The world is mourning Lois Lane…
Margot Kidder, who played the Daily Planet reporter and Superman love interest from 1978 to 1987 in the four big-screen adaptations that featured the late great Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel, passed away this week at the age of 69.
Starting out in films and television in her native Canada, Kidder’s breakout role came with the role of Lois Lane, followed by a hiatus in the late 90s followed by a comeback in the 2000s.
Margot Kidder was born to October 17, 1948 in Yellowknife in the Northern Territories of Canada as one of five children to a Canadian mother and American father. Living in remote areas for most of her childhood, it was a viewing of Bye Bye Birdie at the age of 12 that inspired Kidder to become an actress.
At the age of 19, Kidder made her debut in a short film entitled The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar. A year later, she made her feature film debut opposite Beau Bridges in Gaily, Gaily. After starring opposite Gene Wilder in Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx, Kidder moved to New York City to further her acting training.
After appearing in more films, Kidder was given the role of a lifetime in 1977: as Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane in Superman, which would not only become her breakout role but that of Christopher Reeve, who would immortalize the titular role and his alter ego, Clark Kent. Like Reeve, she would play the role throughout the four films from 1978 to 1987, which ended up the weak Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.
After the end of the Superman reign, Kidder continued work until 1996, when she began to suffer personal issues that forced her to take a hiatus from the entertainment industry. In 2000, she began what would be her comeback by appearing in a Christian film, Apocalypse III: Tribulation. She would continue work both in television and on-stage as well.
Kidder is survived by her daughter Maggie McGuane and her four siblings.
World Film Geek sends its condolences to the family of Margot Kidder. As a final tribute, here is Kidder in 2006 returning to the Daily Planet, courtesy of New York’s WPIX Channel 11.
Rest in Peace, Margot Kidder, forever Lois Lane.
WorldFilmGeek 