THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN
Farewell Christopher Reeve

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

Superman actor Christopher Reeve, who turned personal tragedy into a public crusade and from his wheelchair became the nation's most recognizable spokesman for spinal cord research, has died. He was 52.

Reeve died Sunday of complications from an infection caused by a bedsore. He went into cardiac arrest Saturday, while at his Pound Ridge home, then fell into a coma and died Sunday at a hospital surrounded by his family, his publicist said.

And

Before the 1995 horse-riding accident that caused his paralysis, Reeve's athletic, 6-foot-4-inch frame and love of adventure made him a natural choice for the title role in the first Superman movie in 1978. He insisted on performing his own stunts.

"Look, I've flown, I've become evil, loved, stopped and turned the world backward, I've faced my peers, I've befriended children and small animals and I've rescued cats from trees," Reeve told the Los Angeles Times in 1983, just before the release of the third Superman movie. "What else is there left for Superman to do that hasn't been done?"

Though he owed his fame to it, Reeve made a concerted effort to, as he often put it, "escape the cape." He played an embittered, crippled Vietnam veteran in the 1980 Broadway play Fifth of July, a lovestruck time-traveler in the 1980 movie Somewhere in Time, and an aspiring playwright in the 1982 suspense thriller Deathtrap.

More recent films included John Carpenter's Village of the Damned, and the HBO movies Above Suspicion and In the Gloaming, which he directed. Among his other film credits are The Remains of the Day, The Aviator, and Morning Glory.

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Sometimes I wonder why my extreme left-wing views haven't turned me into one of those angry, drooling-at-the-mouth, communist America-haters. Of course, numerous influences throughout my life have kept my love for America strong, but Superman is, by far, among the biggest. Christopher Reeve's portrayal of the comic book character made an impact on me when I was a child that has lasted well into my adulthood.

From Superman the Movie:

LOIS Look. Just why are you in the in first place? I mean , why are you here? There must be a reason.

SUPERMAN I'm here to fight for truth justice, and the American way.

LOIS You'll wind up fighting almost every elected official in this country.

SUPERMAN I'm sure you don't really mean that, Lois.

In addition to his Superman work, Reeve was a damned fine actor in general. In Somewhere in Time, Reeve went toe-to-toe with Jane Seymour and Christopher Plummer and not only lived to tell about it, but also stole several scenes. He also worked well with Michael Caine in Deathtrap. Reeve has been an inspiration to me as an actor since I was a kid. I'm truly saddened by his passing.

Farewell, Christopher Reeve.





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