Biography

Though he has played a variety of leading roles, tall, dark, and wholesomely handsome Christopher Reeve will always be the definitive Superman to an entire generation of "Man of Steel" fans. That his definitive character was such a model of physical prowess only serves to intensify the tragedy of Reeve's post-Superman years, marked by a 1995 horseback riding accident that left him almost completely paralyzed.

A native of New York City, Reeve was born to journalist Barbara Johnson and professor/writer Franklin Reeve on September 25, 1952. When he was four, his parents divorced, and Reeve and his brother went with their mother to Princeton, NJ, after she married her second husband, a stockbroker. Reeve became interested in acting at the age of eight, an interest that complemented his musical studies at the time. The following year, he made his professional acting debut in a production of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta at Princeton's McCarter Theater. He would continue to work with the theater through his early teens and further enhanced his resumé at the age of 15, when he received a summer apprenticeship to study drama in Williamstown. The following year, he secured his first agent.

Reeve went on to major in English and music at Cornell University. Following his graduation, he pursued a master's degree in drama at Juilliard and then studied under actor John Houseman's tutelage before heading to Europe to work at London's Old Vic and the Comedie Française of Paris. Upon his 1974 return stateside, Reeve took over the role of Ben Harper on the long-running soap opera Love of Life; he stayed with the show through 1978. During this period, he made his Broadway debut, starring opposite Katharine Hepburn in a production of A Matter of Gravity.

Though he had made his feature-film debut with a small role in the undersea adventure Gray Lady Down (1977), Reeve did not become a star until he beat out a number of big name actors, including Robert Redford, Sylvester Stallone, and Clint Eastwood, to don the metallic blue body stocking and red cape in Richard Donner's 1978 blockbuster Superman: The Movie. Though the film abounded with exuberant, sly humor, Reeve played his Superman straight, giving him great charm, a touch of irony, and a clumsy wistfulness, thereby creating a believable alien hero who masquerades as a bungling newsman and pines for the love of unknowing colleague Lois Lane. The film was one of the year's most popular and earned Reeve a British Academy Award for Most Promising Newcomer. He went on to reprise the role in the film's three sequels, none of which matched the quality and verve of the original.

In a concerted effort to avoid typecasting, Reeve attempted to prove his versatility by essaying a wide variety of roles. In 1980, while Superman II was in production, he returned to Broadway to appear as a gay amputee in Lanford Wilson's Fifth of July. That same year, he also starred in the mediocre romantic fantasy Somewhere in Time, playing a Chicago playwright who travels back in time to capture the attentions of a beautiful woman (Jane Seymour). Though generally cast as a good guy, Reeve occasionally attempted darker characters. In Deathtrap (1981), he played a crazed playwright, while he portrayed a corrupt priest in the dismal Monsignor (1982) and a reporter entangled in the prostitution industry in Street Smart (1987). Reeve returned to television in Sleeping Beauty, an entry in Shelley Duvall's distinguished Faerie Tale Theater. He subsequently had success appearing in television movies such as Anna Karenina (1985) and Death Dreams (1992). In the late '80s, Reeve became involved in various social causes and co-founded the Creative Coalition. He was also active with Amnesty International, even going to Chile in 1987 to show support for imprisoned authors. His interest in improving the world is apparent in the earnest but much-panned Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), for which he wrote the story.

By the mid-'90s, Reeve was still busy juggling his film, television, and stage work. It all abruptly came to a halt in June 1995, when he fell from a horse during a steeplechase race. Having broken several key bones in his neck, Reeve was left completely paralyzed and could not even breathe without special assistance. The doctors' prognosis for his recovery remains grim, but Reeve still retains hope that advances in medical science will someday allow him to walk again. In 1996, he helped establish the UCI Reeve-Irvine Research Center, which specializes in spinal cord injuries; Reeve's work with the center has been indicative of the strength and fortitude he has consistently displayed since his accident. In addition to his offscreen commitments, Reeve has continued to work in film and television, making his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed made-for-cable drama In the Gloaming (1997) and starring in the 1998 TV-movie remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window.

