Kathy Lewis, president and CEO of the Christopher Reeve Foundation announced that Reeve died in a New York hospital on Monday.
"Dana will always be remembered for her passion, strength and ceaseless courage that became her hallmark," Ms Lewis said in a statement.
"Along with her husband Christopher, she faced adversity with grace and determination, bringing hope to millions around the world," she said.
Caring for Christopher
Reeve, who is a non-smoker, revealed that she was suffering from lung cancer in August last year only ten months after her husband died in 2004.
An accomplished actress and singer in her own right, Reeve largely put her own career on hold after her husband was paralysed from the neck down following a riding accident in 1995.
Before he died Christopher Reeve said that the severity of his injury left him feeling suicidal and it was his wife that gave him the will to live in the days immediately following the accident.
"When Dana whispered those life-saving words to me, 'You’re still you. And I love you,' it meant more to me than just a personal declaration of faith and commitment," Christopher Reeve once said.
"In a sense it was an affirmation that marriage and family stood at the center of everything, and if both were intact, so was your universe," he said.
The Foundation
The accident prompted Reeve and her husband to create the Christopher Reeve Foundation and she will be best remembered for her tireless campaigning for finding cures and treatment for those suffering from spinal cord injuries.
The foundation has awarded over US$53 million in research grants for neuroscientists and more than six million dollars in grants for the disabled. Dana Reeve took over as chairman of the foundation when her husband died.
"After Christopher's death, Dana was determined to preserve the important work and the legacy of hope that became his life's mission," Ms Lewis said.
Dana the performer
Reeve's singing and acting credits included appearances on television, where she had starring roles on "Law and Order", "Oz", and "All My Children." She was also a regular performer in plays on Broadway, off-Broadway, and at numerous regional theatres.
In 2000 she co-hosted a live daily talk show for women on the Lifetime television network.
The couple had one son, Will, who is now 13 and Dana is also survived by two adult step-children, Matthew and Alexandra.