ABC News is reporting that Christopher Reeves has passed away this evening. Very sad.


[Thread title modified for spelling. - Outsports moderator]

[ October 11, 2004, 07:41 PM: Message edited by: m1 ]

I just heard it only a few minutes ago. I'm still in shock. God rest his soul.

I was waiting for Art Bell's show (Coast to Coast AM) to start when Miss Fudge broke the news.

Verry sad news indeed.

The name is Christopher Reeve. Could we get this fixed in the subject line, please?

His passing is very sad news.

Oh, what sad news to awaken to. His advocacy of embryonic stem cell research as a possible cure for so many ills was truly heroic. RIP, Christopher.

Yes, very sad news. What an amazing person he was to looked into the face of defeat and fought back as much as he could. RIP. frown

I am just glad he is no longer suffering. Chris was an inspiration to all. Rest in peace Chris.

He never ceased to amaze me... frown

He really was Super Man. God speed.

I'm sorry for Reeves' family and friends, and admire his courage in dealing with his disability ... BUT there's another side to his story.

Years ago, before he was injured, Reeves and I were waiting at LaGuardia for our respective flights. I immediately recognized him and so did a lot of other folks, especially young kids. Reeves picked up on this and made a conscious effort to "throw shade" in all directions. He glared at anyone who tried to approach, scowled and generally assumed an unapproachable demeanor. Everyone noticed this and the parents and older folks in the crowd started openly whispering among themselves about how rude he was.

Finally, one little boy mustered enough courage to approach the Great Superman for an autograph. Reeves scowled, disdainfully dashed off his signature and spun around without a word of kindness to the kid. I'll never forget that episode in the actor's life and I doubt those who were also present will either. RIP, CR.

Reeve's herculean efforts at raising money for and awareness about spinal cord injury was inspirational, even as it engendered debates within the wheelchair-bound community--I recall a pair of Charles Krauthamer articles that were extremely critical of Reeve's "a cure is just around the corner" approach.

I wonder if Reeve's death will move stem cell research to the front burner in the final weeks of the political campaign?

If there is a heaven, in it Christopher Reeve is healed and whole.

~Adam

As a movie fan, I always liked Reeve's acting on the big screen, and his hunky body was a pleasure to the eyes. I think I liked him best when he played gay in the film adaption of Ira Levin's "Deathtrap." Just wish he kissed another male actor, not Michael Caine.

When Reeve suffered his spinal cord injuries, he really gained my respect because he didn't give in to depression and despair. He used his personal tragedy and celebrity status to advocate for more research and understanding.

Rest in peace, Superman.

He really believed he would walk again. He had me convinced he'd walk again. I hope others will pick up the mantle for him.

[ October 11, 2004, 07:44 PM: Message edited by: m1 ]

Reeve was an active proponent of stem cell research. During one of the debates on stem cells, he pointed out that the most extreme version of the rules, the one Bush supported, would not only ban new embryonic stem cell research in the U.S., it would also make it a crime for any American to receive treatment elsewhere that was derived from stem cells. So, Reeve said, if someone in Britain discovered a way to use stem cells to repair a damaged spinal cord, and he went and was successfully treated, then returned home and walked off the plane, he could be arrested and prosecuted.
I thought that while we are nowhere near that, sadly, I would like to see Ashcroft try such a prosecution. Can you imagine any jury convicting Christopher Reeve of getting successfully cured?
RIP, Chris, sorry to see you go.

Off topic P.S. I went out last night to pick tomatoes from my garden and a gray kitten came through the fence and adopted me. Typing is somewhat treacherous as he is constantly either on my lap or on the keyboard while my resident cat sulks!

I've never seen a Superman movie (comic-book flicks have never done much for me), but Switching Channels has always been a guilty pleasure. Reeve's freak-out in the elevator was hilarious. His comedic skills were undervalued - he was a hoot in the underrated Noises Off, too.

And his Rear Window remake was admirable, though unintentionally kinda creepy.

I was stunned when I heard of his death today. I was really starting to believe Reeve would live long enough to be able to walk again. He certainly gave hope to many people suffering the same fate with his positive attitude and will to fight for a cure.

Margaret Cho linked to this in her blog entry today. It's nine pages of cartoons in tribute to Reeve.

I thought this one was very eloquent.

On the other hand, I thought this other one, which I'll also post in the Ken Caminiti thread, is simultaneously funny, sad, tasteless, ignorant, unfair, low, cheap, uncompassionate, and true. eek! :confused: frown

I absolutely loved the one with the wheelchair left behind as he flies away. That one says it all. The Caminiti one was a bit tasteless. Ah well.

Some more sad news for the Reeve family. Christopher's widow Dana Reeve has announced that she has lung cancer.

It's stories like this that make me doubt all things spiritual. She took care of her husband all those years and now within a year of his passing and her and her kids finally able to live a normal life they are hit with this bombshell. All the best to a woman who seems to be a real role model.

I wouldn't let this sway your spirituality, George. She has lung cancer and if, God forbid, she were to die from it then maybe it's all so that she can be reunited with Christopher. Everything happens for a reason.

That said ... it still sucks big time. Hopefully for her sake and for her children's sake, she will be able to pull through.

