Margot Kidder, ‘Superman’ Actress, Dies at 69

Actress, who played Lois Lane in 1978 film and its sequels, died in her home Sunday

Margot Kidder, who rose to prominence playing Lois Lane in the 1978 film “Superman” opposite Christopher Reeve, died Sunday, according to an obituary published by the Franzen-Davis funeral home. She was 69.

According to the obituary, Kidder died at her home. Arrangements are pending under the care of Franzen-Davis Funeral Home and Crematory in Livingston, Montana.

Kidder’s manager,  Camilla Fluxman Pines, told TheWrap on Monday that the actress died peacefully in her sleep.

Born in Canada in 1948, Kidder appeared in a number of low-budget Canadian films and TV shows, and appeared in films including the 1973 thriller “Sisters,” the Robert Redford-drama “The Great Waldo Pepper” and the 1979 horror film “The Amityville Horror,” as well as “Superman” and its sequels.

Kidder’s career and personal life suffered setbacks in the 1990s, following a nervous breakdown. She disappeared for four days in 1996, and later told People, “I was like one of those ladies you see talking to the space aliens on the street corner in New York.” Kidder, who said she was manic-depressive, said that she experienced “mood swings that could knock over a building.”

However, the actress later enjoyed a career revival, guest-starring in offerings including “Smallville,” “Brothers & Sisters” and “The L Word.” She also scored an Emmy in 2015 for her work on the children’s series “R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour.”

Kidder also performed stage work, notably the 2002 production of “The Vagina Monologues.”

Kidder was also an activist and was among those arrested at the White House in 2011 during a protest to halt the construction of an oil pipeline from Alberta to Texas.

Kidder was married three times. Her first marriage, to novelist Thomas McGuane, produced Kidder’s only child, daughter Maggie McGuane. She was briefly married to actor John Heard in 1979 and was wed to French film director Philippe de Broca from 1983 to 1984.

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