Dana Reeve | |
|---|---|
 Reeve in 1999 | |
| Born | Dana Charles Morosini (1961-03-17)March 17, 1961 Teaneck, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | March 6, 2006(2006-03-06) (aged 44) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | Middlebury College (BA) California Institute of the Arts |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1983–2006 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Relatives | F. D. Reeve (father-in-law) |
| Website | www |
Dana Charles Reeve (néeMorosini; March 17, 1961 – March 6, 2006) was an American actress and singer. She was the wife of actorChristopher Reeve and mother of television reporter and anchor Will Reeve.
Dana Morosini was born inTeaneck, New Jersey, to CharlesMorosini (died 2018[1]), acardiologist, and Helen Simpson Morosini (died 2005).[2] She was of Italian descent.[3]
Morosini grew up in the town ofGreenburgh, New York, where she graduated fromEdgemont High School in 1979.[4]
Morosini graduatedsumma cum laude andPhi Beta Kappa in English Literature fromMiddlebury College inVermont in 1984. In 2004 she and husband Christopher Reeve received honoraryDoctorates of Humane Letters from Middlebury.[5]
Morosini spent the junior year of her studies at theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In 1984, she pursued an MFA in acting from theCalifornia Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California.[citation needed]
Her many singing and acting credits included appearances on television, where she had guest roles onDick Wolf'sLaw & Order,Law & Order: Criminal Intent, soap operasAll My Children as Eva Stroupe andLoving, among others. She performed at theatres onBroadway,off-Broadway, and at numerous regional theatres.
In 2000, she co-hosted a live daily talk show for women on theLifetime Network withDeborah Roberts calledLifetime Live and also wrote a brief column for the defunct AccessLife.com. These articles can be found at the Christopher Reeve Homepage.[6] She sang the title song on the soundtrack of theHBO dramaIn the Gloaming, directed by her husband. Reeve also had another cameo in her husband's movieThe Brooke Ellison Story as a teacher.[citation needed]
She authored the bookCare Packages: Letters to Christopher Reeve from Strangers and Other Friends. In 2004, she was performing in the Broadway-bound playBrooklyn Boy atSouth Coast Repertory inCosta Mesa, California, when she had to rush home to reach her husband's bedside after he went into cardiac arrest and a coma. In April 2005, it was also announced that she signed a seven-figure book deal[7] with Penguin Books to write about her relationship with her famous husband. It is not known how far Reeve got with writing the book before she died; the book was never published.[citation needed]
The children's bookDewey Doo-it Helps Owlie Fly Again: A Musical Storybook Inspired by Christopher Reeve was published in 2005 and included an audio to accompany the book withMandy Patinkin reading the story as well as Reeve andBernadette Peters singing.[citation needed]
On February 2, 2005, eight days before the death of her mother Helen, Reeve attended PresidentGeorge W. Bush'sState of the Union address and seated in the Capitol gallery in Washington, D.C., as the guest of CongressmanJim Langevin (D–RI).[8]
Several months before her death, Reeve taped thePBS documentaryThe New Medicine focusing on the growing trend in medical care combiningholistic and traditional treatment. The program premiered after her death, on March 29, 2006. She also worked on the animated movieEveryone's Hero, a project with the working titleYankee Irving when her husband was the director at the time of his death. The film was released on September 15, 2006, and is dedicated to both her andChristopher Reeve.
Morosini married actorChristopher Reeve inWilliamstown, Massachusetts, on April 11, 1992.[9] Their son, William Elliot "Will" Reeve, was born two months later, on June 7, 1992.[10] As of 2020[update], Will reports forABC News.[11]
Reeve was an avid horserider. In 2005, she toldLarry King, "I rode my whole life, and after Chris had his accident, I stopped riding, primarily because he loved it so much, and I think it really would have been painful for him if I was going off riding and he wasn't able to. And it didn't mean that much to me to drop."[12]
In August 2005, ten months after the death of her husband,[13] Reeve announced that she had been diagnosed withlung cancer.[14] She had never smokedcigarettes,[14] a primary risk factor, but early in her career often sang in bars and hotel lobbies with exposure tosecondhand smoke.[15] Reeve was diagnosed withnon-small cell lung cancer, which is primarily seen in patients without contributing factors, such as smoking or asbestos exposure.
In 2005, Reeve received the "Mother of the Year Award" from theAmerican Cancer Society for her dedication and determination in raising her son after the loss of her husband. In her final public appearances, Reeve stated that thetumor had responded to therapy and was shrinking. She appeared atMadison Square Garden on January 12, 2006, and sang theCarole King song "Now and Forever" in honor ofNew York Rangers hockey playerMark Messier, whose number was retired that evening.[16]
Reeve died, aged 44, on March 6, 2006, atMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, 17 months after her husband. On the night that she died, instead of live performers singing the national anthem at Madison Square Garden prior to the Rangers' game, a recording of Reeve singing was played.[17] She arranged for her 13-year-old son, Will, to live with their next-door neighbors so he could finish school instead of being forced to move in with relatives elsewhere.[18]
On March 11, 2007, theChristopher Reeve Foundation, which Dana chaired after her husband Christopher Reeve died in October 2004,[17] announced that it had changed its name to the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation on the first anniversary of her death.[19]
Reeve and her husband were the namesake of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act signed byPresidentBarack Obama in March 2009.[20] The legislation coordinates research through theNational Institutes of Health intoparalysis and treatments to improve the quality of lives for those living with paralysis.[21]
Episode 16 of the fifth season ofSmallville titled "Hypnotic" is dedicated to her and the filmSuperman Returns is dedicated to both her and Christopher. The animated filmEveryone's Hero (2006) is also dedicated in memory of Christopher and Dana Reeve.[13]
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| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Loving | ||
| 1990 | Steel Magnolias (TV Movie) | Elise | (listed as Dana Morosini) |
| 1995 | Above Suspicion | Female Detective | |
| 1997 | Barter | Mrs. Taschian | |
| 2000 | Oz | Wendy Schultz | |
| 2003 | Freedom: A History of US | various roles | PBS documentary (voice acting) |
| 2004 | The Brooke Ellison Story | English Professor | Television film |
| 2006 | Everyone's Hero | Emily Irving | Posthumous (voice acting) |
| 2024 | Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story | self | Archival footage; posthumous |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
