CHRISTOPHER REEVEActor Christopher Reeve died on 10 October, 2004, aged 52. He sufferedacardiac arrest after getting an infection and slipped into a coma.His role as Superman which catapulted him to stardom. And when he was left paralysed following a near-fatal horse-riding accident, he went on to use his celebrity status to promote research and funding into spinal cord injury research.Christopher Reeve was born on 25 September, 1952, in New York City , to writers Barbara Johnson and Franklin Reeve. Following the divorce of his parents, he moved to New Jersey to start a new chapter in his life. He showed a real flair for acting and during his childhood would climb inside cardboard boxes and pretend they were pirate ships.At the age of 16, Mr Reeve already had an agent who worked round his lessons to set up auditions and meetings for him.It was during his time at Cornell University, where he majored in music theory and English, that he first came to Britain .In 1977 he landed the role of Superman, which made the actor one of Hollywood ’s hottest.And when Superman 2 opened in 1983, it set a record by grossing more than $5 million on one single day.Throughout the 1980s, Mr Reeve struggled to, as he put it,‘escape the cape’ – and although he appeared on Broadway and in other movies, his career began to falter.Then in 1995, he was thrown from a horse during an equestrian event and suffered multiple injuries, including shattered vertebrae. Doctors predicted that he would never have feeling or movement below his neck, but he never gave up hope.Politically active before his accident, he became an advocate for stem-cell research, therapeutic cloning and increased funding for spinal cord injury research.With his wife, he opened the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center in New Jersey – an organisation helping paralysed people live independently.In 1996, Mr Reeve moved an Academy Award audience to tears with a call for more films about serious social issues. He also continued acting and before his death, was filmed walking on a treadmill while suspended from a special harness.He appeared in 17 feature films, 12 made-for-TV movies and about 150 plays. He also hosted numerous documentaries and TV specials.
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