He was born on September 25, 1952 in Manhattan, and grew up in nearby Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey. He had the same birthday as another movie hero of my youth, born 1 year to the day after Mark Hamill, Star Wars' Luke Skywalker. Although born in a town with an Ivy League school, he attended a different one, Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He attended the Julliard School for the performing arts, where he became a close friend of comedian Robin Williams.
After debuting on Broadway in 1976, his acting ability, his lack of reception for it, and his physicality made him ideal for director Richard Donner to cast him in Superman: The Movie, which premiered in 1978. He was the first live-action Superman that most people had seen other than George Reeves in the 1952-58 TV series The Adventures of Superman, which was still seen in reruns. But this movie's special effects -- the tagline was, "You'll believe a man can fly" -- made the earlier show's effects look ridiculous. (Of course, new advances in special effects are frequent, so even the Reeve films look not quite right now.)
Superman II came out in 1981, and was also a smash. Superman III came in 1983, and the intentional attempt at comedy fell flat, except for a scene where improperly-synthesized Kryptonite -- perhaps a nod to the comics' Red Kryptonite -- let Superman's dark side out, climaxing in a scene where Reeve had to play both Superman and Clark Kent, representing the light side of the character, trying to steer him back, and ultimately winning.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace came in 1987, and was a great idea, ridiculously executed. Reeve wouldn't do a Superman V after that. Which was too bad, because Batman, with Michael Keaton, was released in 1989, with a sequel, Batman Returns, in 1992; and CBS aired The Flash, starring John Wesley Shipp, in the 1990-91 season. With Lynda Carter still young enough to have played Wonder Woman, we could have gotten a Justice League movie during the George H.W. Bush Administration, maybe in the 1st Bill Clinton term. (We didn't get one with Reeve, Carter, and the Batman and Robin of 1960s TV, Adam West and Burt Ward, either.)
In 1993, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman premiered on ABC. Dean Cain was cast as Superman, and Reeve never appeared in the series. Cain had a very tough act to follow, but did well in the role.
Reeve didn't want to be typecast, so, aside from Superman, he chose non-action roles, including the mystery Deathtrap and the time-travel story Time After Time.
He also participated in equestrian competitions, and was in one in Culpeper, Virginia, about 80 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., on May 27, 1995, when he was thrown from his horse. His landing broke his neck, paralyzing him from the shoulders down. For the rest of his life, he had to use a ventilator, and a wheelchair he operated by blowing into a tube.
It didn't stop him from raising money for spinal cord research, in the hopes of helping millions like him live better lives. Even as a quadriplegic, he was a hero. It didn't stop him from acting, either: He starred in a remake of Rear Window, the Alfred Hitchcock film starring James Stewart as a man with a broken leg who sees a murder from his wheelchair; and appeared in a supporting role in Smallville, The WB's 2000s re-imagining of the Superman mythos.
On June 29, 2002, I was at Yankee Stadium for one of the Yankee-Met Interleague games, and waited for the players to arrive, when a van pulled up at the media entrance. Suddenly, somebody yelled out, "It's Superman! It's Superman!" Not seeing Derek Jeter anywhere, I became confused. Then I stood on my toes and saw… Chris Reeve, in his motorized wheelchair, having been lowered out of his handicap-access van.
He was completely bald, due to alopecia, which I didn't know he had until doing the research for this post. I thought he'd had his head shaven to alleviate what the headpiece of his chair was doing to his hair. I hate to say this, but he looked more like Superman's arch-enemy Lex Luthor than the Man of Steel himself.
But, even though he couldn't turn his head to see us, and had to work hard just to breathe air into the tube that operated the chair, he still had more charisma than most of us will ever have. And, apparently, he was a Yankee Fan. Well, of course: He knew heroes when he saw them. (The Yankees could have used a hero that day: The Mets beat them 11-2.)
It had been 15 years since he last put on the Superman costume for a movie (and 23 years since he did so for a good one), but, to those of us who were kids when he made those movies, he will forever be Superman – with all due respect to Bud Collyer, Kirk Alyn, George Reeves, Dean Cain, Tom Welling, Brandon Routh, Henry Cavill and Tyler Hoechlin.
His death is believed to have been caused by an adverse reaction to a drug he was prescribed. In the days after Reeve's death, a cartoon would appear in the New York Daily News, showing an empty wheelchair, and Superman flying away from it.
It had been 15 years since he last put on the Superman costume for a movie (and 23 years since he did so for a good one), but, to those of us who were kids when he made those movies, he will forever be Superman – with all due respect to Bud Collyer, Kirk Alyn, George Reeves, Dean Cain, Tom Welling, Brandon Routh, Henry Cavill and Tyler Hoechlin.
His death is believed to have been caused by an adverse reaction to a drug he was prescribed. In the days after Reeve's death, a cartoon would appear in the New York Daily News, showing an empty wheelchair, and Superman flying away from it.
On March 6, 2006, his wife Dana Reeve died from breast cancer. Later that year, the film Superman Returns was dedicated to both their memories. They were survived by 2 sons and a daughter.
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October 10, 2004 was a Sunday. Also dying on this day was former major league 3rd baseman Ken Caminiti, of a drug overdose, after injuries (related to his steroid use) had ended his career in 2001. The 1996 National League Most Valuable Player, a 3-time All-Star who hit 239 home runs, was just 41.
Baseball was between rounds of the Playoffs. The NHL team owners had locked out the players, so there were no games. The NBA season didn't begin for another 23 days. But there were NFL games:
* The New York Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys, 26-10 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.
* The New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills, 16-14 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. The Jets led 13-0 at the half, and blew the lead, but got a game-winning 38-yard field goal from Doug Brien with 58 seconds left.
* The New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins, 24-10 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.
* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Washington Redskins, 17-10 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Detroit Lions beat the Atlanta Falcons, 17-10 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the New Orleans Saints, 20-17 at the Superdome in New Orleans.
* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Houston Texans, 34-28 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston. Daunte Culpepper threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Robinson with 7:05 left in overtime.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 34-23 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.
* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Oakland Athletics, 35-14 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.
* The Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers, 20-17 at Invesco Field (now Empower Field) at Mile High in Denver.
* The San Diego Chargers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 34-21 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.
* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 31-28 at Candlestick Park (then named Monster Park) in San Francisco. Todd Peterson won it with a 32-yard field goal with 11:37 left in overtime.
* The St. Louis Rams beat the Seattle Seahawks, 33-27 at Qwest Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle. Marc Bulger threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Shaun McDonald with 11:58 left in overtime.
* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Tennessee Titans beat the Green Bay Packers, 48-27 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
* And the Chicago Bears, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles each had a bye week.
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