Superman actor Reeve dies (original) (raw)

The Superman actor Christopher Reeve, who for nearly 10 years fought a high profile campaign seeking a cure for his almost total paralysis, has died at the age of 52, his publicist said today.

Reeve fell into a coma on Saturday after having a heart attack at his New York home and died yesterday, his publicist Wesley Combs said.

Reeve was being treated at Northern Westchester hospital for a pressure wound, a common complication for people living with paralysis. In the past week the wound had become severely infected, resulting in a serious systemic infection. He died of heart failure.

The actor, best known for his starring roles in the four Superman films, was paralysed from the shoulders down after a riding accident in 1995. He fronted a worldwide campaign for spinal cord research that he hoped would offer improvements for those suffering paralysis.

His wife, Dana Reeve, said in a statement today: "On behalf of my entire family, I want to thank Northern Westchester hospital for the excellent care they provided to my husband. I also want to thank his personal staff of nurses and aides, as well as the millions of fans from around the world who have supported and loved my husband over the years."

Reeve was a virtual unknown before producers of the 1978 blockbuster Superman chose him to star alongside Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman. He screen tested for the role and won the part through meticulous preparation and his close physical resemblance to the comic-strip hero.

The film and its three sequels grossed $300m (£167m), turning him into a star.

The actor broke his neck in May 1995 when he was thrown from his horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper, Virginia. After the accident he endured months of therapy that allowed him to breathe for longer and longer periods without a respirator.

He emerged to lobby Congress for better insurance protection against catastrophic injury and to move an Academy Award audience to tears with a call for more films about social issues.

He also returned to directing, and even returned to acting in a 1998 production of Rear Window, a modern update of the Hitchcock thriller about a man in a wheelchair who becomes convinced a neighbour has been murdered.

"Hollywood needs to do more," he said in his 1996 Oscar awards appearance. "Let's continue to take risks. Let's tackle the issues. In many ways our film community can do it better than anyone else. There is no challenge, artistic or otherwise, that we can't meet."

In 2002, his doctors said he was able to move some of his fingers and toes. The star could also feel a pin prick over most of his body and could distinguish between hot and cold, and sharp and dull sensations.

At the time, doctors said the progress indicated that he might one day be able to walk again. In an interview at the time, Mr Reeve said the greatest thing was being able to feel the hugs of his wife and his three children.

Colin Blakemore, the chief executive of the Medical Research Council, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme today: "Christopher Reeve was known to all of us for his campaigning and for his courage. He was a remarkable man.

"It is absolutely wrong to raise false expectations about the speed with which medical research progresses, but it takes people like Reeve, with their commitment and their certainty that they will be cured, to carry it forward. It takes extraordinary individuals like Reeve to recognise that investment and effort is worthwhile in the long run to work for others.

"He always said that he was working for himself and was convinced that there would be a cure, but I think probably deep in his mind he knew his efforts would be far more likely to pay off for others than for him," Prof Blakemore said.