ACTRESS MARGOT KIDDER DIES AT 69:
Quirky Lois Lane star, 69, battled bipolar disorder
MARGOT KIDDER, the offbeat, raspy-voiced actress who starred as Lois Lane to Christopher Reeve’s Clark Kent in four “Superman” films in the ’70s and ’80s, died at her home in Montana, her manager said. She was 69.
Police do not suspect foul play, though Kidder’s death on Sunday is under investigation. Authorities found her dead after responding to a call from an unknown person who claimed she was unconscious and not breathing, Park County Attorney Bruce Becker told the Daily News.
Kidder, who reprised her role as Lois in three “Superman” sequels after the 1978 original, was a longtime mental health advocate as her battle with bipolar disorder played out in the public eye in the mid-’90s.
The native Canadian maintained her acting career until her death, and recent credits include Rob Zombie’s “Halloween II” in 2009, as well as a series of Canadian films, including “The Neighborhood” and “The Red Maple Leaf.”
Canadian filmmaker Frank D’Angelo did five movies with Kidder in the last decade and recently spoke to her by phone about a new script he was writing, which also included a part for her, he told The News.
“She was just awesome,” he said. “She was great on the set. Everybody loved her.”
D’Angelo said Kidder had to miss taking a role in his 2015 movie “Sicilian Vampire” because she got sick protesting the Keystone XL pipeline in Washington.
“She told me she was fighting the pipeline and got sick sleeping outside,” he said. “She was one of those ladies who would fight for what she believed in.”
Valerie Perrine, who costarred with Kidder in “Superman” and “Superman II,” expressed shock at the loss of her friend.
“I can’t believe she’s gone. She was always happy and smiling,” Perrine, 74, told The News. “It was so easy working with her. She hit her marks. She knew her dialogue. And she was kind.
“I can’t say anything more, I’m too upset,” Perrine said.
Before landing her breakout role as Lois Lane, Kidder appeared in the 1973 cult thriller “Sisters” as Siamese twins, and later starred in “The Amityville Horror” in 1979.
Kidder also had a steady stream of roles, including the 1981 film “Heartaches” and a 2002 Broadway gig in “The Vagina Monologues,” as well as appearances on TV shows in the 2000s, including “Smallville” and “R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour,” which won her a Daytime Emmy in 2015.
Kidder’s career was sidelined, however, in the mid-1990s after a manic episode of her bipolar disorder made headlines.
The actress disappeared for four days in 1996 after the computer on which she was writing her autobiography crashed, deleting three years’ worth of work and sending Kidder spiraling — she thought the CIA was plotting to kill her.
She was found days later in a Los Angeles backyard with her front teeth Krazy Glued in place.
Kidder was married to novelist Thomas McGuane, the father of her only child, daughter Maggie. She was also briefly wed to actor John Heard and French film director Philippe de Broca.
She also famously dated former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and comedian Richard Pryor.
She is survived by her daughter and two grandchildren.