Post by richardvasseur on May 15, 2018 20:30:46 GMT
BRAUN: Margot Kidder was a super woman
LIZ BRAUN
Published on: May 15, 2018 | Last Updated: May 15, 2018 9:59 AM EDT
Margot Kidder at the home video screening of 'Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut' held at the DGA Hollywood in 2006. Axel Gimenez/ WENN
Advocate, activist, role model: there was a lot to like about Margot Kidder.
The actress was a particular favourite of the media, and it wasn’t just because she played an ace reporter on the big screen.
News of Kidder’s death (at 69) on Sunday prompted an outpouring of genuine affection for the Canadian actress, whose portrayal of Lois Lane became the high point of her career.
The low point was a mental health crisis of 20-odd years ago. A manic episode left Kidder disoriented and living rough for a few days in Los Angeles, an experience she went on to discuss publicly as she advocated for mental health issues.
Actor Christopher Reeve, as Superman, and Margot Kidder, as Lois Lane, appear in a scene from the 1978 movie “Superman.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP
Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Kidder was a proponent of the no-psychology-without-biology view of mental health; for her, nutrient therapy and other complementary and alternative treatments were preferable to psychiatric drugs. As usual, she was way ahead of the curve.
Smart, funny, and absent a public persona, Kidder somehow stayed open to the world despite the sort of head-turning fame that eventually overwhelms so many public figures. She was a straight shooter with a zero b——- tolerance level.
Kidder was known to be hugely energetic and enthusiastic about supporting various causes. She did not hesitate to speak out against the Gulf War in the ‘90s; her environmental activism led her to protest against the Keystone XL pipeline and join Mark Ruffalo, Pete Seeger and dozens of other celebrities in their ongoing fight against fracking.
Margot Kidder in a scene from TV series Robson Arms.
As for her career in film and television, the Yellowknife-born Kidder was famous by the early ‘70s, thanks to such films as Brian De Palma’s Sisters and the Canadian hit thriller, Black Christmas. She became a household name after Superman was a massive box office hit in 1978.
At Showmaster’s Film and Comic Con in Glasgow two years ago, Kidder explained why she thought the original film — which starred the late Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel — was the best version of the story. It was simpler, she said, and it was truer to the comic books. And it had something to do with the innocence of the storytelling.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KTwdr5aTT4&feature=youtu.be
And, she told HeyUGuys, “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.”
She and Reeve captured something that no amount of blockbuster bluster has duplicated in the superhero dramas that followed.
Their characters — clever, earnest, keen to the right thing — captured the best of what America was seen to represent at that time, and the special effects that let Superman and Lois Lane fly together were exhilarating to witness.
In this April 9, 1979 file photo, actress Margot Kidder, left, and actor Christopher Reeve appear at the 51st Annual Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
As it happens, Kidder and her Lois Lane character had a lot in common in the way of beauty, charm, wit and determination.
And courage. Kidder was intelligent and articulate; she had a magnetic personality — and the world’s sexiest laugh — but above all, she was brave in addressing mental health issues. At a time when the subject was still strictly taboo, she was fearless in talking about her own experiences in order to help others facing the same battle.
That’s the kind of superpower people remember forever. She will be much missed.
lbraun@postmedia.com
Richard Vasseur
LIZ BRAUN
Published on: May 15, 2018 | Last Updated: May 15, 2018 9:59 AM EDT
Margot Kidder at the home video screening of 'Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut' held at the DGA Hollywood in 2006. Axel Gimenez/ WENN
Advocate, activist, role model: there was a lot to like about Margot Kidder.
The actress was a particular favourite of the media, and it wasn’t just because she played an ace reporter on the big screen.
News of Kidder’s death (at 69) on Sunday prompted an outpouring of genuine affection for the Canadian actress, whose portrayal of Lois Lane became the high point of her career.
The low point was a mental health crisis of 20-odd years ago. A manic episode left Kidder disoriented and living rough for a few days in Los Angeles, an experience she went on to discuss publicly as she advocated for mental health issues.
Actor Christopher Reeve, as Superman, and Margot Kidder, as Lois Lane, appear in a scene from the 1978 movie “Superman.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP
Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Kidder was a proponent of the no-psychology-without-biology view of mental health; for her, nutrient therapy and other complementary and alternative treatments were preferable to psychiatric drugs. As usual, she was way ahead of the curve.
Smart, funny, and absent a public persona, Kidder somehow stayed open to the world despite the sort of head-turning fame that eventually overwhelms so many public figures. She was a straight shooter with a zero b——- tolerance level.
Kidder was known to be hugely energetic and enthusiastic about supporting various causes. She did not hesitate to speak out against the Gulf War in the ‘90s; her environmental activism led her to protest against the Keystone XL pipeline and join Mark Ruffalo, Pete Seeger and dozens of other celebrities in their ongoing fight against fracking.
Margot Kidder in a scene from TV series Robson Arms.
As for her career in film and television, the Yellowknife-born Kidder was famous by the early ‘70s, thanks to such films as Brian De Palma’s Sisters and the Canadian hit thriller, Black Christmas. She became a household name after Superman was a massive box office hit in 1978.
At Showmaster’s Film and Comic Con in Glasgow two years ago, Kidder explained why she thought the original film — which starred the late Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel — was the best version of the story. It was simpler, she said, and it was truer to the comic books. And it had something to do with the innocence of the storytelling.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KTwdr5aTT4&feature=youtu.be
And, she told HeyUGuys, “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.”
She and Reeve captured something that no amount of blockbuster bluster has duplicated in the superhero dramas that followed.
Their characters — clever, earnest, keen to the right thing — captured the best of what America was seen to represent at that time, and the special effects that let Superman and Lois Lane fly together were exhilarating to witness.
In this April 9, 1979 file photo, actress Margot Kidder, left, and actor Christopher Reeve appear at the 51st Annual Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
As it happens, Kidder and her Lois Lane character had a lot in common in the way of beauty, charm, wit and determination.
And courage. Kidder was intelligent and articulate; she had a magnetic personality — and the world’s sexiest laugh — but above all, she was brave in addressing mental health issues. At a time when the subject was still strictly taboo, she was fearless in talking about her own experiences in order to help others facing the same battle.
That’s the kind of superpower people remember forever. She will be much missed.
lbraun@postmedia.com
Richard Vasseur