Margaret Ruth “Margot” Kidder (October 17, 1948 – May 13, 2018) was a Canadian-American actress, director, and activist whose career spanned over five decades. Her accolades include three Canadian Screen Awards and one Daytime Emmy Award. Though she appeared in an array of films and television, Kidder is most widely known for her performance as Lois Lane in the Superman film series, appearing in the first four films.
Born in Yellowknife to a Canadian mother and an American father, Kidder was raised in the Northwest Territories as well as several other Canadian provinces. She began her acting career in the 1960s appearing in low-budget Canadian films and television series, before landing a lead role in Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx (1970). She then played twins in Brian De Palma’s cult thriller Sisters (1973), a sorority student in the slasher film Black Christmas (1974) and the titular character’s girlfriend in the drama The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), opposite Robert Redford. In 1977, she was cast as Lois Lane in Richard Donner’s Superman (1978), a role which established her as a mainstream actress. Her performance as Kathy Lutz in the blockbuster horror film The Amityville Horror (1979) gained her further mainstream exposure, after which she went on to reprise her role as Lois Lane in Superman II, III, and IV (1980–1987).
The 1990s were marked by significant health problems for Kidder: In 1990, she sustained serious injuries in a car accident that left her temporarily paralyzed, and she later had a highly publicized manic episode and nervous breakdown in 1996 stemming from bipolar disorder. By the 2000s, she maintained steady work in independent films and television, with guest-starring roles on Smallville, Brothers & Sisters and The L Word, and appeared in a 2002 Off-Broadway production of The Vagina Monologues. In 2015, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance on the children’s television series R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour.
1999 • TV
2001 • TV
1962 • TV
1984 • TV
1978 • Movie
1994 • Movie
as Lois Lane
as Margret Mary (uncredited)
as Lois Lane
as Eileen Canboro
as Mrs. Nelson
as Lois Lane
as Lois Lane
as Frida
as Barb
as Margo
as Jackie
as Virginia Tregan
as Madelaine X
as Kathy Lutz
as Eliza Doolittle
as Mickey Raymond
as Barbara Collier
as Lady Margarite
as Mabel
as Doctor Kate 'Doc' Winston
as Grace Mayberry
1 episodes
as Bridgette Crosby
2 episodes
as Self
1 episodes
as Ellen Holden
1 episodes
as Self - Host
1 episodes
as Mrs. Worthington
1 episodes
as Rita Lasky
1 episodes
as Serena
1 episodes
as Self - Guest
1 episodes
as Cynthia
1 episodes
as Sandy Ziskin
1 episodes
as Emily Craft
2 episodes
as Dr. Josephine Mataros
1 episodes
as Gaia (voice)
1 episodes
as Self
1 episodes
as Andrea Morris
1 episodes
as Self
1 episodes
as Helen Sloan
1 episodes
as Jane Reynolds
1 episodes
as Lori Wright
1 episodes
