Show Dana Reeve widow of Superman actor dies Adam Bernstein The Washington Post Dana Reeve a singer and actress who married Superman actor Christopher Reeve and championed championed championed cham cham- raising fund-raising for medical research after her husbands husband's almost total paralysis following a riding riding riding rid rid- ing accident died March 6 at Memorial Sloan- Sloan Kettering Medical Center in Manhattan NY She was 44 She died seven months after announcing she had been diagnosed with lung cancer a surprise to many because she said she had never smoked After her husbands husband's 1995 riding accident transformed transformed transformed trans trans- formed him into an inspirational figure for the severely disabled Reeve saw her own previously Dana Reeves Cont Cant on Page 4 t r f r j. j M Dana Reeves Cont from front obscure reputation grow enor enor- She was seen as a brave and stalwart supporter of her husbands husband's determination tion to recover physically and emotionally he was unable to breathe without a respirator because of spinal cord dam dam- age The causes he began to embrace including stem-cell stem research and other potential treatment paths for paralysis became her own Through the New Jersey- Jersey based Christopher Reeve Foundation as the American Paralysis Association was renamed in 1999 the Reeves helped raise about 60 million in research funds to When Christopher Reeve died in October 2004 at age 52 his widow assumed the chairmanship of the foundation foundation foundation tion whose 6 million budget comes from a federal grant funneled through the Centers for Disease Control She was credited with conceiving conceiving conceiving con con- the foundations foundation's quality ty of life grants which since 1999 have given 8 million to organizations aiding those primarily primarily primarily marily suffering from sis She was also a founder of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Reeve Paralysis Resource Center and made countless appearances with politicians and other celebrities to tn cate her medical research con con- cerns She also compiled the book Care Packages Letters to Christopher Reeve From Strangers and Other Friends 1999 Reeve slowly began to revive her acting career appearing on Broadway and regional stages as well as on TV shows and commercials She said she disliked sentimental sentimental sentimental senti senti- mental media depictions of her husbands husband's fight to relearn even the most most-lin most limited ted motor functions as well as her own efforts to help him She especially loathed being called a saint telling Good Housekeeping magazine magazine magazine maga maga- zine It bothers me to be bethought bethought bethought thought of that way Of course Im I'm doing this What other option is there What happened happened happened hap hap- was a truly terrifying life-altering life thing and my initial initial initial ini ini- response was just like being hit by a bucket of water The daughter of a cardiologist cardiologist cardiologist gist Dana Morosini was born March 17 1961 in Teaneck NJ and raised in Scarsdale NY She was a 1984 cum laude English graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont and spent her junior year at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London She met Reeve in the summer summer summer sum sum- mer of 1987 at the Williamstown Mass Theatre Festival when she was singing in a cabaret act He found her immensely alluring he wrote in a memoir adding She the shoulder dress wore an and sang The Music That Makes Me Dance She remained skeptical of his advances at first not wishing to fall easily into the arms of a muscular Hollywood actor best known for his title role in the Superman movies She was alarmed when after 10 days of largely flirting he asked her herfor herfor herfor for a midnight swim at a pond he knew She told People magazine I thought Oh God here comes the old naked lets routine and swim go Then he immediately offered to help her retrieve her swimsuit swimsuit swimsuit swim- swim suit and she was so relieved that later that night she gave him their first kiss They lived together five years before marrying in 1992 during which time she acted in commercials She played a detective in the movie thriller Above Suspicion 1995 which starred her husband and had minor roles on television shows such as Law and Order and Oz In 2000 she also hosted co-hosted a daily talk show on the Lifetime network Lifetime Live with Deborah Roberts She also played a Long Island housewife married to a comedian Rob Bartlett in the short-lived short Broadway play More to Love 1998 In 2004 she withdrew from the cast of Donald Margulies' Margulies Broadway-bound Broadway drama Brooklyn Boy to be with her husband before he died She lived in Bedford NY near New York City with her herson herson herson son from the marriage Survivors also include two stepchildren from Christopher Reeves Reeve's previous relationship h F I IA w rt M g fi l Rex ae I fl rl and t tv g c 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