Christopher Reeve, the star of the "Superman" movies whose near-fatal riding accident nearly a decade ago made him the world's most famous advocate for spinal cord research, died Sunday of heart failure according to ABC News. He was 52.

Reeve fell into a coma Saturday after going into cardiac arrest while at his New York home. Reeve had a pressure wound which had become severely infected, resulting in a serious systemic infection.

Reeve's film credits include "The Remains of the Day," "The Aviator," "Somewhere in Time," "Deathtrap," "Morning Glory," "The Bostonians," "Switching Channels," John Carpenter's "Village of the Damned," "Rear Window," and "Above Suspicion." But it was his role as Clark Kent/Superman in four films over the course of the 70's and 80's that he became most synonymous with. His last major appearance on screen was his role of Dr. Virgil Swann who helps a growing up Clark Kent (Tom Welling) on TV's "Smallville".

Our sincerest condolensces go out to his family, friends and many millions of fans.

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