Biography

Christopher Reeve was born on September 25, 1952 to Barbara Johnson, a journalist and Franklin Reeve, a university professor. Early in his childhood, Reeve’s parents got divorced. Their divorce led Barbara to relocating Christopher and his brother from New York City to Princeton, NJ.

Growing up many people called Christopher Reeve Toph. He participated in various activities as a child such as swimming, sailing, and playing the piano. Reeve’s first role was in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Yeoman of the Guard. This experience helped Reeve conclude that acting was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He fell in love with the idea of playing another character. The various characters he would continue to perform helped him overcome his shyness and lack of self-confidence as a young adult.

After high school, Reeve was admitted to Cornell University. Early in his senior year, Reeve was chosen to attend Juilliard School of Performing Arts in New York. Since Juilliard was famous and hosted a well respected program, Reeve decided to leave Cornell for his senior year to further pursue his acting endeavors in New York City. However, he did graduate from Cornell University in 1974 with a degree in English and music theory.  

A couple of years later, Reeve honed his acting capabilities, which helped him land roles in movies like Superman and The Remains of the Day. Reeve starred in numerous films and drew in a large fan base that adored his strong, reliable, heroic star image. To everyone’s surprise, May 27, 1995 changed Reeve’s life. While going horseback riding, his horse failed to make a jump over a fence. As a result, he fell off his horse and was diagnosed with a cervical spinal injury. This incident paralyzed him from the neck down. Even with this disability, Reeve continued to get acting roles in movies like Rear Window and TV shows like Smallville and The Practice until his death in 2004.