January 21st

Superman

In my book, Still Rock Water, my character, Liliha, wrote a song about Superman. You can listen to the video if you like. Christopher Reeve was one of my heroes because he never gave up trying to walk. After his role as the flying man that's quite a let-down. In the story, Liliha's song is taken up by a producer and used in a television program listing the terrible tragedies that happened to each actor who played the part listed below.

Listen to the video here.

News item today by Ben Arnold | Yahoo UK Movies Features: The role of Superman is perhaps the most famously cursed in Hollywood. Its origins lie with George Reeves, who played the Man of Steel on the TV show in the 50s. He died of a gunshot wound in 1959, days before he was to be married. The incident was shrouded in suspicious circumstances, but was eventually ruled a suicide. (Reeves was played by Ben Affleck in the film Hollywoodland, which looked at the controversy). Bud Collyer, who voiced the first cartoon in the 1940s, returned to voice The New Adventures of Superman in 1966. He died three years later of a circulatory ailment, aged 61. Lee Quigley, who played Superman as a baby in the 1978 film, died aged 14 due to solvent abuse. Most prominent, however, is Christopher Reeve, whose career suffered thanks to his unshakeable connection to the role, was paralysed after being thrown from a horse in 1995. He died of heart failure in 2004. Talk of the curse has even extended to Dana Reeve, his wife, who despite being a non-smoker, died of lung cancer aged 44.

I'm not sure I believe in curses. Maybe the very act of giving them credence causes the effect. I remember the curse of Tutankhamen and all the following deaths after his tomb was discovered. Would these things have happened anyway? We'll never know. Each thing affects another. There's no going back.