Actress Margot Kidder, beloved by the comic community for her portrayal of Lois Lane in the Superman movies, died on Sunday, May 13, 2018. She passed at her home in Livingston, Montana, though the cause of death is currently unknown. Kidder was 69 years old.

In 1978 Superman: The Movie broke new ground for superhero movies. Special effects were finally able to feasibly portray the comic book action onscreen, leading to dazzling stunts, including Superman flying, running with superspeed, and the crumbling San Andreas Fault. It followed Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman from Krypton to Earth, awkward adolescent to reporter with a secret identity fighting the nefarious Lex Luthor.

Kidder starred as Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeve as Clark/Superman and powerhouse actors Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman as Jor-El and Lex Luthor, respectively. She returned to the role in Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983), and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Kidder stated that she and Reeve remained close friends until his death in 2004.

She portrayed Lois Lane as bold, inquisitive with a passion for the news and aspirations for journalistic glory. She was cheeky and clever, keeping Clark Kent flustered and the Man of Steel on his toes. Though she did often need saving, she was less damsel and more modern woman with a penchant for ignoring possible danger while sniffing out a story. Her Lois was a benchmark for future live-action portrayals.

Born on October 17, 1948 in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories in Canada, Kidder was one of five children. Her mother was a history teacher and her father was an explosives expert and engineer. During childhood, Kidder didn’t see much in the way of entertainment, so when her mother took her to see Bye Bye Birdie in New York she fell in love. After graduating from Havergal College in Toronto in 1966, she began acting with guest starring roles on shows like Wojeck, Festival, and Mod Squad.

Her first film was 1968’s The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar followed by the major feature Gaily, Gaily with Beau Bridges, and Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx with Gene Wilder. She appeared in a few episodes of McQueen, was a panelist on Mantrap, then she starred in the Western TV show Nichols.

Kidder had been living in Toronto and Vancouver in the late ’60s then moved to Los Angeles in the early ’70s. In 1973 she played the lead in cult classic Sisters, portraying conjoined twins. This was followed by the holiday horror flick Black Christmas and the war drama A Quiet Day in Belfast, both of which earned her the Canadian Film Award for Best Actress. Next came roles in The Great Waldo Pepper, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, and 92 in the Shade – which established her as a commercially popular actress.

She took a short break from acting in 1976 after having her daughter Maggie with her first husband Thomas McGuane. Later, Kidder was briefly married to actor John Heard and then French director Philippe de Broca. She did not marry again after her third marriage ended in the mid-1980s.

Superman: The Movie was a major success and became her most memorable role. The 1978 film made over $300 million worldwide, spawning three sequels, and leading the way for other comic-based movies and TV shows. For Kidder, it led to several other roles.

In 1979, she starred in The Amityville Horror, which was a great success with audiences and is considered a horror classic. She began the ’80s by starring in Willie & Phil, Some Kind of Hero, earned Oscar buzz for her performance in Heartaches, she starred in Little Treasure, and was the English narrator for the Japanese animated series The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

For the 1983 adaptation of Pygmalion, she starred as Eliza Doolittle and served as a producer. Pulling double duty again, Kidder produced and starred in the French-Canadian period TV film Louisiana. This was followed by starring in the CBS Movie of the Week Body of Evidence, playing a bartender in Under a Killing Moon, appearing in the Disney Channel movie WindRunner, and guest starring in a few episodes of Shell Game.

After a car crash in 1990, Kidder was unable to work steadily for a few years, which caused financial struggles. She did make cameos in Maverick and Delirious and voice acted in several episodes of Captain Planet and the Planeteers and Phantom 2040.

In the mid-1990s her acting career declined, which has been attributed to her nervous breakdown in ’96. Kidder had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder which led to a manic episode and after disappearing for a few days she was placed in psychiatric care. After seeking medical treatment, she got back to acting in several episodes of Boston Common, The Hunger, and Touched by an Angel as well as more voice acting in Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and The Teddy Bears’ Scare.

Kidder was in Tribulation, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Crime and Punishment in the early 2000s. She appeared in an off-Broadway production of The Vagina Monologues and toured with the show for two years. She guest starred in two episodes of the pre-Superman series Smallville as Bridgette Crosby, a colleague to Dr. Swann’s, who had been played by Reeve.

Near the end of her career, Kidder guest starred on Robson Arms, The L Word, and Brothers & Sisters. In 2015 she won an Emmy for Outstanding Performer in Children’s Programming for her role in R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour. Her final role was in 2017’s The Neighborhood.

Outside of acting, Kidder was a longtime supporter of the Democratic Party, having credited the political conversations her parents had as the stem of her interest in politics. She supported Jesse Jackson’s bid for the Democratic nomination in 1984, became a U.S. citizen in 2005 and protested U.S. intervention in Iraq, and she was the Montana State Coordinator for Progressive Democrats of America in ’09. Kidder contributed articles to CounterPunch magazine, she was arrested in Washington, DC for protesting the proposed extension of the Keystone Pipeline in ’11, and she appeared in a video for regulating fracking practices. In 2015 she hosted a dinner by the Yellowstone County Democrats in Billings, Montana in support of presidential primary candidate Bernie Sanders.

Whether she was trying to survive horror movies, voicing cartoons, playing a litany of characters on TV, or fighting as a political activist, Kidder did it with gusto. As Lois Lane she was a significant part in the Superman films, always seeking the truth in any given story. The Daily Planet will never be the same.