Glenn Close thinks the late Christopher Reeve was a "life-giving force" to the late Robin Williams.

Glenn Close

Glenn Close

The 70-year-old actress has claimed the friendship between the 'Superman' actor - who passed away in 2004 - and the 'Mrs Doubtfire' star - who sadly took his own life a decade later in 2014 - was so strong, that had Christopher not lost his life, Robin would also still be alive.

Speaking in an emotional speech given at the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation's annual "A Magical Evening" Gala, she said: "My first connection to Christopher Reeve was through Robin Williams, when we were shooting 'The World According to Garp'. It was the summer of 1982, when we were filming on Fishers Island. On Friday evenings, Chris would literally swoop in, piloting his own plane, scoop Robin up, and away they would fly for the weekend. On Sunday, late afternoon, Chris would swoop back in and deliver Robin back - I have to say a little worse for wear.

"Those were the heady days for them both. They were on top of the world. They were living the kind of fast and crazy life that our business can hand to you if you become a wildly famous phenomenon, practically overnight.

"Their friendship, their connection, is the stuff of legend. It not only endured, but became a life-giving force sustaining them both. I am convinced that if Chris were still with us, Robin would be too."

Chris was 52 when he passed away from heart failure, nine years after he suffered a horseback riding accident that crushed his spinal cord and rendered him paralysed from the neck down, and Glenn admits she "misses" the late star.

She added: "I miss Chris. He was a great man. He had more moral and mental fortitude than anyone I will ever know. It moved me to the core and there are times when it even took my breath away. And he was courageous. Against the odds, he had the courage to hope for his dream, which is now our dream - a world of empty wheelchairs."