Christopher Reeve was an American actor whose most famous role is
Superman and who showed that brilliant acting has a valuable place even in special effect heavy fantasy films like the
Super Hero genre, but ended up being much more than that.
He initially studied at Juillard's theatrical arts program with his roommate
Robin Williams, but eventually graduated from Cornell. His major professional gigs were simultaneously in the
Soap Opera,
Love Of Life and in the Broadway play,
A Matter of Gravity. In the latter, he became a close enough friend to the play's star,
Katharine Hepburn, to get the gossip columns fluttering. Eventually, he left and eventually appeared in his first Hollywood film,
Grey Lady Down.
His most famous role came after the producers had a frustrating hunt for the
Super Hero and Reeve himself as rejected three times before director
Richard Donner and producer
Ilya Salkind finally had a face to face meeting with this unknown actor. At that, he was signed on with an exercise regime supervised by David Prowse. In the film, Reeve proved a more valuable asset than anyone could have guessed with such skill making the world feel that they could believe a man could fly considering he piloted a glider for a hobby and thus knew how to make his flying scenes seem real. Even more amazingly, Reeve showed that
Clark Kenting can really seem to work if you are a good enough actor. At that, Reeve instantly eclipsed his top billed co-stars,
Marlon Brando and
Gene Hackman, as the true star of
Superman and a leading light of the rise of the modern fantasy film.
After that, his career proved turbulent with his artistic standards leading him to turn down roles in
American Gigolo,
The World According to Garp,
Splash,
Fatal Attraction,
Pretty Woman,
Romancing the Stone,
Lethal Weapon and
Body Heat. Instead he starred in a mixed bag of films like
Somewhere In Time,
Street Smart,
The Remains Of The Day and the remake of
Village of the Damned, while the
Superman series was gradually misused by the producers who dismissed Donner and replaced him with
Richard Lester who had a fatal contempt for the comics which drove the franchise into the ground.
Even his real life had heroic moments such as when he went to Chile, that was under the murderous tyranny of Augusto Pinochet, to help a group of artists that were under arrest. Later, he appeared in commercials for the 1988 referendum for the "No" side to urge the people to vote to strip the dictator of his power, which can be seen in the
Academy Award nominated Chilean film,
No.
In 1995, Reeve had a serious riding accident that lead to a catastrophic spinal cord injury, rendering him quadriplegic. However, with the help of his wife, Reeve refused to surrender to his despair and became a universally hailed advocate for spinal cord research and the disabled. He even continued in his artistic career under the circumstances as a director and even starred in a remake of
Alfred Hitchcock's
Rear Window on TV and guest appearances on
Smallville.
Sadly, he died in 2004 in a typical lifespan for a person suffering his kind of injuries. At the end, he was hailed as a hero who never needed a cape after all.
Tropes Invoked By This Actor:
- Badass: Both onscreen and off.
- Becoming the Mask: Not by his own admission, but his personality on and off screen have had fans old and new dub him "The Real Superman."
- Creator Worship/Dead Artists Are Better: To this day Reeve is the gold standard of any actor playing Superman on film, and sheer acting skill in a Super Hero role in general. His paralysis and later, his death only amplified the above in public and pop culture opinion.
- The Determinator: Vowed that he would walk again and was even able to regain quite a bit of movement in his body.
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