5 Things to Know About 'SportsCenter' Newbie Will Reeve, Son of 'Superman' Christopher Reeve
While getting your SportsCenter fix this weekend, you may notice a vaguely familiar face delivering news from the field. The ESPN show has added Will Reeve — son of Superman Christopher Reeve — as a special reporter.
The 22-year-old shares more than a resemblance with his late father. He's tall, dark, and handsome with a strong jawline and broad shoulders — just like his movie star pops. He's also comfortable in the spotlight and loves sports, calling his new gig his "dream job."
"My dad and I had a huge bond and shared a love of sports," Will told The Wrap about his dad, who died in 2004 after being paralyzed in an equestrian incident almost a decade earlier. After noting the Superman heartthrob would be "proud," he quipped, "Then [he] would probably tell me to straighten my tie!"
Here are five other quick facts about the TV newcomer…
1. He was orphaned at 13. After losing his father, his mother, actress Dana Reeve, died from lung cancer — despite being a nonsmoker — in 2006. He has two older half siblings from Chris's relationship with Gae Exton, Matthew and Alexandra.
2. He's an East Coast kid. Will was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and raised in Bedford, New York, where his parents were fixtures at his hockey games. "There was definitely a celebratory quality in their raising of him, Dana's older sister Dr. Deborah Huschle told People magazine in 2006. Dana and Will were especially close. "They were very tight. They had to stick together from a very early point. A lot of her life was being a hockey mom." After losing his mother, Will was raised by family friends in Westchester.
3. He has some movie credits. Will had a bit role in family friend Glenn Close's 1997 TV movie In the Gloaming and was directed by his father in 2004's The Brooke Ellison Story about a young girl, played by Lacey Chabert, who was a quadriplegic. He also voiced a character in 2006's Everyone's Hero, which had also been helmed by his father.
4. He honed his public speaking skills doing charity work on behalf of his parents. Every year, Will and his siblings appear at the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation's annual dinner. Just months after his mother's passing — at just 14 — he took the podium to give a speech. He's continued to do work on behalf of the charity. A graduate of Vermont’s Middlebury College, he interned at ABC and Good Morning America, where he would write and report. That's when he was noticed by ESPN.
"ESPN was like a member of the family because it was always on," Will told The Wrap. "It is not only a dream job, it is my dream job … I just hope I don’t screw it up! I don’t want my dream to be taken away from me."
5. Robin Williams took him under his wing. The late comedian, who attended the Julliard School with Chris, gave extra love and TLC both to Dana and Will after losing his friend. After Williams's passing in the summer, the Reeve family issued a statement saying, "We will cherish [Robin] ... 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."
Will makes his SportsCenter debut this weekend covering the Phoenix Open.
