Christopher Reeve Wikipedia. For the similarly named actor who also played Superman, see George Reeves. Christopher Reeve. Born. Christopher DOlier Reeve1. September 2. 5, 1. New York City, New York, United States. Died. October 1. 0, 2. Mount Kisco, New York, United States. Cause of death. Paralysis sepsis. Residence. Pound Ridge, New York1Nationality. American. Alma mater. Cornell University. Juilliard School. Occupation. Actor, director, producer, screenwriter, author, activist, equestrian. October Ohio Fall Festivals Autumn Events. HallZOOween at Cincinnati Zoo. When Saturdays and Sundays in October Location Cincinnati Zoo Botanical Garden. Years active. 19. Known for. Superman. Christopher Reeve Foundation. Home town. Princeton, New Jersey. Height. 6 ft 4 in 1. Board member of. Christopher Reeve Foundation. SpousesDana Morosinim. PartnersGae Exton 1. Children. 3ParentsF. D. Reeve. Barbara Pitney Reeve ne LambFamily. Franklin DOliergreat grandfatherMahlon Pitneygreat grandfatherAwards. Screen Actor Guild Award 1. Emmy Award 1. 99. Lasker Award 2. 00. Websitewww. christopherreeve. Christopher DOlier Reeve2 September 2. Riding Bean Theater Cartoon' title='Riding Bean Theater Cartoon' />October 1. American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author, activist and equestrian. He achieved stardom for his acting achievements, in particular. He is best known for his motion picture portrayal of the classic DC comic book superhero Superman, beginning with the acclaimed Superman 1. BAFTA Award. Reeve appeared in other critically acclaimed films such as Somewhere in Time 1. The Bostonians 1. Street Smart 1. 98. The Remains of the Day 1. He received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance in the television remake of Rear Window 1. On May 2. 7, 1. 99. Reeve became a quadriplegic after being thrown from a horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper, Virginia. He was confined to a wheelchair and required a portable ventilator for the rest of his life. He lobbied on behalf of people with spinal cord injuries and for human embryonic stem cell research, founding the Christopher Reeve Foundation and co founding the Reeve Irvine Research Center. Life and careereditEarly lifeeditChristopher Reeve was born on September 2. New York City, the son of Barbara Pitney Lamb, a journalist, and Franklin DOlier Reeve, a teacher, novelist, poet, and scholar. Reeve was of almost entirely English ancestry, with many family lines that had been in America since the early 1. His paternal grandfather, Colonel Richard Henry Reeve, had been the CEO of Prudential Financial for over twenty five years, and his great grandfather, Franklin DOlier, was a prominent businessman, veteran of World War I, and the first national commander of the American Legion. Reeves mother was the granddaughter of Mahlon Pitney, a U. S. Supreme Court Justice, and a descendant of William Bradford, a Mayflower passenger. Reeve was also descended from a sister of statesman Elias Boudinot, as well as from Massachusetts governors Thomas Dudley and John Winthrop, Pennsylvania deputy governor Thomas Lloyd, and Henry Baldwin, another U. Tickets for Concerts, Sports, Theatre and More Online at TicketsInventory. S. Supreme Court Justice. Reeves father was a Princeton University graduate studying for a masters degree in Russian at Columbia University prior to the birth of his son, Christopher. Despite being born wealthy, Franklin Reeve spent summers working at the docks with longshoremen. Reeves mother had been a student at Vassar College but transferred to Barnard College to be closer to Franklin, whom she had met through a family connection. They had another son, Benjamin, born on October 6, 1. Franklin and Barbara divorced in 1. Princeton, New Jersey, where they attended Nassau Street School. Later that year, Franklin Reeve married Helen Schmidinger, a Columbia University graduate student. Barbara Pitney Lamb married Tristam B. Johnson, a stockbroker, in 1. Johnson enrolled Christopher and his brother, Benjamin, in Princeton Country Day School, which later merged with Miss Fines School for Girls to become the co educational Princeton Day School. Reeve excelled academically, athletically, and onstage he was on the honor roll and played soccer, baseball, tennis, and hockey. The sportsmanship award at Princeton Day Schools invitational hockey tournament was named in Reeves honor. Reeve admitted that he put pressure on himself to act older than he actually was in order to gain his fathers approval. Reeve found his passion in 1. The Yeomen of the Guard it was the first of many student plays. In mid 1. 96. 8, at age fifteen, Reeve was accepted as an apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Suspense Thriller Cartoons Dragons: Dawn Of The Dragon Racers. The other apprentices were mostly college students, but Reeves older appearance and maturity helped him fit in with the others. In a workshop, he played a scene from A View from the Bridge that was chosen to be presented in front of an audience. After the performance, actress Olympia Dukakis said to him, Im surprised. Youve got a lot of talent. Dont mess it up. 1. The next summer, Reeve was hired at the Harvard Summer Repertory Theater Company in Cambridge for 4. He played a Russian sailor in The Hostage and Belyayev in A Month in the Country. Famed theater critic Elliot Norton called his performance as Belyayev startlingly effective. The 2. Carnegie Mellon graduate, turned out to be Reeves first romance. She was engaged to a fellow Carnegie Mellon graduate at the time they mutually ended the relationship when he made a surprise visit to her dorm room at seven in the morning and found Reeve with her. Reeves romance with the actress fizzled a few months later when the age difference became an issue. Reeve was briefly involved with Scientology but opted out of becoming a member. He subsequently voiced criticism of the organization. CornelleditAfter graduating from Princeton Day School in June 1. Reeve acted in plays in Boothbay, Maine and planned to go to New York City to find a career in theater. Instead, at the advice of his mother, he applied for college. He was accepted into Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cornell, Northwestern, and Princeton. Reeve claimed that he chose Cornell primarily because it is a three and a half hour drive from New York City, where he planned to start his career as an actor,1. Princeton and Columbia are considerably closer to the city than Cornell, with Columbia being in New York City, just a few miles uptown from the theater district. Reeve joined the theater department in Cornell and played Pozzo in Waiting for Godot, Segismundo in Life Is a Dream, Hamlet in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and Polixenes in The Winters Tale. Late in his freshman year, Reeve received a letter from Stark Hesseltine, a high powered agent who had discovered Robert Redford and represented actors such as Richard Chamberlain, Michael Douglas, and Susan Sarandon. Hesseltine had seen Reeve in A Month in the Country and wanted to represent him. The two met and decided that instead of dropping out of school, Reeve could come to New York once a month to meet casting agents and producers to find work for the summer vacation. That summer, he toured in a production of Forty Carats with Eleanor Parker. The next year, Reeve received a full season contract with the San Diego Shakespeare Festival, with roles as Edward IV in Richard III, Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Dumaine in Loves Labours Lost at the Old Globe Theatre. Before his third year of college, Reeve took a three month leave of absence. He flew to Glasgow and saw theatrical productions throughout the United Kingdom. He was inspired by the actors and often had conversations with them in bars after the performances. He helped actors at the Old Vic with their American accents by reading the newspaper aloud for them. He then flew to Paris, where he spoke fluent French for his entire stay he had studied it from third grade until his second year in Cornell. He watched many performances and immersed himself in the culture before finally returning to New York to reunite with his girlfriend.