Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Christopher Reeve, known for his role as ``Superman in movies and later as an advocate for spinal cord research after a horse-riding accident left him paralyzed nine years ago, died yesterday of heart failure. He was 52.
Reeve, who went into cardiac arrest Oct. 9 at his Pound Ridge, New York, home, fell into a coma and died at the Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, New York, without regaining consciousness, his publicist Wesley Comb said in a statement. Reeve's family was with him, Comb said.
Reeve's wife, Dana, in a statement thanked his nurses and caregivers and ``the millions of fans around the world who have supported and loved my husband over the years.
The 6-foot-4-inch actor with striking good looks and athletic physique became famous for his role as the comic book superhero who goes through life as newspaper reporter Clark Kent. He played Superman in four movies, from 1978 through 1987.
Reeve broke his neck in May 1995 after he fell from a horse. Confined to a wheelchair and at first unable to talk, Reeve became a leading crusader for research into spinal cord injuries. At a press conference last year, Reeve said it was unsettling how politics has stood in the way of medical research in the U.S.
In last week's debate against President George W. Bush, Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry cited Reeve as a supporter of controversial stem-cell research.
Kerry Comments
``We lost a man who was truly America's hero, Kerry said today in a statement. ``He was an inspiration to all of us and gave hope to millions of Americans who are counting on the life- saving cures that science and research can provide.
``He met every challenge with a courage and character that broke new ground in this struggle, Kerry said. ``Because he had the strength to carry this cause, I know one day that we will realize that inevitable dream.
In 2002, Reeve helped set up the Christopher & Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center in New Jersey to help provide information for paralyzed people and those caring for them.
``I'm heartbroken that he will not have the opportunity to benefit from some of the therapies he pushed so hard for, Dr. Wise Young of Rutgers University, a spinal-cord researcher who treated Reeve, said in an interview with Cable News Network. ``He was first and foremost an advocate for hope and a cure for spinal- cord injury.
Spinal Cord Injury Association
The National Spinal Cord Injury Association said in a statement that Reeve's ``tireless efforts have moved spinal cord injury and the many issues faced by those living with paralysis into the awareness of people around the world. His advocacy has had a seismic impact on paralysis research and the quality of life for millions of people living with paralysis.
``Our prayers are with his family. He was a fighter, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters before the start of today's Columbus Day parade up Fifth Avenue. ``Whatever God decides is your fate, you have to deal with it and try to make the world better, and certainly Christopher Reeve did that.
One of the mayor's daughters broke her back in a riding accident a couple of years ago, without suffering nerve damage. ``A quarter-inch either way and history could have been different for both of them, Bloomberg said. The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
``Those of us who knew him well knew what a deep and strong and gifted guy he was, Harold Guskin, Reeve's acting coach and friend, said in an interview on CNN. ``When the accident happened, the world started to know Chris the way I had known him, as this incredible, strong, caring, deep person who wasn't going to give in to anything.
Born in New York
Christopher Reeve was born Sept. 25, 1952, in New York City, the son of Barbara Johnson, a journalist, and Franklin Reeve, a writer and professor of Slavic languages at Columbia University.
When he was 4, Reeve's parents divorced. His mother moved Christopher and his younger brother Benjamin to Princeton, New Jersey, where she later married investment banker Tristam Johnson. The boys attended the exclusive private Princeton Day School.
Reeve often traced his love of acting to his childhood when he and his brother used cardboard boxes as ships and pretended to be pirates.
By age 8, Reeve had appeared in school plays and was taking piano lessons. At age 9, he was picked to be in the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta ``Yeoman of the Guard for Princeton's McCarter Theater.
``While I was growing up, Reeve said, ``I never once asked myself, `Who am I?' or `What am I doing?' Right from the beginning, the theater was like home to me. It seemed to be what I did best. I never doubted that I belonged in it.
