On Oct. 10, 2004, America?s Superman drew his final breath.Christopher Reeve suffered from paralysis from the neck down after a tragic horse-riding accident in May 1995. Before that fateful fall, Reeve was embarking on a prominent career in Hollywood. He graduated with a prestigious degree from Julliard, and had starred in films including “Superman,” “Superman II,” “Somewhere in Life,” and “The Bostonians.”
While nearly all can recall Reeve?s heroic and tragic story, his closest friends seem to put it best: “Some rare human beings transcend our greatest dreams of wanting to be strong and bring freedom, goodness, and justice to the world. Christopher Reeve was one of them. He made our dreams a reality. In a fantasy world, Superman is the best incarnation of our finest qualities. In the real world, Christopher Reeve was a true super man who will forever inspire us to strive to attain those qualities,” said Ilya Salkind (executive producer of “Superman: The Movie”).
“The world has lost a tremendous activist and artist and an inspiration for people worldwide.
I have lost a great friend,” said Robin Williams, the comic actor.”
No one better demonstrated courage, strength and dedication to others than Chris accomplished in these past hard years,” said actor Gene Hackman, who played Superman?s archrival Lex Luthor.
“Christopher Reeve has long held my admiration for his work on spinal cord injury research and for his tireless efforts on behalf of stem cell research,” said actress Mary Tyler Moore, who suffers from diabetes and advocates for stem cell research.
“We have lost a man who was truly America?s hero – Christopher Reeve. Teresa and I were privileged to have known him as a friend and were deeply saddened to learn of his death,” said John Kerry presidential candidate.
(Statements taken from http://www.chrisreevehomepage. com.)