Hey, Summer Campers!
It should come as no surprise to you that people of all different walks of life enjoy going to summer camp. I went to camp. Your uncle’s sister-in-law probably went to camp. Heck!—SUPERMAN himself went to camp! It’s the natural thing to do for boys and girls of earth (and Krypton).
As was discussed on a recent Blog post, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster may have introduced the world to the one, the only, Superman…but it was one Christopher Reeve who brought the legend to life. However, before he ever played the man of steel, he was a summer camper, just like you!
When he was your age, Christopher went to camp along Squam Lake and amidst the White Mountains of New Hampshire at Camp Deerwood. He may have only been around ten years old when he went to camp, but it only took him that long to discover his passion for acting.
After being cast in an amateur, student play, ‘The Yeomen of the Guard’, there was no doubt in Christopher’s head, he wanted to be an actor.
It was a no-brainer for him to join the theater department when he attended college at Cornell. He acted in four plays within his freshman year and, always executing his performances with quality, he was contacted by an agent at the end of his first year.
The same agent who represented stars of the day, like Robert Redford, Richard Chamberlain, Michael Douglas, and Susan Sarandon, Stark Hesseltine was sure to make Christopher Reeve into a household name.
After convincing the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences he could do so much more at Juilliard, he transferred three year’s college credits to have his senior year at Juilliard. It wasn’t long after that, in his 26th year, that he received the lead role as Clark Kent (a.k.a. Superman) in the much anticipated film, ‘Superman’.
Unfortunately, after so many achievements in acting, directing, producing, screenwriting, and activism, tragedy awaited Christopher around the corner. In 1995, he turned 43. He was violently thrown from a horse during a customary competition in Virginia; from this, he required a wheelchair and a breathing apparatus for the rest of his life.
He founded the Christopher Reeve Foundation for people with spinal-cord injuries before his death at only 52.
Thanks for reading, Camp Fans.
- John