Margot Kidder 1948 - 2018

Actress Margot Kidder has passed away at 69.

Born Margaret Ruth Kidder in Canada, she began her acting career in 1968 with a small role in a 49-minute film called THE BEST DAMN FIDDLER FROM CALABOGIE TO KALADAR, which was filmed and set in the Canadian logging community. Her first major role came in the 1969 American film GAILY, GAILY alongside Beau Bridges. In 1970 she starred with Gene Wilder in QUACKSER FORTUNE HAS A COUSIN IN THE BRONX, and her experience there inspired her to pursue acting full-time; a career that she had been unsure of. In 1973 Brian DePalma cast her in SISTERS, in which she played conjoined twins, and in 1974 would win a Canadian Film Award for Best Actress for her turn in the slasher film BLACK CHRISTMAS.

After taking a break from acting after the birth of her daughter, she shot to permanent fame for her role as Lois Lane in Richard Donner’s definitive Superman film, SUPERMAN THE MOVIE in 1978. Her instant chemistry with leading man Christopher Reeve generated plenty of sparks on the screen and would earn her a Saturn Award, and she would appear in the franchise’s three sequels; SUPERMAN II (1980), SUPERMAN III (1983), and SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE (1987). During this stretch, she also appeared in the horror classic THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979).

Due to health issues she never maintained her rising star, but continued to work and landed notable roles in SOME KIND OF HERO (1982), TRENCHCOAT (1983), MOB STORY (1989), MAVERICK (1994), Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN II (2009), and REAL GANGSTERS (2013).

She appeared on Broadway in The Vagina Monologues in 2002 and toured with the show for two years. In 2004 she would return to the world of Superman with an appearance in TV’s SMALLVILLE. In 2015 she won an Emmy for Outstanding Performer in Children’s Programming for her role in R.L. STINE’S THE HAUNTING HOUR.

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One of this Blogger’s favorite films is Richard Donner’s SUPERMAN from 1978. It’s the grandfather of all superhero films; not just because it was the very first big-budget motion picture based on a superhero, but because to this day it holds up against the very best we get today. It was perfectly cast, directed, and scored…and Margot Kidder’s Lois Lane is a major part of it. Much like Carrie Fisher accomplished before her with Princess Leia in STAR WARS (1977), Kidder made her Lois far from a typical damsel in distress. Sure, she needed rescuing now and again (Superman needs something do to, after all), but she was physically and mentally tough…and could stand up easily against the larger-than-life villains held down by Gene Hackman (Lex Luthor ) and Terence Stamp (Zod). And who could ever forget Kidder’s perfect delivery of “you’re a real pain in the neck”, followed by her even-more-well-delivered sock on the jaw to Ursa, one of Zod’s partners. From that moment to her iconic “you’ve got me, who’s got you?!” line, she will always be Lois Lane to this Blogger and many more fans. She may be gone, but the thought of her and the late Christopher Reeve flying together again over the clouds is a saving comfort.