Christopher Reeve was beloved by millions for playing Superman in four movies from 1978 to 1987. But he was also a superhero back home to his kids.
Reeve had three children — Matthew, Alexandra, and Will — before a shocking horseriding accident in 1995 left him paralyzed from the neck down. He would go on to raise his kids with his wife Dana at his side until his death in 2004 while in a wheelchair and breathing through a ventilator.
The new documentary “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” chronicles Reeve’s life from beloved movie star to disability advocate alongside Dana, who died of lung cancer two years after Reeve’s death. The doc also gives an unprecedented look inside the Reeve household with rare home videos and interviews with the children.
Here’s everything you need to know about Reeve’s three children.
Matthew Reeve, 44
Matthew was born December 20, 1979, in London, during Reeve’s 10-year relationship with modeling executive Gae Exton. At the time of Matthew’s birth, Reeve was filming the romantic drama “Somewhere in Time” alongside Jane Seymour. Seymour revealed to Entertainment Weekly in 2022 that she and Reeve were falling “madly in love” during the making of the movie. But with the birth of Matthew, Reeve stayed with Exton to raise him.
Exton took part in the documentary, and Matthew praised her for sharing her memories on camera while speaking to People.
“We were going to share the memories we never shared before on camera,” he said. “My mom is incredibly brave to tell her side of the story and I’m proud of her.”
After graduating from Brown University in 2002, Matthew began his career as a producer and director. He made the documentary “Christopher Reeve: Hope in Motion,” which was nominated for an Emmy and was released on the BBC a year after he graduated from Brown. In 2009, he made the documentary “Over The Water,” about the World Champion kiteboarder Aaron Hadlow.
Matthew, along with his siblings, sits on the board of directors for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to finding a cure for spinal cord injuries.
Alexandra Reeve Givens, 40
Born in 1983, Alexandra was the second child Reeve had with Exton.
Instead of going into show business, Alexandra has focused on politics and law. She graduated from Yale and got her law degree from Columbia University.
She began her law career as a litigator at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City. She also taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia for several years.
Alexandra then served as the Senate Judiciary Committee’s chief counsel for IP and antitrust. She was also the founding executive director of the Institute for Technology Law & Policy at Georgetown Law.
She’s currently president and CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology. Alexandra is married and has a son named Christopher after her father.
Alexandra praises her father for giving her and her siblings a strong work ethic.
“My dad was an incredibly intense person. He did nothing at half effort,” Alexandra said on “Good Morning America.” “And I think all three of us kids have actually inherited a little bit of that. And so that dedication and focus that your work needs to be about more than you, it needs to be about more than yourself and how do you give back to the world that you’re in, that’s shaped each of us today.”
Will Reeve, 32
Will, born June 7, 1992, is Reeve’s youngest child and the only child he had with his wife, Dana.
Will was three years old when his father suffered his injury and only 12 when Reeve died. Less than two years later, when his mother also died, he moved in with a family friend.
Will attended Middlebury College and became a broadcast journalist. He has worked at the MSG Network and was an anchor and correspondent at ESPN.
He currently is an ABC News correspondent, often appearing on “Good Morning America” and “World News Tonight with David Muir.”
In July, Variety reported that Will would make a cameo in James Gunn’s upcoming Superman movie. He will play a TV reporter.
Will told TMZ that though he only had to memorize one line for his cameo, he was still “more nervous” doing that than being on TV for his day job.
“Heroism is so much more than superficial strength and a glossy image,” Will told People about his father’s legacy. “It’s about integrity, showing up for your family, persevering through hard circumstances, and still having that joy for life. That was our dad.”
“Super/Man” is in theaters now.
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