998, after the taping of a television
special to benefit his foundation, Reeve's wife, Dana, described him as "very healthy and
very busy". His compelling autobiography, Still Me, was released in April 1998 and quickly
hit the bestseller lists. "Writing the book," Reeve said, "was one of the highlights of my
life, before and after the accident." Seven months later, critics praised his talent and
courage when Reeve reclaimed his leading-man status by starring in an updated version of
Rear Window for ABC.

14. Around the time his second book, Nothing is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life, was
published, Reeve regained the ability to move his index finger on one hand and
demonstrated that breakthrough on Larry King's TV show. On February 28, 2003, Reeve
became the third person to receive the experimental treatment called diaphragm pacing via
laparoscopy to stimulate his phrenic nerve and allow him to breathe more easily without a
respirator; although he continued to need the machine's help while speaking.
"I have a creative life and a political life, and they're both equally important" Reeve said.
During a Washington Post Live Chat in 2000, Reeve said: "...And now that I am disabled, of
course my main focus is on the quality of life for all disabled people and doing everything I
can to help scientists make progress toward cures." Reeve further explained his personal
political preference for the Democrat party saying, "Actually, the Republicans have done
more for the disabled and for funding medical research over the past eight years than the
Democrats.
But on many other issues, such as the environment, education, gun control, choice, I
support the Democrats, and I am more sympathetic to their position... I would like to see a
Democratic Congress." After he was asked to run for Congress, Reeve decided against it
because he would not have had the strength or health to do it. Reeve was in the forefront of
those lobbying for embryonic stem cell research and he delighted in the controversy. When
Paula Zahn asked him if he liked "tweaking" people, Reeve replied, "It is my favorite thing."
Reeve continued to schedule many speaking engagements and fundraisers while looking to
the future with characteristic enthusiasm saying, "My spinal cord is ready below the injury.

15. I'm realistically optimistic. I don't plan to spend the rest of my life like this." Although it
required significant preparation, Reeve's travels also took him abroad to Great
Britain, Australia, and Israel.
On May 3, 2002, the U.S. government opened the National Health Promotion and
Information Center for People With Paralysis, known as the Christopher and Dana Reeve
Paralysis Resource Center through a non-competitive cooperative agreement awarded to
the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation. Its purpose is to provide information services
to people nationwide who are newly paralyzed, have been living with paralysis, or are family
members or caregivers. Reeve said, "One of the most disabling aspects of paralysis is the
lack of resources and support necessary to get back into a world that has completely
changed for the paralyzed individual - both economically and socially." Reeve
continued, "When somebody is first injured or as a disease progresses into paralysis, people
don't know where to turn. Dana and I wanted a facility that could give support and
information to people. With this new Center, we're off to an amazing start." Dana Reeve
later wrote that she had a soft spot for the quality-of-life grant programs and for the
resource center, because it's really the people part. "I was the one who figured out, 'Is there
a wheelchair ramp so that our family can get into this movie theater?' I thought if that's
hard for me, it's got to be much harder for the majority of people out there." Creatively, at
that time, Christopher Reeve had in the works movie projects to direct for ABC television on
the inspirational lives of Jeffrey Galli, Brooke Ellison, and Robert McCrum.

16. He also was the Creative Consultant for Freedom: A History of US, a 16-part miniseries on
public television about American freedom that aired in early 2003. In February 2003 he
handed the Superman torch over to Tom Welling on the popular science fiction drama
Smallville playing Dr. Virgil Swann, a character created just for him. In March of that same
year, he guest starred on The Practice in the episode "Burnout". Finally, Chris reprised the
role of Dr. Swann one last time in April 2004 in his last acting appearance.
Reeve's oldest son, Matthew Exton Reeve graduated from Brown University in May 2002
with a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in art semiotics. A filmmaker, Matthew was
contracted to document and direct his father's progress in recovery for three television
specials which premiered around the world in 2002 and 2003. The first of three
specials, airing around Reeve's 50th birthday, showed him walking on a treadmill while
suspended from a special harness. The other two specials are not known to have been
made or released. Reeve's daughter Alexandra entered Yale University in Connecticut in
2001 and joined the Yale Polo Squad with her father's enthusiastic support. After graduating
in 2005, she enrolled at Columbia University in the City of New York as a student in the
School of Law. Young Will inherited his father's love of ice hockey and watching his son play
the game became one of Reeve's greatest pleasures after his injury. Will also has an interest
in acting as well. Dana Reeve supplemented the family income by taking a number of acting
and singing jobs within commuting distance of their home and she co-hosted a daytime talk
show, Lifetime Live, for a season.

