'Superman' Actress Margot Kidder Passes Away At Age 69
Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane in the iconic 1978 movie Superman has passed away at the young age of 69.
Her manager confirmed that the actress passed away in her sleep to CNN on May 14th, and it's absolutely heartbreaking to hear.
Kidder played Lois Lane in four Superman movies alongside the legendary Christopher Reeves. Together their chemistry made the crazy heroic plots feel grounded, and made us all believe in heroes.
While we are all mourning her loss, it's interesting to take a look back at her iconic role and what she thought of it. She did an interview where she discussed the experience and it's interesting to see what it was like.
Her relationship with Christopher Reeves
She has spoken out before about their relationship and she said that Reeves was like a brother to her.
"What came across was an intimacy that Chris and I did had, because we came from similar backgrounds and he looked like one of my brothers.
"So the energy we had was one of brother and sister, which was often bickering, that took the place of romantic energy. No one noticed the difference one from the other – it worked. We didn’t have to create a different reality"
While it's been a long time since the movies came out, she still had fond memories of making them - even though she didn't actually think it would be a success.
She was convinced the movies would flop
She didn't see the movie until the premiere in Washington apparently, so she only had the experience of filming to go off of. While she enjoyed her time with Reeves, she didn't think that the movie would work as well as they wanted. Obviously she was very wrong.
"I remember when we were making it I thought it was going to be a flop. A lot of it was arduous and dull.
"The flying I didn’t think would work either. Nothing prepares anyone for that sudden thing of being world famous, it was such a shock. It wasn’t something I really liked or something I was very good at. I didn’t realize how good the movie was until I seen it at the premiere in Washington."
Why she thought people still love their classic 'Superman' over the new versions
She believed that her versions are much more true to the comic books than some of the more recent options.
"No, they always go back because that film was better written and directed. They go back to them because they were so much truer to the comic books...
"In that sense, it’s so much simpler than the later films made it out to be. I think there was a cynical decision on the part of the studios, which are now owned by multi-national conglomerates just like everything else on the planet.
"So they would make these artistic decisions by non-artists – guys would want to hit the millennial demographic because they literally make up about one quarter of the population.
"Probably, my guess is what happened is when they decided to hit the demographic of the millennials in the later films. I think the directors were good, the actors were good but the basic approach wasn’t there."
What did she think about the new Lois Lane?
She seemed almost protective over the character, and while she thought that Amy Adams is talented she didn't think they gave her enough to do.
"They took one of the best American actresses’ around, Amy Adams, and didn’t give her anything to do! I mean, how stupid is that? They made her what used to be the girlfriend, which kind of ended in the 60s with women’s rights."
Struggles
Even though the Superman movies were successful, Kidder struggled later in life. She became a tabloid target as addictions and divorces followed her around, and in 1996 she went through a manic episode caused by her bipolar disorder.
She had apparently been working on an autobiography when her computer crashed and she lost three years worth of work. She tried to have the data saved but it failed, causing her to fall into the manic state.
She disappeared for four days, and was found in a backyard by a stranger. In those four days she suffered from an attempted rape but once they found her they put her in psychiatric care and got her medication sorted out.
Her loss is felt by many
While her co-star Reeves passed away several years ago, many people are grieving.
She absolutely will be missed
But some have said that the two stars will at least be reunited.
We will miss Margot Kidder and hope that she has found peace.
Superman was an iconic movie, and we will always be grateful for these actors' hard work.