Margot Kidder, the miner’s daughter from Yellowknife who went on to play Lois Lane in the Superman movies, has died at 69 at her home in Montana, her sister Annie has confirmed. Kidder got the acting bug after seeing shows on Broadway. She was determined that she was going to be a star. In life, she conquered a troubled career. “You’ve reached the goal, the thing that you said you wanted … but also, it makes your life incredibly public,” said Annie Kidder, who is based in Toronto. She said her sister found her calling as a mental-health advocate, drawing from her own experience with bipolar disorder, which she spoke about openly at a time when it was highly stigmatized. Margot Kidder was best known for her role opposite Christopher Reeve in the Superman films of the 1970s and 80s. She was as tough as the Lois Lane character she played. She was an activist all her life and much like Lane wasn’t afraid to speak out for what she thought was right. After an infamous breakdown on the streets of Los Angeles in 1996, Margot Kidder credited a homeless man with showing compassion for her and saving her life during her “big, public flipout.” Sister Annie said Margot lived happily before her death “with her dogs” in the US west.
