Christopher Reeve, 52; "Man of Steel"

Actor Christopher Reeve, best known for portraying Superman in films, passed away late Sunday afternoon after slipping in to a coma as a result of suffering cardiac arrest.  In 1978, Reeve burst on to the scene, being selected from hundreds of actors to play the lead role of the comic book hero Superman.  He went on to reprise the role in three additional films.

Mr. Reeve appeared in numerous films but also excelled on Broadway as an accomplished theatre performer, having received his training at Cornell University and the Juilliard School.  He began his television career playing the character of Ben Harper on the long-running Soap Opera “Love Of Life” from 1974 - 1976.  He made is Broadway debut opposite Katharine Hepburn in "A Matter of Gravity," in 1976 and had great success on the stage.  Reeve was successful in every pursuit, but it was how he handled his paralysis after suffering an accident during an equestrian event in 1995 that changed his life dramatically.

After his accident, Christopher Reeve was a leading spokesperson for spinal injury research and was optimistic that one day he would walk again.  He campaigned endlessly for the advancement of treatments that would help to make paralysis a thing of the past. Reeve brought hope, inspiration, and encouragement not only to paralysis sufferers, but to people all over the world.

Reeve never believed that his paralysis should prevent him from living life to the fullest, and resumed his acting and directing career.  In 1997, Reeve won an Emmy® Award for narrating the Outstanding Informational Special “Without Pity: A Film About Abilities.” The following year, Reeve played the lead role in the television remake of “Rear Window,” and his performance earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award.  During this same year Reeve authored his best-selling autobiography “Still Me.”

Up until his death, Christopher Reeve never ceased in his crusade to help in the fight to cure paralysis.  He is survived by his wife, Dana, and his three children:  Will, Alexandra and Matthew.