Christopher Reeve is widely remembered as the Man of Steel, Clark Kent/Superman, in Superman films (1978, 1980, 1983 and 1987). He received critical acclaim for starring in the TV movie Rear Window (1998) and for directing the TV movies In The Gloaming (1997, song lyrics) and for narrating the documentary Without Pity: A Film About Abilities (1996).

The actor, who received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame [April 14, 1997] released the best-selling autobiography Still Me (1998) and the Grammy-winning spoken word CD with the same title in 1999.

Having performed in school plays at age 8, Christopher was selected to study at the prestigious Juilliard School of Performing Arts in New York, alongside future life-long friend Robin Williams, under the famed acting coach John Houseman. Teenage Christopher Reeve worked at Princeton's McCarter Theater after school and apprenticed at Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts in 1968. He toured the state with the play Irregular Verb to Love, opposite veteran actress Celeste Holm. On daytime television he was cast as Ben Harper (1974-1976) on the CBS soap "Love of Life."

Christopher Reeve then returned to the stage to play opposite screen legend Katharine Hepburn in his Broadway debut, A Matter of Gravity. He made his film debut in a disaster movie of the '70s about the rescue of a US submarine that sinks to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean,  Gray Lady Down (1978). After appearing in an off-Broadway production of “My Life,” Reeve returned to the Hollywood mindset and auditioned for the title role in Superman: The Movie (1978). The rest, as they say, is history.

"Chris is Superman! Clark is just such an idiot, but when Chris becomes Superman you are convinced that he can do almost anything."  
                                                            -Richard Burton, Fantastic Films, June 1979

 

Superman insignia and belt - ancient symbols

These days, of course, there's a new Clark Kent at the Daily Planet, played by Christopher Reeve without the "s" in his name but with the "S" on his chest where it counts! 
                 -Space Stars of Movies & TV #3, 1978

Superman and Lex Luthor [Gene Hackman]

       

 

Symbols of Sol in Movie Costume, Make-up and Weaponry

    In alchemy, the pure feminine principal is symbolized by a dove, white eagle, and red or golden phoenix [Harry Potter: The Chamber of Secrets, Order of the Phoenix.] In Egypt the falcon, hawk and sometimes eagle, are sacred symbols of the sun [The Beast Master, Cleopatra, The Egyptian, The Ten Commandments.] For protection or candle burning rituals [1 candlestick with 7 branches] gold is used to represent solar power [silver for luna] and for health, the archetypal colour is scarlet, the Sun’s most essential mode. Ra, Osiris, and Horus are often depicted with the heads of hawks and headdresses worn by goddesses were the falcon and hawk [Cleopatra, She.] Druids, also known as Dove Priests, wore the Belt that identified them with the Sun, the Celtic word for a Belt being ‘Crios.’  The Celtic name for Christ is ‘Crios-d,’ meaning ‘Belt-God.’ [Rudolph Valentino, Christopher Reeve]

     According to Curtis, “This Belt named all Druids… all words like Belt, Gir-th, Ban-d and Gir-d name the same daily orbit of the sun, which in the picture-language costume of the Druids was the Gilded Belt. The girdle is also a covenant of strength and represents the current of spiritual force which circles around man’s body just below the breasts… when man can hold the 7 stars in his right hand, his girdle will be a visible current of spiritual life-force passing through his heart, through the life-center in the right breast and through the center of illumination in the spinal cord opposite the heart.” The 7 stars in the constellation Ursa Major or the Great Bear are considered the positive aspects or executors of the 7 Pleiades [constellation Taurus, who represented the Bull and Thunder-god of England]… they [7 Rishis] are called by the Hindus ‘the husbands of the Pleiades.’ 

… it has been shown that many stars widely separated and apparently belonging to separate systems, are mysteriously related to each other, especially the Pleiades and the Great Bear… it is largely the positive and negative powers emanating from these 2 constellations that give to the number 7 it’s mystical significance.” 
                                                                      -Curtiss,  THE KEY TO THE UNIVERSE

       

X-Ray Specs While Superman's X-ray vision was probably invaluable in the fight against crime – spotting weapons concealed by evil henchmen and so on – the 1978 film starring Christopher Reeve chose instead to showcase his ability to see Lois Lane's pink underwear. And therein lies the lasting appeal of the notion of X-ray spectacles; they might well let you see the contents of a lorry, but that's nowhere near as exciting as seeing through a polyester tank-top. Backscatter X-ray machines, which provide clothes-less images of passing humans, are in use in parts of Heathrow Airport to search for weapons – but again, it's the fact that breasts and genitals might be visible that both grabs headlines and attracts criticism from civil liberties campaigners. The one consolation is that a backscatter X-ray machine is way too cumbersome ever to be mounted in a frame and balanced on someone's nose. Source: The Independent          Stars Are Batty About 'Everyone's Hero' Christopher Reeve's legacy inspires an all-star cast The animated family film, Everyone's Hero, is constructed on "...a lovely script," raves William H. Macy. "I like the simplicity of it and the beauty of it.  ...Chris and Dana's spirit is all over this thing, so pretty much everybody who was contacted to say 'You want to make sure this thing gets done?' everybody said 'Yeah.'" Daniel Fienberg writes, "Everyone's Hero" is, indeed...  inspirational storytelling, focusing on a 10-year-old boy who has to go on a quest to rescue Babe Ruth's bat from an evil Chicago Cubs pitcher (voiced by Macy) to help save the 1932 World Series. Joining Macy in the film's vocal cast are Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Wagner, Richard Kind, Mandy Patinkin, Forest Whitaker, an uncredited Robin Williams and a slew of other stars drawn by a single factor: "Everyone's Hero" was shepherded into production by Christopher Reeve, who passed away during production, but is still credited as a director.  Lots of fun and a bonus round:  Rob Reiner lends his voice to a talking baseball named Screwy. Read the full 9-12-06 article             Somewhere in Time: Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour check Screentime for more about time travel film classics         Personal Life Christopher Reeve was involved with modeling executive Gae Exton (born 1951) from 1977 to 1987. They have two children: son Matthew Reeve (born in 1979) and daughter Alexandra Reeve (born in 1983), above. In 1992, Reeve married chantress Dana Reeve (a.k.a. Dana Morosini; born in 1961) and they have one son, Will Reeve (born in June 7, 1992).           We'll be back! Thank You for Your Patience