Anyone else suffering from cancer burnout? Much similair to the early aids crisis back in the 80's? I mean, its epidemic of late. You hear and know so many people coming down with it, or having it, and then having it come back. I mean I can name losing my Mother to it, my Doctor has it and is undergoing treatment, my idiot Mayor, Jim West has it again, a neighbor across from me in my apartment has it and is terminal, Tammy Faye Baker has it again, and the list goes on and on and on. Is our ecology getting/ gotten so fouled up, that we are just beginning to see the tip of the iceberg?? Or is it a combination of bad habits, smoking and our air/water/food system has gotten so polluted?

Sadly, lung cancer has the highest mortality rate. 85% of those who have it die from it. Also I just heard that Dana Reeve was never a smoker. Among other causes are radon, uranium and genetics.

It should be noted tht, even though 85% of those with lung cncer succumb to it, treatments for it now allow patients to live with it for a longer period than even just two decades past. As for the sense of "cancer burnout" that puckman mentioned, I think some of it has to do with the number of people who have made public their battles with cancer. It occasionally seems like everyone has a publicist on speeddial & alerts the world as to every personal detail of one's life. When I heard the news about Dana Reeves, two thoughts entered my mind: 1) How sad for her and 2) Why is this being reported as news; she's not a public figure.

~Adam

I guess the idea is to raise awareness of the disease. Even though she didn't get lung cancer from smoking, alot of people too, and hopefully it will get somebody somewhere to reconsider starting a bad and potentially deadly habit.

I think she qualifies as a public figure. She has been an outspoken spokesperson for stem cell research as well as paralysis awareness and was married to a very famous man. And if her coming forward can help others in any way, I think it's terrific that she opened up about her trouble. It's much more admirable than these dopey celebrities who just so happen to announce their childhood abuse/molestation or drug/alcohol problems when they have a new book to promote.

Just a technical note - pancreatic is worst - something like a 90%+ mortality rate. That's what Ma had.

I just attended a funeral yesterday for the 44-year-old wife of a friend of mine, who also died of lung cancer. She was not a smoker either, but did asbestos removal work as an architect. Her exposure was limited, but she was a tiny woman (below 5 feet and about 90 pounds) and that could have been key in her illness.

Cancer burnout - you bet, but the prognosis for most other types of cancer is getting better and better, so don't let the fatalities, like Peter Jennings, dissuade anyone here from getting necessary tests, etc. We need all the Outsportster's we can get.

Isn't that what Michael Landon had? I can't remember.

BTW, Chicago's Joseph Cardinal Bernardin was diagnosed in early summer of 1996 with pancreatic cancer, if I remember correctly. In late summer, only a month or two after announcing he had this cancer, he announced it was terminal, saying his doctors told him he had about a year. Three months later he was dead.

It was quite a rapid decline.

[ August 09, 2005, 10:29 PM: Message edited by: MIB ]

I too have heard that about pancreatic cancer. Its possibly one of the worst forms. Just the other night on World News Now they did a story on women who get lung cancer and don't smoke. Something like 80,000+ women this year will get it, and they don't know why.

My maternal grandfather died from pancreatic cancer in 1979 and my maternal grandmother contracted lung cancer in 2004, although she died from complications of COPD this past January.

Pancreatic cancer is very difficult to detect, like ovarian cancer; that's one of the reasons its mortality rate is so high. When they found it in my grandfather it was already far too late. Some say high alcohol consumption is a possible cause, and he definitely was a drinker; possibly alcoholic though my folks can't decide. He also smoked a lot, but my grandma didn't develop lung cancer for over 25 years after he died, and she was 76 when she was diagnosed. I've heard recent theories stating women are more prone to lung cancer in their later years, why that is remains a mystery, like Puckman said.

Prayers and best wishes, Mrs. Reeve.

[ August 10, 2005, 06:35 AM: Message edited by: owllover711 ]

In fact my cat Celia died of pancreatic cancer (well, the immediate cause of death was euthanasia since there was no point in her continuing to suffer) and Celia sure never drank alcohol. And like you said, hard to detect - we thought at first she had a urinary tract infection - and grows very fast.
There is an unfortunate tendency to assume everyone with lung cancer is/was a smoker and therefore they "deserve what they get" (just like gay men or drug users with HIV or women with unwanted pregnancies). Not only is it not true, no one "deserves" a fatal disease, but it ignores the fact that a large number of people who never smoked get the disease. That is what happened to Kim Perrot, point guard with the Houston Comets in their first two WNBA championship years. By the time they discovered it the disease had metastasized to her brain and it was too late for any treatment. I hope Ms. Reeve is luckier.

Another celebrity casualty of lung cancer announce today-Barbara Bel Geddes, best known and Miss Ellie on Dallas, died at age 82.

In a very odd twist to this whole thread, the other Miss Ellie - Donna Reed - who played the role for one season, died (in 1986) of pancreatic cancer some three weeks after being diagnosed with the illness.

I am so hearing the theme from the Twilight Zone right now! eek!

More sad news. Dana Reeve died of lung cancer last night. How sad for those poor kids to lose both their parents so young. And it's juts so awful that after all the years she had to deal with her husband's health issues that she didn't get to enjoy her life a little bit after his death.

If there is a Wife Hall of fame, she would certainly get in on the first ballot.