Actress/Activist Dana Reeve Dead at 44

Actress Dana Reeve died of lung cancer on March 6 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Medical Center, according to an Associated Press report. She was 44.

Although an actress and singer, Reeve is probably best known as the widow of Christopher Reeve and the chair of the Christopher Reeve Foundation, which funded research into spinal-cord paralysis cures. She announced in August that she had lung cancer.

Reeve appeared on Broadway in 1998 in the play More to Love. She was announced to appear in the Manhattan Theatre Club production of Brooklyn Boy last season, but withdrew following the death of her husband. Her off-Broadway credits include Portraits, Sight Unseen, The Prince and the Pauper Good Will and Patronage. She spent many seasons at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, where she was on the board. She was also on the board of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, appearing in numerous productions there.

Reeve is survived by her son Will, two stepchildren, her father and two sisters.