Christopher Reeve's widow Dana dead at 44

Dana Reeve, a singer-actress who gave up part of her own career to take care of her "Superman" husband Christopher Reeve through his 10 years of almost total paralysis, died late Monday of lung cancer at 44.

Reeve was one of the producers (and the voice of Emily) in Yankee Irving, an IDT Entertainment animated feature directed by her husband -- also the film's executive producer -- at the time of his death.

Due to appear in theaters August 25, the comedy-adventure tells the story of a young boy's thousand-mile journey to help Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees win the World Series. The project's theme of perseverance against all odds was inspired by Christopher Reeve.

Reeve died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Medical Center, Christopher Reeve Foundation president Kathy Lewis said. The foundation funds research into cures for spinal-cord paralysis. She had succeeded her husband as the foundation's chair.

Reeve established the Foundation's Quality of Life initiatives: the Quality of Life grants program and the Christopher & Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center.

Dana Reeve announced in August that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer, although she was a non-smoker.

Reeve was "tired but with her typical sense of humor and smile, always trying to make other people feel good, her characteristic personality," said Lewis, who visited Reeve in the hospital Friday.

"She was a woman with an incredible heart who really put herself out there to help people with disabilities and especially those who are caregivers -- something she knew a lot about."

The star of the "Superman" movies, Christopher Reeve died October 10, 2004. He worked for spinal cord research after being paralyzed by a 1995 horse-riding accident.

At a fundraising gala for the foundation four months ago, Dana Reeve said that her tumor was shrinking and that she was responding well to treatment.

"I'm beating the odds and defying every statistic the doctors can throw at me. My prognosis looks better all the time," she said at the time.

Reeve said she "had a great model" when asked how she kept in good spirits. "I was married to a man who never gave up."

She was born Dana Morosini in New York in 1961. A resident of Pound Ridge, New York, she had appeared on and off Broadway, on regional stages, and on the TV series Law & Order, Oz, and All My Children.

Reeve was acting on stage in Brooklyn Boy in California when rushed home to reach Christopher's bedside before he died. She gave up the role for the play's Broadway run.

"I definitely will be getting back to acting.... I am an actress, and I do have to make a living," she told Associated Press a month after she was widowed and before she was diagnosed with cancer.

Reeve was on the board of the the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, as well as the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts -- where she met Christopher Reeve doing summer theater.

Reeve also served on the boards of TechHealth and The Reeve-Irvine Center for Spinal Cord Research, and as an advisory board member to the National Family Caregivers Association.

She was named Mother of the Year award by the American Cancer Society in 2005. Reeve "has shown strength and courage in the face of tremendous adversity," said ACS vice-president Dr. Michael Thun.

She received the Shining Example Award from Procter & Gamble in 1998 and an American Image Award from the AAFA in 2003. Her book Care Packages was published by Random House.

Dana and Christopher Reeve had a 13-year-old son, Will, who has acted in a pair of TV-movies. Dana Reeve had two stepchildren: Matthew, a documentary filmmaker, and Alexandra, who graduated from Yale last May.

She is also survived by her father, Dr. Charles Morosini, and by sisters Deborah Morosini and Adrienne Morosini Heilman.

Father-in-law F.D. Reeve accompanied Robert Frost to the Soviet Union as his personal translator. The trip was the subject of his book Robert Frost in Russia.

Funeral plans have not been announced.

The family has requested privacy during this difficult time, but said that donations could be made in Dana Reeve's memory to the Christopher Reeve Foundation, 636 Morris Turnpike, Short Hills, New Jersey 07078, or online at www.ChristopherReeve.org.