Robin Williams' lifelong friendship with Christopher Reeve remembered
By NADIA SIKANDER
With the passing of the legendary comedian and actor Robin Williams, the world mourns the loss of an iconic hero, but Christopher Reeve's family grieves for their good friend and pillar of strength.
The late actors formed a camaraderie before their renown fame as two theater students at the Juilliard School, a performing arts conservatory in New York City, and together rose to stardom.
At the time, they promised each other that whoever became successful would take care of the less fortunate one.
In 1995, Reeves, who was best known for portraying Superman, suffered a spinal chord injury following a tragic horse-riding accident at 42. Consequently, he became depressed and was hospitalized as a quadriplegic, but Williams was the first to make him laugh again.
According to a familiar anecdote, after the serious accident, Williams reportedly entered Reeve's hospital room posing as a doctor and demanded, in a hilarious Russian accent, that the newly paralyzed artist turn over.
"My old friend had helped me know that somehow I was going to be okay," said Reeves of Williams' steadfast friendship following his injury.
The late actor and activist passed away in 2004, but Williams' remained a steadfast friend to Reeve's family.
"We will cherish him...for the quiet and unwavering support he showed our family through the hardest times. The world knew Robin as a comedic titan, but to our family, he was simply one of our dad's dearest friends," the Reeve Family said in a statement posted on the Reeve Foundation Website, ChristopherReeve.org.
The Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury through research, tweeted 'Our hearts are heavy and our thoughts and prayers are with the Robin Williams family' and later posted a vintage black and white photo of the two from the 1979 People's Choice awards, captioning it 'Friends 'til the end.'
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