17. In early October 2004 Reeve was busy promoting The Brooke Ellison Story, which he had
directed, and Dana Reeve was appearing onstage in Los Angeles in Brooklyn Boy preparing
to bringing the play to New York. It was the first time she had been away from her husband
and son for an extended period. At the time, Reeve was being treated for a pressure
wound, a common complication for people with paralysis that he had experienced many
times before.
The wound had become severely infected, resulting in a systemic infection; yet there
seemed no unusual cause for concern. On Saturday, October 9th, Reeve attended one of
Will's hockey games. That night, he went into cardiac arrest after receiving an antibiotic. He
fell into a coma and was rushed to Northern Westchester Hospital. Dana Reeve would later
point out that Reeve had a history of being sensitive to drugs that were usually well
tolerated by most people. With the help of Robin Williams' wife, Dana was able to board a
plane and rush cross country to join Alexandra and Will at her husband's bedside; arriving
shortly before his death on October 10. Christopher Reeve was 52 years old.
On November 3, 2004, the board of directors of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation
unanimously elected Dana Reeve as their new chairperson and she dedicated herself to
carrying on her husband's work. Dana had been used to being in the background of her
husband's very public efforts, but as she said in May 2005: "Suddenly, I feel like I don't have
that choice anymore. I have to carry on his mission." Dana insisted on going over every
grant proposal, lobbied and endorsed politicians, was writing a second book, and made
national television appearances both solo and with her son, Will, four months after Chris's
death and in the immediate time following her own mother's death. She made plans

18. to resume her singing career. But in an chemotherapy. Wearing a wig after her
unbelievably cruel twist of fate, less than a hair fell out, Dana appeared upbeat as she
year after Christopher Reeve's death, his attended the annual Reeve Foundation
beloved wife was diagnosed with lung fundraiser in November 2005 and sang
cancer. "What I didn't know is that lung "Now and Forever" in honor of their friend,
cancer is the number one cancer," said Mark Messier, a retiring New York Ranger,
Dana to Kathie Lee Gifford. "I was always at Madison Square Garden in January
looking for breast, ovarian and uterine, and 2006. Sadly, at the age of 44, Dana lost her
you think, I'm a non-smoker and I live in battle with cancer on March 6, 2006. She
the country, so I'm good. So I am had made arrangements with family and
completely shocked." She also talked about friends for the care and future of their 13-
having a cough that lasted for weeks year-old son. Alexandra, Will, and Matthew
leading her to get diagnosed: "I did, and arrived arm in arm to speak at a private
people were saying, 'Oh allergies, memorial service for Dana, as they had
allergies,'...[The doctor] wasn't even going done less than 18 months earlier for their
to take a chest X-ray. father.
He was like, 'you're healthy'... and then it
was huge. I probably had it for about a
year." She fought the disease with grace,
courage, and the humor that had
characterized both her and her husband as
she endured rigorous bouts of

19. Christopher Reeve left a body of artistic work that continues to inspire and entertain millions of
people. He also left a left a legacy that includes love of family, heightened awareness and funding
to help people dealing with disabilities, and therapy breakthroughs brought about by greater
funding for spinal injury research. Donations to the Christopher Reeve Foundation have only
increased since the Reeves' deaths; and in July 2006, Christopher's adult children, Matthew and
Alexandra, were added to its expanded board of directors. But perhaps most significant is the
inspirational example described by Reeve's mother, Barbara Johnson, in 2006: "I think one of the
most important things that Chris did for many, many people was, after his accident and becoming
a quadriplegic, he showed them that there is life after a spinal cord injury or after a stroke. You
don't have to sit in the dark feeling sorry for yourself.
I think that he touched many, many, many people and certainly that was an enormous
contribution to the quality of life of the people who had been afflicted with something as
restrictive or disabling as a spinal cord injury. He didn't just help quadriplegics like himself," added
Johnson. "I know for a fact that a lot of others were kind of led to thinking their way into a
happier, more productive life. And that may well be his most lasting contribution."
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