Actor Christopher Reeve played Superman in the movie and its sequels. The actor catapulted to stardom when, following a two-year casting search, he was selected to play the titular superhero of Superman (1978). The popularity of the film and Reeve's winning portrayals of the Man of Steel and his alter ego, Clark Kent, spawned the release of Superman sequels in 1980, 1983, and 1987. In 1995, he became paralyzed from the neck down following a horse-riding accident. He founded what became the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation in 1996 to promote research on spinal cord injuries.

Source: Biography