1960s Kidder's television debut was in an episode of
Wojeck aired January 16, 1968, billed as "Margaret Kidder". She very shortly afterward adopted the name Margot Kidder, which she used for the rest of her life. She then made her film debut in a 49-minute film titled
The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar (1968), a drama set in a Canadian logging community, which was produced by the
Challenge for Change. Kidder's 1969 appearance in the episode "Does Anybody Here Know Denny?" on the Canadian drama series
Corwin earned her a
Canadian Film Award for "outstanding new talent." Kidder's first major feature was the 1969 American film
Gaily, Gaily, a
period comedy starring
Beau Bridges, in which she portrayed a prostitute. She subsequently appeared in a number of TV drama series for the
CBC, including guest appearances on
Adventures in Rainbow Country, and a semi-regular role as a young reporter on
McQueen, and as a panelist on
Mantrap, which featured discussions centered on a feminist perspective.
1970s and
William Finley in
Sisters (1973)|left During the 1971–72 season, she co-starred as barmaid Ruth in
Nichols, a
James Garner–led Western, which aired 22 episodes on
NBC. During an August 3, 1970, interview on
The Dick Cavett Show, Kidder stated that she was ambivalent toward having a film career, and was considering working as a
film editor in the future. At this time, she had become an acquaintance of director
Robert Altman's, and served as an apprentice assisting him in editing
Brewster McCloud (1970). She subsequently appeared in "Such Dust As Dreams Are Made On", the first pilot for
Harry O, which aired in March 1973. She was a
guest star in a 1972 episode of the
George Peppard detective series
Banacek. After moving to
Los Angeles, Kidder was cast opposite
Gene Wilder in
Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx (1970) as an exchange student in Ireland who becomes the love interest of a poor horse manure collector in Dublin, whom she almost runs over with her car. After filming in Ireland, Kidder relocated to New York City to study acting further. A year later, she returned to California, and was cast in the
Brian De Palma film
Sisters (1972), which gained notoriety for both the director and Kidder, who as leading lady, portrayed
conjoined twins, one of whom is a suspect in a brutal murder. Kidder had been in a relationship with De Palma at the time, and had been roommates with co-star
Jennifer Salt in Los Angeles.
Sisters went on to achieve critical recognition, being considered among the best American films of the decade by critic
Robin Wood, as well as one of the most important films in Kidder's career by film critic G. Allen Johnson. In 1974, she starred in the slasher film
Black Christmas, for which she won a Canadian Film Award for Best Actress, followed by a role as a prostitute in the
Terrence Malick–scripted
The Gravy Train (1974). Also in 1974, Kidder made her directorial debut with a 50-minute short film produced for the
American Film Institute, titled
Again. In the summer of 1975, Kidder was hired to direct a
documentary short chronicling the making of
The Missouri Breaks (1976), a Western film starring
Marlon Brando and
Jack Nicholson. Kidder then took a hiatus from acting, though she appeared in the March 9, 1975, edition of
The American Sportsman, learning how to
hang glide, and providing the narration, with a remote microphone recording her reactions in flight; the segment concluded with Kidder doing solos soaring amid the Wyoming Rockies. She was also photographed by
Douglas Kirkland for the March 1975 issue of
Playboy, accompanied by an article written by Kidder herself. (left) and Kidder (right) at the premiere of
Superman in 1978 In 1977, eager to return to acting, Kidder read for the character of
Lois Lane in
Superman: The Movie, only one month before principal photography was scheduled to begin. Donner recalled: "I just fell in love with her. It was perfect, this clumsy [behavior]."
Superman was released during Christmas 1978 and was a major commercial success, grossing $300 million worldwide. She was deemed "most charming" by
Vincent Canby in
The New York Times. James Harwood of
Variety said that she "plays perfectly off both of his
Reeve's] personalities and her initial double-entendre interview with Superman is wickedly coy, dancing round the obvious question any red-blooded girl might ask herself about such a magnificent prospect." Sonia Saraiya of
Vanity Fair praised her ability to balance Lois's ditzy nature with her ambition and no-nonsense attitude, and wrote: "Kidder played a human woman who could believably both attract and deserve a man who is canonically perfect, with the physique of a Greek god and the moral compass of a saint." For the role, Kidder won the
Saturn Award for Best Actress. After completing filming for
Superman, Kidder starred as Kathy Lutz in the supernatural horror film
The Amityville Horror (1979), which further cemented her status as one of Hollywood's leading ladies.
The Amityville Horror was a major commercial success, grossing over $86 million in the United States, but it received mixed reviews from critics.
Janet Maslin of
The New York Times, though giving the film a mixed review, said Kidder "stubbornly remains the bright-eyed life of the party [in the film]." In retrospect, Kidder called the film "a piece of shit."
