Margot Kidder, the Canadian leading actress who will forever be remembered as Lois Lane in 1978's Superman opposite Christopher Reeve, has passed away, it has been announced. She first made her mark after some film and television work with Quackser Fortune has a Cousin in the Bronx, playing Gene Wilder's love interest, and shortly after in two cult horrors, Brian De Palma's Sisters (in the title role) and seasonal favourite Black Christmas.
After 92 in the Shade, she was cast as Lois and became the performer most associated with the role, also appearing in the sequels. Willie and Phil and The Amityville Horror followed, and though she was sceptical about the latter's material, she didn't let it show and the result was another blockbuster. But though she continued to work, it was less high profile efforts she found herself in, and a car crash left her unable to perform for some time. Worse was to come as she suffered a very public breakdown, yet there was great sympathy for her, and she managed to return to work, including a couple of guest star bits in Superman series Smallville. Always entertaining, and a valuable advocate for mental health issues among other topics, the 1970s was probably her brightest decade.
