Reeve had recently been treated for a pressure wound, a common complication of paralysis, Combs said, but the wound became infected and led to a systemic infection. Reeve was admitted to Northern Westchester Hospital on Saturday evening and never regained consciousness.

His family was at his side at the time of death.

"On behalf of my entire family, I want to thank Northern Westchester Hospital for the excellent care they provided to my husband," his wife, Dana Reeve, said in a statement. "I also want to thank his personal staff of nurses and aides, as well as the millions of fans from around the world who have supported and loved my husband over the years."

A tall, dark-haired actor perfectly suited for the role of the Man of Steel, Reeve took on an even larger-than-life role in reality as a quadrapelegic who pledged he would walk again.

After his accident, Reeve quickly became a powerful advocate for pushing the boundaries of modern medicine. His New Jersey-based Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation emerged under his star power and relentless fund-raising as a leading source for research money, giving out more than $42.5 million to neuroscientists.

In recent days, his struggle became a reference point for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, who said in Friday's debate that he believed embryonic stem cell research should be expanded, saying it would be the best way to give Reeve and others like him the chance for a better life.

Reeve pushed to expand embryonic stem cell research and was a critic of President Bush's decision in 2001 to limit federal funding to existing lines.

Reeve, an accomplished horseman, broke the top two cervical vertebrae and injured his spinal cord when he was thrown from his horse and landed on his head in 1995. At the time, doctors called the injury one of the worst possible. But Reeve, almost from the start, was determined to prove experts wrong. A few months after the accident, Reeve protested tabloid reports saying he had been pleading to die.

"I have not given up. I will never give up," he said.

Born Sept. 25, 1952, in New York City to journalist Barbara Johnson and writer and professor Franklin Reeve, Reeve began acting as a child and continued to perform professionally as he studied at Cornell University and then New York's Juilliard School of Performing Arts.

In 1976 he made his Broadway debut opposite Katherine Hepburn in "A Matter of Gravity." That year, Reeve auditioned for the role that would make him a star. "Superman" became a blockbuster when it was released in 1978 and Reeve became a household name.

Reeve returned to acting after the accident and in 1997 made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed film "In The Gloaming."