Dana Reeve Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Dana Reeve
OCCUPATION: Theater Actress, Television Actress, Singer, Philanthropist
BIRTH DATE: March 17, 1961
DEATH DATE: March 06, 2006
EDUCATION: Middlebury College, California Institute of the Arts
PLACE OF BIRTH: Teaneck, New Jersey
PLACE OF DEATH: New York, New York
Originally: Dana Charles Morosini
AKA: Dana Reeve
Full Name: Dana Charles Reeve
AKA: Dana Morosini

Best Known For

Dana Reeve was an actress and the wife of actor Christopher Reeve. She established and chaired the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center.

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Dana Reeve

APA Style

Dana Reeve. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 12:40, May 23, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/dana-reeve-158474.

Harvard Style

Dana Reeve. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/dana-reeve-158474 [Accessed 23 May 2013].

MLA Style

"Dana Reeve." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 23 2013, 12:40 http://www.biography.com/people/dana-reeve-158474.

MHRA Style

"Dana Reeve," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/dana-reeve-158474 [accessed May 23, 2013].

Chicago Style

"Dana Reeve," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/dana-reeve-158474 (accessed May 23, 2013).

CBE/CSE Style

Dana Reeve [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 23] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/dana-reeve-158474.

Bluebook Style

Dana Reeve, http://www.biography.com/people/dana-reeve-158474 (last visited May 23, 2013).

AMA Style

Dana Reeve. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/dana-reeve-158474. Accessed May 23, 2013.

Synopsis

Dana Reeve was born on March 17, 1961, in Teaneck, New Jersey. A working actress, her career was put on hold after husband, Christopher Reeve, suffered a spinal cord injury that left him a quadriplegic. Dana became a public figure, founding the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center. Ten months after her husband's death, Dana discovered that she had lung cancer. She died in 2006 in New York City.

Early Life and Education

Singer, actress and philanthropist Dana Reeve was born Dana Morosini on March 17, 1961, in Teaneck, New Jersey. Dana grew up with her two sisters in Scarsdale, New York, and graduated cum laude with a degree in English literature from Vermont's Middlebury College in 1984. She studied acting at the California Institute of the Arts, eventually performing at the Williamstown Theater Festival, where she met her future husband, actor Christopher Reeve.

Husband's Accident

Dana Reeve went on to perform on Broadway as well as in regional theater productions throughout the East Coast. She also appeared on television in such shows as Law and Order, Oz and All My Children. Her acting career, however, was put on hold after her husband suffered a spinal cord injury that left him a quadriplegic following a 1995 horseback riding accident.

Until the accident, Christopher Reeve was best known for his title role in the Superman movie franchise. His struggles, activism and much-publicized comeback soon outshined his prior celebrity, and Dana was always by his side. She became a public figure and devoted advocate for research, treatment and possible cures for spinal cord paralysis through the Christopher Reeve Foundation.

Final Years

After her husband died in 2004, Dana became chairman of the foundation, establishing the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center.

Tragically, just 10 months after her husband's death, Dana discovered that she had lung cancer, though she was not a smoker. Dana Reeve died on March 6, 2006, at the age of 44, in New York City. She was survived by her son, Will, and stepchildren Matthew and Alexandra.