# The dirt on Christopher Reeve? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668 "2009-01-30T02:58:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/1 "2009-01-30T02:58:30Z")
I have read many times here that Superman was quite the jerk. Of course, I feel horrible for his death, and his tragic suffering before, but I’m dying to hear of as much of the dirt about him as possible that made everybody hate his guts. I have heard of the ‘great, another boat rag’ story, but I think he was just enough of a pud to think that he was trying to be witty, rather than rude. Could be wrong, tho, so I wanna hear the good stuff! Any good links, or tales? Thanks, handsomeharry ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/2 "2009-01-30T03:07:14Z")
Sorry, are you just wanting gossip on the deceased Christopher Reeve? Is that what we do here? I know he was a bit cocky as a young guy(he admitted so much on Actors Studio), but I don’t think he was a particularly bad guy. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/3 "2009-01-30T03:11:57Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > I have read many times here that Superman was quite the jerk. Of course, I feel horrible for his death, and his tragic suffering before, but I’m dying to hear of as much of the dirt about him as possible that made everybody hate his guts. > I have heard of the ‘great, another boat rag’ story, but I think he was just enough of a pud to think that he was trying to be witty, rather than rude. Could be wrong, tho, so I wanna hear the good stuff! Any good links, or tales? > Thanks, > handsomeharry Well, take this entirely as gossip, but my friend tended bar while going to college in North Adams near the Williamstown Theater in western Massachusetts. Christopher Reeve was always around. Anyway, according to my friend’s co-worker (told you it was gossip!), sometime in the late 80s Reeve went into a small store and asked to use the phone. The guy behind the counter couldn’t help himself and asked, “Why? Do you need to change into Superman?” Reeve allegedly replied, “F\*\*\* you. Where’s the phone?” This sounds too good to be true, I guess. But, then again, I heard this story way before it became fashionable to bash Reeve for being a jerk. FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/4 "2009-01-30T03:19:11Z")
Six feet of it, I assume. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/5 "2009-01-30T03:22:20Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Six feet of it, I assume. Well played, sir. [QUOTE=Mahaloth] Sorry, are you just wanting gossip on the deceased Christopher Reeve? Is that what we do here? [/QUOTE] In defence of the OP, Reeves was rumored to be such a class A jerk that some said his accident was karma. Now that he’s dead, is his life a forbidden subject? I assume the OP simply wants to know why he was so disliked. Frankly, I’m a little curious too. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/6 "2009-01-30T03:25:19Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Six feet of it, I assume. Thread winner.😛 All I know of his personal life is that he was very good friends with Robin Williams and had a reputation for womanizing back in the day (and a very high profile custody battle/alimony/child support war with his longtime lover, the mother of his two oldest children). Williams and Reeves both grew up in extremely wealthy (not talking ‘well to do’ but Elmer J. Fudd “I own a mansion and a yacht” level) families. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/7 "2009-01-30T03:26:58Z")
I heard he shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/8 "2009-01-30T03:27:30Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Sorry, are you just wanting gossip on the deceased Christopher Reeve? Is that what we do here? No, I want the good stories about him, that’s why I asked for the dirt on him. :dubious: And yes, that is what we do here in this OP. hh BTW,\*\* Bryan Ekers\*\*, not bad! ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/9 "2009-01-30T03:27:59Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Sorry, are you just wanting gossip on the deceased Christopher Reeve? Is that what we do here? Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty much exactly what we do here. Every single thread in Cafe Society discussing actors usually contains nothing but gossip, and they’re always highly viewed and span multiple pages. Is there something special about this dead actor that makes him verboten? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/10 "2009-01-30T03:29:54Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I heard he shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. It’s a toss-up between \*\*Oakminster \*\*and **Bryan Ekers** as to whom I shall steal from first! ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/11 "2009-01-30T03:53:52Z")
Uh, I was hoping for a bit more. I googled “Christopher Reeves Prick” and got about 10 billion links for his being able to feel a pin prick…is he, even from the grave, tormenting me more than all of his other so-called victims, put together? Thanks, hh ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/12 "2009-01-30T03:57:46Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I heard he shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. You heard wrong. It was for snoring too loud. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/13 "2009-01-30T04:00:02Z")
A friend of my wife appeared in a college play with Reeve; he gave her a stage kiss. Other than that, I haven’t heard any specific stories about him, but do know that she didn’t like him much. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/14 "2009-01-30T04:07:45Z")
To clear up the confusion expressed by **Small Hen** : [Christopher Reeve](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Reeve) spelled his surname without an _s_. However, another Superman portrayer was George [Reeves](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Reeves), who played the Man of Steel on TV before fatally shooting himself in 1959. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/15 "2009-01-30T04:16:13Z")
Ah. Thank you **Sternvogel**. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/16 "2009-01-30T04:19:55Z")
I always got a good laugh out of this: [Christopher Reeve was an asshole](http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=creeve) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/17 "2009-01-30T05:28:34Z")
I lived in the same dormitory as Reeve when I was an undergraduate at Cornell. I didn’t know him well, but at that time he seemed decent enough to me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/18 "2009-01-30T06:40:36Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Well, take this entirely as gossip, but my friend tended bar while going to college in North Adams near the Williamstown Theater in western Massachusetts. Christopher Reeve was always around. Anyway, according to my friend’s co-worker (told you it was gossip!), sometime in the late 80s Reeve went into a small store and asked to use the phone. The guy behind the counter couldn’t help himself and asked, “Why? Do you need to change into Superman?” Reeve allegedly replied, “F\*\*\* you. Where’s the phone?” > > This sounds too good to be true, I guess. But, then again, I heard this story way before it became fashionable to bash Reeve for being a jerk. FWIW. If I were Reeve and someone asked me such a snarky question, I might have responded the way he did too. ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/19 "2009-01-30T11:05:35Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > If I were Reeve and someone asked me such a snarky question, I might have responded the way he did too. Really? I would have pissed myself laughing! ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668/20 "2009-01-30T11:15:49Z")
> [@WILLASS](#): > > Really? I would have pissed myself laughing! Maybe for the first 2,000 times someone says something like that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirt-on-christopher-reeve/483668.md?page=2)