It never occurred to me that I was a leading man until I was 19 years old. I had been acting since I was 10, so that's nine years and 30 or 40 plays, in school and summer stock, professional theater, too.

This inspired him and he felt his natural competitive edge coming back. With this new Center we're off to an amazing start. In Massachusetts Reeve could take a Concorde and see them any time.

He lobbied on behalf of people with spinal-cord injuries and for human embryonic stem cell research founding the Christopher Reeve Foundation and co-founding the Reeve-Irvine Research Center. He achieved stardom for his acting achievements in particular his motion-picture portrayal of the fictional superhero Superman. Christopher and Dana's son William Elliot Reeve was born on June 7 1992.