Reeve has credited much of his post-accident survival to his wife, former cabaret singer Dana Morosini. The two married in 1992, after Reeve separated from Gae Exton. He and Exton -- a modeling executive whom he met while filming the first Superman in England -- never married, but had two children together. Reeve retains shared custody of the children; he also has a son with Morosini. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guid

Filmography

BBC and the BAFTA Tribute to Michael Caine, The (2000) (TV) .... Himself
Intimate Portrait: Margot Kidder (1999) (TV) .... Himself
Toughest Break: Martin's Story, The (1998) (TV) .... Narrator
Rear Window (1998) (TV) .... Jason Kemp
Christopher Reeve: A Celebration of Hope (1998) (TV) .... Himself
Nine (1996) (VG)(voice) .... Thurston Last
Without Pity: A Film About Abilities (1996) (TV) .... Narrator
Step Toward Tomorrow, A (1996) .... Denny Gabrial
Black Fox: Good Men and Bad (1995) (TV) .... Alan Johnson
Black Fox: The Price of Peace (1995) (TV) .... Alan Johnson
Black Fox (1995) (TV) .... Alan Johnson
Above Suspicion (1995) .... Dempsey
... aka Rhinehart Theory, The (1995)
Village of the Damned (1995) .... Alan Chaffee
... aka John Carpenter's Village of the Damned (1995) (USA: complete title)
Speechless (1994) .... Bob 'Bagdad' Freed
Morning Glory (1993) (TV) .... Will Parker
Remains of the Day, The (1993) .... Congressman Jack Lewis
Sea Wolf, The (1993) (TV) .... Humphrey Van Weyden
In a New Light (1992) (TV) .... Himself
Nightmare in the Daylight (1992) (TV) .... Sean
Mortal Sins (1992) (TV) .... Father Thomas Cusack
Noises Off... (1992) .... Frederick Dallas/Philip Brent
Fear and the Muse: The Story of Anna Akhmatova (1991)(voice) .... Narrator
"Hollywood Stuntmakers" (1991) TV Series .... Host
Death Dreams (1991) (TV) .... George Westfield
Bump in the Night (1991) (TV) .... Lawrence Muller
Earthday Birthday (1990) .... It Zwibble
Rose and the Jackal, The (1990) (TV) .... Allan Pinkerton
Bobby Brown His Prerogative (1989) (V)
Superman 50th Anniversary (1988) (TV)
Great Escape II: The Untold Story, The (1988) (TV) .... Maj. John Dodge
Switching Channels (1988) .... Blaine Bingham
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) .... Superman/Clark Kent
Grand Knockout Tournament, The (1987) (TV) .... Himself
Street Smart (1987) .... Jonathan Fisher
Anna Karenina (1985) (TV) .... Count Vronsky
Aviator, The (1985) .... Edgar Anscombe
Bostonians, The (1984) .... Basil Ransome
Superman III (1983) .... Superman/Clark Kent
Monsignor (1982) .... Flaherty
"Faerie Tale Theatre" (1982) TV Series .... Prince (Sleeping Beauty)
... aka "Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre" (1982) (USA)
Deathtrap (1982) .... Clifford Anderson
35th Annual Tony Awards, The (1981) (TV) .... Himself (performer)
"Ryan's Hope" (1975) TV Series .... Himself (1980)
Somewhere in Time (1980) .... Richard Collier
Superman II (1980) .... Superman Clark Kent
Muppets Go Hollywood, The (1979) (TV)
Superman (1978) .... Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El
... aka Superman: The Movie (1978)
Gray Lady Down (1978) .... Phillips
Norming of Jack 243, The (1975) (TV)(uncredited)
"Love of Life" (1951) TV Series .... Ben Harper (1974-1976)