Shock As Dana Reeve Dies At 44

Widow Of Christopher Reeve Admired For Her Spirit & Advocacy Of Medical Research

(CBS/AP)  Reeve told interviewer Kathie Lee Gifford she wanted to get back on Broadway, where she had performed in the flop "More To Love" in 1998. She was performing in the Broadway-bound play "Brooklyn Boy" in California when she had to streak home to reach her husband's bedside before he died. She gave up the role for the New York run.

She also appeared Off-Broadway and regionally, and in New York-based television shows.

Reeve was upbeat during the "Entertainment Tonight" interview, Carl said.

"She always was a very, very positive individual, but I think that, at this point, she was fully believing that she was going to fight this and that she could win the battle," Carl reports.

Dana Reeve was a constant companion and supporter of her husband during his long ordeal and his work for a cure for spinal cord injuries.

"With Chris, she gave voice to a movement to find life-saving cures and promote medical research, and when she lost her inspiration and love she didn't stop the fight," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in a statement. "She was an inspiration to me and to us all. Chris was America's superhero, and Dana became our hero, too."

She was chairwoman of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, which funds research on paralysis and works to improve the life of the disabled. To date, it has awarded $55 million in research grants and $7.5 million in quality of life grants.

Reeve also served on the boards of The Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, TechHealth, and The Reeve-Irvine Center for Spinal Cord Research and as an advisory board member to the National Family Caregivers Association.

"We celebrate her, and we're so sad to lose her," Williamstown's artistic director Roger Rees told CBS Radio News. "She was an extraordinary example of what companionship and love and vitality and extremely wonderful talent can do in this business."

The Reeves first met while both were acting at Williamstown.

She received numerous awards for her work, including the Shining Example Award from Proctor & Gamble in 1998, an American Image Award from the AAFA in 2003. In 2005, the American Cancer Society named her Mother of the Year.

"She talked about how resilient children can be" in the ET interview, Carl said. "She said that Will has had better or worse. He has lived with that since he was three" when his father had the horse-riding accident.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with her son Will and the entire Reeve family," said former president Bill Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). "We especially want Will to know that his mother's determination and bravery inspired us and so many others, and we will continue to work toward the causes and goals she championed."

Reeve is also survived by her father, Dr. Charles Morosini, and sisters Deborah Morosini and Adrienne Morosini Heilman.

No funeral plans were announced. The family said donations could be made in Dana Reeve's memory to the Christopher Reeve Foundation in Short Hills, N.J.