Friends and fans pay tribute to courage of 'Superman'

LOS ANGELES, Oct 11 (AFP) - Friends and fans on Monday paid tribute to the courage of Christopher Reeve, the "Superman" actor who died nine years after being crippled in a horse riding accident.
"The world has lost a tremendous activist and artist and an inspiration for people worldwide. I have lost a great friend," said Robin Williams, the comic actor.
The two had been close friends since sharing rooms when drama students at The Julliard School in New York City three decades ago.
Williams was one of the few who could joke about Reeve tragic injuries in public. "Bid 5,000 dollars and see him move his leg!" Williams once said at a fundraising event in 2002 for Reeve's foundation for the paralysed.
Fans started heading for Reeve's star on the Hollywood Walk of fame within hours of the announcement of the actor's death on Sunday from heart failure. Reeve was 52.
Dana Reeve, the actor's wife, thanked her husband's nurses and helpers and "the millions of fans from around the world who have supported and loved my husband" since his 1995 riding accident.
The movie and political worlds all praised the actor and his campaign to help the disabled.
Reeve had strongly criticised President George W. Bush and his Republican party for opposing embryo stem cell research, which many doctors believe is the best hope to help the disabled.
But Bush said he had been "saddened" by the actor's death and praised Reeve as "an example of personal courage, optimism, and self determination.
"He was brave in the face of adversity and was greatly admired by millions of Americans. He will be remembered as an accomplished actor and for his dedicated advocacy for those with physical disabilities."
Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry had raised Reeve's case last week in a debate with Bush when he called for an end to restrictions on embryo stem cell research.
"Without leaving his wheelchair, he was able to make great strides toward a cure for conditions like his," Kerry said Monday. "I know that one day we will realize Chris's inevitable dream."
Susannah York, the British actress who played Superman's mother in the films that brought fame to Reeve, said the actor "was very like how he comes across on film -- very strong, very brave, very forthright and very generous-spirited."
York told the BBC that Reeve's life was a "great achievement."
"Christopher really wanted to personify and become the character of Superman and I think he did that wonderfully."
Actor Gene Hackman, who played Superman's archrival Lex Luthor, said, "No one better demonstrated courage, strength and dedication to others than Chris accomplished in these past hard years."
Actress Mary Tyler Moore, who suffers from diabetes and advocates for stem cell research, said: "Christopher Reeve has long held my admiration for his work on spinal cord injury research and for his tireless efforts on behalf of stem cell research."
Jane Seymour, his co-star in the 1980 film "Somewhere in Time," said, "He never gave up. He told me, 'so many of us able-bodied people' are paralyzed in our own lives. He was not."
Doctors said that Reeve's efforts had inspired them to work harder to help the disabled.
"He's really been a stimulus for research. He stimulated me to go faster on research," said Raymond Onders, a professor at the University Hospitals of Cleveland, who gave Reeve an implant enabling him to breathe unassisted for a few hours each day.
Oswald Steward, head of the Reeve-Irvine Research Center at UC Irvine, called Reeve's death a "heart breaker."
"He was such an immense personality, such a force in the field," he said. "He created an enthusiasm for what we do in the lab. He put a human face on spinal cord injury."
One of Reeve's doctors, Wise Young, said the actor had transformed public awareness of spinal cord injuries.
"I think more than anything else, Christopher taught me the use of two four-letter words: 'cure' and 'hope'," Young told the NBC television. "We will have a cure. I think that will be Christopher's legacy."