Born in New York City on September 25, 1952, Christopher Reeve established himself as a Juilliard-trained stage actor before portraying Superman in four films, from 1978 to 1987.
At the age of 9, Christopher Reeve found his true passion when he was cast for the play The Yeomen of the Guard, the first of many student plays that he would act in. Eventually, he was accepted as an apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts and received a full-season contract with the San Diego Shakespeare Festival.
Soon, Reeve branched out to the big screen as he landed the lead role as Clark Kent/Superman in the big budget film, Superman: The Movie in 1978. This role catapulted him to stardom and made him a very bankable actor in the eyes of Hollywood producers. Despite many offers, Reeve turned down many lead roles in films like American Gigolo, The World According to Garp, Splash, Fatal Attraction, and Body Heat.
The 1980 romantic drama Somewhere in Time marked Reeve's first movie after Superman. In the film, he played Richard Collier, Jane Seymour’s love interest. And although the film did not do well at the box office, it spawned a wide cult following. In the same year, Reeve reprised his legendary role in Superman II, which was followed by Superman III in 1983 and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace in 1987.
In 1995, Christopher Reeve was paralyzed in an accident during the cross country portion of an Eventing competition. And although he was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, that didn’t stop him from producing and starring in the 1998 movie Rear Window, a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 film, in which he was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance.
Christopher Reeve was last seen playing Dr. Virgil Swann on the TV series Smallville in 2004, which was the same year he died from cardiac arrest caused by a systemic infection.