Stars Come Out to Support Reeve Research Center

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — Actor Christopher Reeve joined a host of his celebrity friends at Mission San Juan Capistrano on Saturday night for a dinner benefiting a new research center for spinal cord injuries at UC Irvine.

Reeve, paralyzed in a 1995 equestrian accident, is also expected to make an appearance at the Oaks International horse jumping competition at the Oaks Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park today: It will be the first time he has attended an equestrian event since his accident.

At a noon luncheon, the actor whose best-known role was as “Superman,” is to present the first Christopher Reeve Research Medal to a top researcher of spinal cord injuries. The award carries a $50,000 prize.

At Saturday night’s dinner, actors Robin Williams, Joan Rivers and Jane Seymour were among 560 guests who attended “An Evening Under the Stars,” staged by Reeve and philanthropist Joan Irvine Smith as part of the weekend-long equestrian competition.

Reeve called Smith “a very extraordinary woman” and said she contacted him after his accident and told him she wanted to donate $1 million for a center devoted to spinal cord research.

The dinner--with tickets ranging from $200 to $500 a person--took place in the mission courtyard and was expected to net about $80,000 for the Reeve-Irvine Research Center at UCI.

Accompanied by his wife, Dana, Reeve spoke briefly to the dinner guests.

“I’m happy to be here,” he said. “Anything can happen to anyone. There really is only one degree of separation between any of us. We’re all a family and all have value.”

At the dinner, Williams presided over an auction.

Speaking to the media before the dinner, Williams said, “I come to these things to just be a friend and to hang out with him.”

Williams says he sees his job these days as helping make Reeve laugh.

“We talk about getting him snow tires, things like that,” Williams said.

Jane Seymour, Reeve’s co-star in the 1980 film “Somewhere in Time,” said that when she heard of his accident, she was “devastated. I couldn’t believe it.”

“He’s the bravest man I know,” she said. “In a daily way, he reminds me of how precious my life and health are.”

Seymour was accompanied by her husband, actor James Keach.

Singer Renee Bondi, a quadriplegic, entertained party-goers.

With big Hollywood names in attendance, the evening served as proof that Reeve’s tragic accident has drawn unprecedented attention to spinal cord injuries.

“This is the first time we’ve had this many stars at the mission. It’s a night of stars under the stars,” said Gerald Miller, the mission’s executive director. “The number of celebrities is an indication of their empathy for Christopher Reeve and their desire to help find treatment for spinal cord injuries.”

In January, Reeve and Smith, in conjunction with UCI and the American Paralysis Assn., announced plans for the new research center to be established at the UCI College of Medicine. Smith donated $1 million to the center, which will focus on research of spinal cord trauma as well as developing therapies to promote the recovery and repair of neurological function.

UCI has also established a Reeve-Irvine chair for spinal cord injury research.

Tickets for the today’s Grand Prix Luncheon--at which guests dine as they watch the jumping competition--are sold out. A limited number of $10 general viewing seats for the competition is available.