Robin Williams Was First Friend at Hospital After Christopher Reeve Was Paralyzed, Says Will Reeve (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Christopher Reeve and Robin Williams pose backstage at the People’s Choice Awards, March 1979.Photo:Fotos International/Frank Edwards/Getty

Fotos International/Frank Edwards/Getty

Will Reeve is opening up about his fatherChristopher Reeve’s unique friendship with the lateRobin Williams.

“Robin was dad’s best friend, and you show up for your friends,” Will, 32, tells PEOPLE of the longtime pals, who first met in the early ’70s when they were theater students at Juilliard together. He says they grew so close they called each other “brother.”

“Our dad and Robin had a singular bond,” Will says. “They had a friendship that someone should make a movie about, but what shone through in that was just their love and respect for each other, and that never wavered.”

Comic Robin Williams smooches pal Christopher Reeve’s before a Tribeca Film Festival screening of “House of D”.Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty

Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty

“No one was better at showing up with love and with the right dose of humor than Robin Williams and hiswife Marsha, who we call our fairy godmother,” Will says, adding, “We are still so incredibly close with her.”

The film also paints a full portrait of Christopher’s life both before and after his accident, including his early days as an actor, when he first grew close with Williams.

Robin Williams (seated, left) joins Christopher Reeve and his wife Dana at the American Paralysis Association dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria.Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty

In his 1998 memoirStill Me, Christopher recalled a first impression of theMrs. Doubtfireactor, writing that when they met, Williams “wore tie-dyed shirts with tracksuit bottoms and talked a mile a minute. … He was like an untied balloon that had been inflated and immediately released. I watched in awe as he virtually caromed off the walls of the classrooms and hallways. To say that he was ‘on’ would be a major understatement."

Will says after his dad’s accident, it wasn’t just Williams who rallied around the family.

“We were fortunate enough to live in a tight-knit community and had big groups of friends and teachers and coaches and people from the past and people from the present just chipping in however they could always,” Will recalls.

But Williams and Marsha’s presence was especially impactful. “Robin and Marsha did so much for us, things that we’ll never be able to repay them for. We owe them an eternal debt of gratitude for the way that they supported us and loved us, and still do.”

For tickets to seeSuper/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, visitFathom Events.

To read more about Christopher Reeve’s extraordinary life, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

source: people.com