Late comedian and actor Robin Williams was the first person to show up at the hospital to visit his bestie Christopher Reeve after the “Superman” star was paralyzed after falling from a horse.
“Robin was dad’s best friend, and you show up for your friends,” Reeve’s son, Will Reeve, said in an interview with People.”Our dad and Robin had a singular bond … They had a friendship that someone should make a movie about, but what shone through in that was just their love and respect for each other, and that never wavered.”
Williams and Reeve locked in as pals after meeting in 1973 as students at famed acting school Juilliard. Their friendship is depicted in the new documentary “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” which spotlights Reeve’s life and career while also diving into how Williams’ comedy helped him mentally overcome his tragic accident.
On May 27, 1995, Reeve injured his spinal cord when he fell during a horse-riding competition. While hospitalized, Williams — whom his children say was like their father’s “brother” — would jokingly act like he was a Russian proctologist, just to get a giggle out of his friend.
“No one was better at showing up with love and with the right dose of humor than Robin Williams and his wife Marsha, who we call our fairy godmother,” Will shared. “We are still so incredibly close with her.”
Reeve is the actor who had the most experience playing the nearly impossible to defeat DC character, as he starred as the cape-wearing Kryptonian longer than any other actor in movie history. On Oct. 10, 2004, when he was 52, he died from heart failure. Williams died 10 years later on Aug. 11, 2014 at age 63 by suicide.
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” produced by Words+ Pictures, hits select theaters on Sept. 21 and Sept. 25.
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