Superman II was also a box-office hit, grossing $108 million in the United States. Through her appearances in the
Superman films, Kidder maintained a close friendship with her co-star
Christopher Reeve, which lasted from 1978 until his death in 2004: "When you're strapped to someone hanging from the ceiling for months and months, you get pretty darned close," Kidder told
CBS. "He was such a huge part of my life... He was complicated, very smart, really smart, and he knew he'd done something meaningful. He was very aware of that and very happy with that role." Also in 1980, she appeared in
Paul Mazursky's romantic comedy
Willie & Phil, playing one-third of a
love triangle opposite
Michael Ontkean and
Ray Sharkey. Kidder starred in the Canadian comedic
road movie Heartaches (1981), portraying a free-spirited woman who helps an acquaintance raise her child.
Vincent Canby of
The New York Times noted: "Nothing happens in
Heartaches that isn't telegraphed 15 minutes ahead of time, but Miss Kidder and Miss [Annie] Potts are good fun to watch, not because they convince you of the reality of their characters but because they handle their assignments with such unbridled, comic, actressy enthusiasm." While filming the picture, Kidder stated she "fell in love with Pryor in two seconds flat," and the two carried on a relationship during the production. In 1982, she appeared in a stage performance of
Bus Stop, playing Cherie opposite
Tim Matheson as Bo, which was broadcast on
HBO. Kidder's role in 1983's
Superman III was notably small, consisting of 12 lines and less than five minutes of footage. This was reportedly a result of her previous objections to Richard Lester replacing Richard Donner as director for
Superman II, though the producers have denied this in DVD commentaries. The same year
Superman III was released, Kidder also starred as a court stenographer-cum-private eye named Mickey Raymond in the comedy
Trenchcoat (1983). Also in 1983, Kidder produced and starred as
Eliza Doolittle in a version of
Pygmalion with
Peter O'Toole for
Showtime. In 1984, Kidder produced and starred in the French-Canadian period television film
Louisiana as a plantation owner in the American South, who returns from Paris to find her estate and holdings have been lost. Also, she reunited with her former
Nichols co-star, James Garner, in the Hollywood crime drama
The Glitter Dome, and appeared in the drama
Little Treasure for
Columbia Tri-Star, with co-stars
Ted Danson and
Burt Lancaster, in which she played a distraught stripper looking for her bank robber-father's buried fortune. In 1985, Kidder expressed ambivalence toward continuing her career, and was quoted as saying: "I don't feel comfortable as a performer and I'm a big turkey as a movie star."
Body of Evidence (1988), a
CBS Movie of the Week, cast Kidder as a nurse who suspects that her medical pathologist husband is a serial killer.
1990s In the fall of 1990, Kidder appeared as a singer who becomes a murder victim in the Canadian television film
White Room (1990). After her car accident, Kidder returned to the screen with an uncredited
cameo appearance in the comedy film
Delirious (1991), appearing as a woman in a washroom. This was followed by a role as a
psychic in
To Catch a Killer (1992), a Canadian television thriller film based on the crimes of
John Wayne Gacy. She had several small roles in 1994, including in the
Disney Channel film
Windrunner, as well as another uncredited appearance in
Maverick. She played a bartender at the Broken Skull Tavern in
Under a Killing Moon, a
PC FMV adventure game. Kidder returned to film with a lead role in the independent comedy-drama
Never Met Picasso (1997), portraying an actress living with her
gay adult son (portrayed by
Alexis Arquette), who is attempting to sort his life out.
Kevin Thomas of the
Los Angeles Times wrote, "Arquette and Kidder [were] given the chance to come across as quite appealing" in their roles. and alongside
Lynn Redgrave and
James Earl Jones in the romance film
The Annihilation of Fish (1999), playing the landlady of an interracial couple. Critic Todd McCarthy in
Variety referred to the film as a "would-be charmer" and "a drear moment in the careers of all concerned." Also that year she appeared in three episodes of
Peter Benchley's
Amazon, playing a striking role as an insane Canadian woman bent on domination of all the local tribes. In 2001, she played the
abusive mother of a murderer in "
Pique", an episode of
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In 2002, she appeared alongside
Crispin Glover and
Vanessa Redgrave in the film adaptation of
Crime and Punishment. and toured with the show for two years. In 2004, Kidder briefly returned to the Superman franchise in two episodes of the television series
Smallville, as
Bridgette Crosby, an emissary of Dr. Swann's (played by her
Superman co-star, Christopher Reeve). After this, she appeared on
Robson Arms, a Canadian
sitcom set in an apartment block in
Vancouver's west end. She played a quirky neighbor of the main cast members. She also had a cameo in ''
Rich Hall's Election Special'' on
BBC Four. In 2006, Kidder played
Jenny Schecter's mother Sandy Ziskin on
The L Word; her character was a repressed Jewish woman coming to terms with her daughter's sexuality. In 2015, Kidder won an
Emmy Award for
Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming for her performance in ''
R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour''. She will appear posthumously in the psychological thriller ''Robber's Roost'', directed by Galen Rosenthal, which will be her final film role. == Other ventures ==