Cornell Graduate
When he was 15, Reeve got a summer apprenticeship at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts. By 16, he had an agent. After graduating from high school, Reeve toured the country as Celeste Holm's leading man in ``The Irregular Verb to Love. He entered Cornell University where he majored in English and music theory, and continued to act, performing at the Boothbay (Maine) Playhouse, the Williamstown Theater and the San Diego Shakespeare Festival.
After graduating from Cornell in 1974, Reeve was one of two students accepted for advanced study at New York's Juilliard School of Performing Arts. Actor Robin Williams was the other, and they became roommates. He studied under actor/director John Houseman.
Reeve then played in the long-running television soap opera ``Love of Life, and in 1976 he made his Broadway debut in ``A Matter of Gravity, playing Katharine Hepburn's grandson. He later starred in Lanford Wilson's ``Fifth of July as the embittered Kenneth Talley, a gay, crippled Vietnam War vet.
`Superman' Role
In 1976, Reeve got a small part in the submarine adventure movie ``Gray Lady Down. He returned to New York City, in the off- Broadway production ``My Life. It was then that he auditioned and was chosen over 200 other candidates for the role of Clark Kent in the 1978 movie ``Superman.
Reeve said he portrayed Superman as ``somebody that, you know, you can invite home for dinner. Someone you could introduce your parents to.
Though he appeared in movies and plays, he couldn't escape the fame of playing Superman.
``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 wasn't Superman before and I don't plan to be Superman after.
Most of the first ``Superman movie was shot in England, and it was then that Reeve met modeling executive Gae Exton. They had two children, Matthew, now 25, and Alexandra, now 21. Reeve later married Dana Morosini; they had one son, Will, now 12.
Reeve chose his film roles carefully, appearing 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.
Riding Accident
In May 1995, during an equestrian event in Culpeper, Virginia, Reeve's horse balked at a rail jump, throwing him forward. He landed head first, fracturing the uppermost vertebrae in his spine. Reeve was instantly paralyzed from the neck down. Surgery stabilized the shattered C1-C2 vertebrae.
After six months at Kessler Rehabilitation Institute in New Jersey, Reeve returned to his home in Bedford, New York, confined to an electric wheelchair, which he operated by sipping or puffing on a straw. He experienced bouts of pneumonia, infections, blood clots, and other problems during his paralysis.
Acting Award
Reeve still tried to remain active as an actor, and in 1999 he received a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role as Jason Kemp in a television remake of ``Rear Window. He also received a Grammy award for his spoken album ``Still Me.
In a presentation on Nov. 4 to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in New York as part of the firm's disability awareness month, Reeve spoke about his own disability:
``I felt guilty ... not only have I ruined my life but I've also ruined my family's life too. I became dependent. That was more devastating than actually hearing the details.
``Sometimes those of us that are committed to big achievements misunderstand what success is. I don't care if you make X billion dollars. It's not going to make you happy if your kids don't want to spend time with you. Please don't neglect the relationships in your life. If you try to fulfill your own dream all by yourself, there are many ways you can come up empty- handed.
Creative Coalition Founder
In 1989, Reeve helped establish the Creative Coalition, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of the entertainment industry, which advocates First Amendment rights, arts advocacy and public education. Other founders include actors Ron Silver, Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin, Blair Brown and Stephen Collins.
Robin Bronk, the Coalition's executive director, said, Reeve ``was one of the key visionaries in building the coalition. We created an award in his honor about eight years ago -- the Christopher Reeve First Amendment Award. He bestowed it once a year to recipients, including Walter Cronkite, Kenneth Cole, Phil Donahue and others.
``I think he made the greatest contribution because of his decency and fairness and his ability to speak to people across the country, said Silver. ``I think America, if I can be presumptuous, saw what was the core of this man. Through extraordinary adversity he accomplished more in a few years than most of us do in a lifetime.
In addition to his wife and children, Reeve is survived by his parents and his brother, Benjamin Reeve.
To contact the reporter on this story: Edvard Pettersson in Los Angeles at epettersson@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Glenn Holdcraft at gholdcraft@bloomberg.net.
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