Soaring Facts About Margot Kidder, The One Who Dared To Fly
Margot Kidder's mental health issues culminated in a very tragic—and public—four-day ordeal. Was this all just the result of flying too many times in the sky with the Man of Steel?
Or was there something from the very beginning that spelled tragedy for Kidder?
Margot Kidder Facts
1. She Was Remote
Margot Kidder was born on October 17, 1948, far north in the Canadian wilderness. Dad was an American explosives expert, so for his job he had to be far away from cities.
Mom was a Canadian: a left-leaning history teacher who often argued with her much more conservative husband. And what about Kidder’s thoughts of a career in show business? Where did they come from?
They wouldn’t have surfaced at all if it wasn’t for one thing her mother did.
2. She Saw It Live
Kidder’s mom wanted her daughter to see more than just the trees and mountains of the north, so she did something drastic: She took her daughter from the Canadian bush, where they didn’t even have a movie theater, to the Big Apple. While they were in New York City, Kidder and her mom went and saw the musical Bye Bye Birdie live on stage. Kidder was awestruck and quickly made a resolution—right then and there—to be a performer.
Kidder and her mother eventually, however, had to return to their remote home. A place where Kidder was keeping a secret she could tell no one.
3. She Kept It To Herself
Kidder later said that she always knew she was different from other people. As a teen growing up with bipolar disorder—even though no doctor ever acknowledged it—was unbearable. Soon, she couldn't take it anymore.
When she was 14 years old, she tried to take her own life. That was when she realized she needed an outlet for what she called her “mind fights”.
She soon discovered that the outlet was acting. But how could she pursue acting when she lived in the wilderness?
