NEW YORK, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve, best remembered for his movie portrayal of Superman, died suddenly in New York at age 52.
Reeve's publicist, Wesley Combs told the New York Daily News Reeve was undergoing treatment for a pressure wound in recent days, but lapsed into a coma at his home Saturday in Bedford, N.Y. He died of cardiac arrest Sunday at Northern Westchester Hospital.
Reeve was paralyzed from the neck down in a fall at a May 1995 steeple jump competition. He became an active advocate for spinal-cord research, and vowed he would walk again. He spent about $400,000 a year on health care.
He got his first show business break in 1976 when he played opposite Katharine Hepburn on Broadway in "A Matter of Gravity."
He became a big-screen star in 1978 when he was cast as Superman. Reeve went on to star in several more movies before his accident, including "The Bostonians" in 1984 and "The Remains of the Day" in 1993.
Reeve is survived by his wife, Dana, and their son, Will, 12. He also is survived by his parents, and by two children from a previous relationship, Matthew, 25, and Alexandra, 21.
