Canadian actress Margot Kidder was born on October 17, 1948, in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Growing up, Margot attended a new school for virtually each grade, as the family often relocated for her father’s job. Kidder was a sensitive and creative youngster with early aspirations of becoming an actor. However, she was also plagued with bouts of depression, and attempted suicide for the first time at age fourteen.

Kidder moved to Toronto in her early twenties, and began appearing on television shows for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Kidder temporarily left acting during the early 70s to study drama in New York. When she returned to acting, Kidder took up residence in Hollywood, where she befriended then-unknown film makers such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Susan Sarandon, and Brian De Palma.

Kidder became romantically involved with DePalma, who gave her the script to his upcoming film Sisters (1973), which they both starred in. One year later, Kidder starred in the holiday horror, Black Christmas, which was remade in 2006 starring Michelle Trachtenberg.

The mid-70s saw Kidder appearing in several critically-acclaimed films, as well as marrying director, Thomas McGuane. After taking some time away from acting to give birth to the couple’s daughter, Maggie, Kidder decided to go back to work, beginning with a script from a little-known director named Richard Donner. Kidder auditioned for the role of Lois Lane in Donner’s film, Superman, and was quickly cast alongside Christopher Reeve.

After Superman made Kidder a high-profile star in Hollywood, other offers began rolling in, for films such as The Amityville Horror in 1979 with James Brolin, and Willie and Phil in 1980. For the remainder of the 80s, Kidder focused on mainly television and theater work.

The dawn of the 90s saw Kidder becoming active in politics, including speaking out against American military action in Kuwait during the 1991 Gulf War. The following year, Kidder told People magazine that she had been injured in a car accident, which caused a neck injury and required her to take pain medication which left her mind "muddied." Surgery eventually corrected Kidder's injury; however, she was forced to file for bankruptcy when her insurance company refused to cover her medical costs.

With her acting work on the decline in the mid-90s, Kidder decided to compile her life experiences into an autobiography. Around this time, she began to experience symptoms of bipolar disorder, and when her computer became infected with a virus, resulting in the loss of several years’ worth of work, Kidder became severely distraught. On April 25, 1996, the actress was discovered in an affluent LA neighborhood; frightened, disheveled, and hiding in the bushes of a stranger’s yard. After the police attempted to coax Kidder out by telling her the bushes were infested with spiders, Kidder demonstrated the true severity of her paranoia, replying, "There are much worse things than black widow spiders after me."

The news of Kidder’s manic episode caught wildfire in the media, and it was soon revealed that she had actually been living homeless on the streets of Los Angeles for several days prior to being discovered in the bushes. During the ordeal, in which Kidder convinced herself that her first husband was trying to kill her; she narrowly escaped being raped on the streets, and also lost her two front teeth. With the support of family, friends, and care givers, Kidder became mentally well again, and describes herself as "now ferociously healthy in body and mind."

In recent years, Kidder has taken to the stage to star in the Canadian production of The Vagina Monologues, as well as acting in the Canadian series, Robson Arms. Kidder has also guest-starred on the young Superman television series, Smallville.

YUDDY