White Plains, N.Y. ? Dana Reeve, the singer-actress who married the strapping star of the “Superman” movies and then devoted herself to his care and his cause after he was paralyzed, has died of lung cancer, a year and a half after her husband. She was 44.

Although Reeve had announced her cancer diagnosis in August – to an outpouring of sympathy and support from admirers around the world – her death seemed sudden. As recently as Jan. 12, she looked healthy and happy as she belted out Carole King’s “Now and Forever” at a packed Madison Square Garden during a ceremony honoring hockey star Mark Messier, a friend.

“The brightest light has gone out,” said comedian Robin Williams. “We will forever celebrate her loving spirit.”

Former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton described Reeve as “a model of tenacity and grace.” “Despite the adversity that she faced, Dana bravely met these challenges and was always an extremely devoted wife, mother and advocate,” they said.

Christopher and Dana Reeve married in 1992. Life changed drastically for the couple three years later when Christopher Reeve suffered near-total paralysis in a horse-riding accident and almost died.

In his autobiography, “Still Me,” Reeve wrote that he suggested early on to his wife, “Maybe we should let me go.” She responded, “I’ll be with you for the long haul, no matter what. You’re still you and I love you.”

Those were “the words that saved my life,” Christopher Reeve said.

Dana Reeve and son Will arrive for the 14th annual gala celebrating the work of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation in this Nov. 18, 2004, photo. Reeve, the widow of actor Christopher Reeve, died Monday of lung cancer. Their son Will is now 13.

For her husband’s remaining nine years, Dana Reeve was his constant companion and supporter during the ordeal of his rehabilitation. With him, she became an advocate in the search for a cure for spinal cord injuries.

After her husband’s death in October 2004, Reeve said she planned to return to acting. She had appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway and regional stages and on the TV shows “Law & Order,” “Oz,” and “All My Children” and she’d had to give up a Broadway role when she was widowed.

However, her mother died of complications from ovarian cancer and her own diagnosis came the next summer, two days after the lung cancer death of ABC News anchor Peter Jennings, a smoker.

From the start, Reeve, a nonsmoker, expressed confidence she would beat lung cancer. And four months ago at a fundraising gala for the foundation, Reeve provoked wolf whistles from Williams and said she was responding well to treatment.

“I’m beating the odds and defying every statistic the doctors can throw at me,” Reeve said. “My prognosis looks better all the time.”

About the same time, Reeve taped a PBS show, “The New Medicine,” about how doctors are paying more attention to a patient’s cultural values and lifestyle as part of treatment. PBS said Tuesday that the show will be broadcast as scheduled March 29.

Survivors include the Reeves’ 13-year-old son, Will; two grown stepchildren, Matthew and Alexandra; her father, Charles Morosini; and two sisters.

Maggie Goldberg of the Christopher Reeve Foundation said Will was “in the loving care of family and friends” and that his mother had arranged for his future.