Christopher Reeve

Disco legend Donna Summer, 63, died Wednesday night, reportedly of lung cancer. As of press time, her family hadn't released details about her illness, so it was unknown what type of lung cancer she had, and how long she may have been ailing. According to the American Cancer Society , lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both women and men, killing more than 150,000 people per year -- more than colon, breast, ovarian and prostate cancers combined. In 2012, the group estimates, there will be about 226,000 new cases of lung cancer in the U.S. Survival rates of people with lung cancer are low. Only about half of people diagnosed with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (the more common type)

"Superman Returns" actor Brandon Routh is playing a hero -- but this time he is not wearing a cape and a brightly colored suit. He is now part of the cast of NBC's "Chuck." His character is the new boss and teacher for novice spy Chuck (Zachary Levi). But, like all of the other characters on the series, Routh's role has secrets that'll be revealed slowly. "He's a good spy, but very different from Superman," Routh says during an interview on the set of the series. Those of you waiting for Routh to suit up again as Superman better get used to him playing different roles.

On the opening night of the Democratic National Convention (Aug. 26), Christopher Reeve cited Franklin Delano Roosevelt, saying, "America does not let its needy citizens fend for themselves." Indeed it should not. However, with all due respect to Reeve and the trial he has endured, there is a faulty assumption here that consistently goes unnoticed by liberal Democrats. Aside from the fact that FDR never dreamed of a bureaucracy as large as ours, there is the mistaken notion that government is the best conduit for such assistance.

"EVERYONE'S Hero" is an unusual film in many ways. It manages to be rated G without the aid of talking animals or singing princesses. Neither does it rely on multilayered sarcasm, pop culture references, camp or the ability of a lead character to channel Ed McMahon, Julia Child and/or Elvis.

Actor Christopher Reeve, who was thrown from a horse and paralyzed six months ago, was released Wednesday from a rehabilitation center after treatment. Reeve, best know for his role as Superman, said in a statement as he left the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation that he was happy to be going home with his wife and children. Reeve shattered two neck vertebrae when he was thrown from a horse on May 27. A spokesman for the rehabilitation center in West Orange, N.J.

Christopher Reeve joined Joan Irvine Smith, UCI Chancellor Laurel Wilkening and about 500 other people Friday in dedicating the first of five buildings planned for the university's biomedical research center. The William J. Gillespie Neuroscience Research Facility is home to the Reeve-Irvine Research Center, which is named after the actor. Reeve suffered an equestrian accident that left him paralyzed in 1995.

This obituary appeared in some editions of Monday's Times. Actor Christopher Reeve, star of the "Superman" movies who became even more famous as an advocate for the disabled after he was paralyzed from the neck down in a 1995 horseback riding accident, died Sunday. He was 52. Reeve fell into a coma Saturday after going into cardiac arrest at his New York home, his publicist, Wesley Combs, told Associated Press late Sunday night.

Actor Christopher Reeve, who became famous for his role as Superman and then garnered far more acclaim for his perseverance after being paralyzed from the neck down in a 1995 horseback riding accident, died Sunday. He was 52. Reeve fell into a coma Saturday after going into cardiac arrest at his New York home, his publicist, Wesley Combs, told Associated Press by phone from Washington, D.C., on Sunday night.

More than 300 guests turned out for the first Christopher Reeve Celebrity Polo Classic, bringing attention and funds for spinal-cord research. Joan Irvine Smith staged the polo match and luncheon at the Oaks, her private equestrian facility in San Juan Capistrano, as a benefit for the Reeve-Irvine Research Center at UC Irvine. The $200-per-person benefit was expected to net about $40,000 for the new research center, which will be dedicated to finding a cure for paralysis.

Sunday "The Hidden Zoo" / 6 p.m. TBS Are we not our animals' keepers? This hourlong documentary introduces the dedicated doctors who keep the critters healthy and happy at Washington, D.C.'s National Zoo. In one segment, a veterinarian tries to treat the injured eye of a giraffe without breaking its neck. The zookeepers also come to the aid of Tucker, an orangutan suffering from a lung infection, and Hsing-Hsing, a giant panda diagnosed with cancer. **** "The Long Way Home" / 9 p.m.

Amid the understandable torrent of praise for her devotion, let us now praise Dana Reeve for her talent. Start with the singing. I first encountered Dana in 1987 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, where she was a member of the Cabaret, which put on musical revues. Then in her mid-20s, she gave a rendition of Bob Merrill and Jule Styne's "The Music That Makes Me Dance" that brought down the house (and won the heart of Christopher Reeve, a WTF regular).

Away from the spotlight that their celebrity brought to the cause of spinal research, Dana and Christopher Reeve took a less-glamorous path through the corridors of power. "We spend our lives going through kitchens and riding on freight elevators," Dana Reeve once recalled of the near decade that she and her paralyzed actor husband spent tirelessly lobbying for stem cell research, a potential treatment for paralysis.

Christopher Reeve's widow announced Tuesday that she's facing a battle with lung cancer and is looking to her husband "as the ultimate example of defying the odds with strength, courage and hope." "I hope before too long to be sharing news of my good health and recovery," said Dana Reeve, who won worldwide admiration for her steadfast support of her husband during his nine years as a quadriplegic. Christopher Reeve, the star of the "Superman" movies, died last year.

Christopher Reeve will be posthumously awarded an honorary degree at Stony Brook (N.Y.) University's commencement on May 20. Reeve, who starred in four "Superman" films from 1978 to 1987, died Oct. 10 at age 52 of complications from an infection caused by a bedsore. He became a spokesman for spinal-cord injury victims after a 1995 horse riding accident left him a quadriplegic.

Three weeks after Christopher Reeve's death, his family and friends celebrated him Friday at a place that was central to his life: the Juilliard School, where he first honed his acting skills and later returned to receive an honorary doctorate.

Locked in close races, the campaigns of two high-profile healthcare propositions on the November ballot are turning to provocative symbols to try to attract votes: the late actor Christopher Reeve and giant retailer Wal-Mart. A television advertisement featuring Reeve, who became a prominent activist for the disabled after a 1995 horseback-riding accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, began running statewide Friday.

Christopher Reeve describes life as an actor as being like a person who lives in a big city and eats at a different restaurant every night. "You've got your pick of whatever cuisine you want," he said. "Some you're going to like better than others, and some like you better than others. But that's the fun of it-to keep trying different cakes."

"EVERYONE'S Hero" is an unusual film in many ways. It manages to be rated G without the aid of talking animals or singing princesses. Neither does it rely on multilayered sarcasm, pop culture references, camp or the ability of a lead character to channel Ed McMahon, Julia Child and/or Elvis.

Last Saturday, Christopher Reeve called producer Howard Meltzer to say how happy he was with "The Brooke Ellison Story." He had just seen a DVD of the two-hour film he directed about a bright young girl, paralyzed at age 11 from a car accident, who graduated from Harvard University with honors at 21. "He said, 'This is good. This is the film I started out to make,' " Meltzer said. The film would turn out to be his last completed project.

We all tend to gape at accidents. Because Christopher Reeve was familiar to us as a movie star -- as Superman, of all characters -- his fall from a balking horse nine years ago riveted us more than most. In the instant that his neck snapped, the strappingly handsome "man of steel" became the man who could not move or even breathe on his own. What a tale of fortune's fickleness. But Reeve, it turned out, didn't stick with that script.