Christopher D'Olier Reed is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, director, and public figure. Fame came to him in the late 70s after playing Superman, for which the actor received a BAFTA and several Saturn nominations. He became the embodiment of the American dream of a superman, for whom nothing is impossible.
Christopher was destined for an excellent acting career for many years, but the case turned his life upside down. While riding a horse, the actor fell and broke his spine. Doctors did their best, Christopher survived, but remained permanently confined to a wheelchair. After the tragedy, he continued to work in films and, like his Superman, proved to people that nothing is impossible. He passed away at 52 after years of struggle for life.
Childhood
Christopher was born in the fall of 1952 into the family of a poet and journalist. When the boy was 4 years old, his parents divorced, his mother remarried to a stock exchange worker.
Christopher and his brother spent all their childhood in Princeton, where they began to attend school. The boy became interested in sports, played baseball, football, hockey and tennis and repeatedly participated in sports competitions, receiving awards. In addition, theater became his passion, he performed on stage, and at the age of 9 he became a participant in the theater festival, playing in the play "View from the Bridge", after which he was accepted into the theater troupe.
The boy dreamed of becoming an actor, but after promising his parents to get a higher education first, he entered the university, which he never finished. During his studies, Christopher continued to play on stage in the student theater, go on tour and participate in numerous castings. As a result, he decides to go to art school and drops out of university. Thus began the creative biography of Riva.
Theater and cinema
After studying theater, Christopher begins performing on Broadway and dreams of getting an outstanding film role. Christopher had a lucky chance very soon. He enters the casting of the film "Superman", where he is approved for the lead role of Clark Kent.
The actor begins to intensively prepare for filming, train. Under the guidance of mentors and athlete D. Prowse, he shapes the body and gains additional muscle mass. With a height of almost two meters and a great appearance, the actor has become a real embodiment of a superhero.
After the release of "Superman" on the screens, Reeve becomes famous. He was enthusiastically received by the public and film critics, and for his role Christopher immediately received the Golden Mask Award from the British Academy of Film and Television, which recognized him as the best young actor. Christopher's life was divided into before Superman and after. He becomes a participant in numerous shows, television programs, sporting events, holidays and charitable events. In addition, work immediately began on the continuation of the picture. The second film came out 2 years later, and again Reeve was at the peak of popularity.
The third part of "Superman" unexpectedly changed genre and became a comedy thriller, which was not liked by the audience, nor film critics, nor Christopher himself. After an unsuccessful premiere, he decided to end Superman, but still made another attempt, starring in the fourth part, after which he was finally disappointed with this work and left the project.
Christopher begins a new creative search, acting in diverse films and looking for a new outstanding image. But for a long time his work did not attract attention, and only in 1990, Reeve starred in the film "The Rest of the Day", which became one of his best works, and the film was nominated for an Oscar.
The next role in the film "Beyond Suspicion" became prophetic for Christopher. He embodied on the screen the image of a paralyzed policeman, and soon, while riding a horse, he received an injury that made him disabled for the rest of his life.
Christopher does not interrupt his creative activity being already paralyzed. He directed At Dusk and starred in A Window to the Courtyard, for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Reeve performed his last roles in television projects: "Smallville", "Practice" and "Christopher Reeve: Man of Steel."
Personal life
The handsome young man has always enjoyed success with women. His first romance happened in his student years, when he became interested in a fellow student Melanie. The relationship lasted quite a long time, but did not lead to marriage.
Christopher then met Guy Exton. They have lived together for over 15 years. The couple had two children, but they never got married. After parting, the children remained with their mother, and Christopher left for New York.
The actor met his wife, singer Dana Morosini, when he was already sick. They got married in 1992, and soon Dana gave birth to a son. It was she who became for Christopher a devoted and loving wife and friend, who did not allow him to withdraw into himself and pushed him to continue doing what he loved.
