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Christopher Reeve, man and Superman

Broadcast Date: Aug. 28, 1982

All it took for actor Christopher Reeve to become Superman was a dime-store costume - and a great screen test. Reeve considered himself an unlikely Man of Steel, but he won the lead role in 1978's Superman: The Movie, and by 1982 he's filming the second sequel in Calgary. In this friendly CBC Radio interview, Reeve also talks about how he likes to pass the time off the set -piloting aircraft, hot-air ballooning and deepsea diving.

Christopher Reeve, man and Superman

• Christopher Reeve was born in New York in 1952. He began acting onstage at age nine, and by 16 he landed his first professional acting job with the Harvard Summer Repertory Theater Company.

• In addition to creating a Superman audiences could cheer for, Reeve was versatile enough for roles in period pieces such as The Bostonians (1984) and Anna Karenina (a 1985 TV adaptation).

• In 1986 he began shooting Superman IV in Canada, despite having said he was finished with Superman after the third movie. ''It's just that after Superman III I thought, 'What's the point? This isn't worth it,''' he told the Globe and Mail in 1986. "'Then I thought: Rather than complain about the situation, maybe I should take responsibility for this character and do something." Reeve had a writing credit on the film, which performed poorly at the box office.

• Reeve embraced another hobby, equestrian show jumping, in the 1980s. During a competition in 1995, Reeve's horse suddenly stopped before a jump, throwing him off and causing a devastating spinal cord injury. Reeve was paralyzed from the neck down.

• In the wake of the injury Reeve became a passionate advocate for spinal cord research and stem cell research. He also continued to work in show business, directing and starring in a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window in 1998.

• Reeve died in 2004 after having a heart attack and falling into a coma. He had been fighting a serious infection caused by a pressure wound.

Christopher Reeve, man and Superman

Medium: Radio

Program: Canada Watch

Broadcast Date: Aug. 28, 1982

Guest(s): Christopher Reeve

Host: Garth Dawley
Interviewer: Bob Chelmick

Duration: 5:52

Photo: (AP Photo)

Last updated:
July 24, 2009