Margot Kidder's Real Name: Margaret Ruth Kidder
Margot Kidder → Margaret Ruth Kidder
Quick answer: She was known as Margot Kidder. The Canadian Encyclopedia gives her name as Margaret Ruth Kidder, born October 17, 1948, in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and records her death on May 13, 2018, in Livingston, Montana. A Library of Congress name record independently gives the birth name Margaret Ruth Kidder with the same dates and places. The Associated Press reported her death at 69.
Real name and early life
The Canadian Encyclopedia, in an entry by Wyndham Wise, opens "Margaret Ruth Kidder, actor (born 17 October 1948 in Yellowknife, NWT; died 13 May 2018 in Livingston, Montana)." The Library of Congress authority file records "b. Margaret Ruth Kidder, Oct. 17, 1948, Yellowknife, N.W.T." and the same death date and town.
The encyclopedia says her family moved often because of her father's work as a mining engineer and that she finished school as a boarder at Magee Secondary in Vancouver. It says a family trip to New York to see Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway convinced her to become an actress, and that after high school she moved to Toronto with no formal training.
Career highlights
The Canadian Encyclopedia says her break came in Peter Pearson's CBC film The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar, which won the Canadian Film Awards' film of the year in 1969. It says Norman Jewison then cast her in Gaily, Gaily (1969), followed by Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx (1970) and Brian De Palma's Sisters (1973). It says she won best actress at the 1975 Canadian Film Awards for Black Christmas and A Quiet Day in Belfast, both from 1974.
Both sources identify Lois Lane in Superman (1978) as her defining role. The AP says she starred opposite Christopher Reeve in the Richard Donner film and three sequels, the last in 1987. The encyclopedia lists Superman II (1980), III (1983), and IV (1987), and also The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), The Amityville Horror (1979), and Heartaches (1981), for which it says she won a second Canadian Film Award.
The encyclopedia says she lived with bipolar disorder, had a widely reported breakdown in 1996, and returned to work the next year, including a guest role in Smallville. It says she became a U.S. citizen in 2005 and remained politically outspoken.
Death
The AP says her manager reported that she died peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, May 13, 2018, at her home in Livingston, Montana, at 69, and that police said no foul play was suspected. The Canadian Encyclopedia and the Library of Congress give the same date and town.
Name notes for searchers
People looking up Margot Kidder or Margaret Ruth Kidder are looking for the same actress.
FAQ
What was Margot Kidder's real name?
The Canadian Encyclopedia and the Library of Congress record Margaret Ruth Kidder.
When and where was she born?
Both give October 17, 1948, in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
What role is she best known for?
Lois Lane in Superman (1978) and its sequels.
When did she die?
May 13, 2018, in Livingston, Montana, at 69.