Margot Kidder was making a comeback in 1996 after the success of her “Superman” movies and her “The Amityville Horror” — but instead, the 46-year-old actress and ruined her career after making headlines after she was found hiding in the bushes of a Los Angeles suburb after hacking off her own hair! A homeowner called the cops in April 1996 after discovering a distraught woman hiding in the backyard of a home in the L.A. neighborhood of Glendale. He had no idea that the derelict with two missing front teeth had once been one of Hollywood’s hottest stars. Sgt. Fran Judge later reported: “When we got there, we found Miss Kidder, who was confused, frightened and paranoid…”
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Minarik continued: "She kept muttering, 'They're after me, they're after me, someone's following me.' She was in the yard, and every so often she'd dart behind the bushes and hide." Sgt. Rick Young added that Margot was "'in obvious mental distress" when coaxed out of the bushes. "She looked like a bag lady," said resident Jerry Pascoe. "She was begging for change and bumming for cigarettes."
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The former Lois Lane — whose final "Superman" film had been shot in 1987 — had gone missing three days before from Los Angeles International Airport, with a self-medicating mix of methamphetamines and Valium having sent her into a downward spiral. Hollywood insiders revealed to
The National ENQUIRER that Margot had been working steadily, but had also been battling financial and health problems for the past six years.
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The former Lois Lane — whose final "Superman" film had been shot in 1987 — had gone missing three days before from Los Angeles International Airport, with a self-medicating mix of methamphetamines and Valium having sent her into a downward spiral. Hollywood insiders revealed to
The National ENQUIRER that Margot had been working steadily, but had also been battling financial and health problems for the past six years.
A 1990 car accident on the set of a Canadian TV series left her with such severe neck injuries that she was in constant pain and often confined to a wheelchair. She began taking strong painkillers to deal with the agony, but complained that they left her mind "muddied." Kidder eventually underwent surgery to correct the problem — but the exorbitant medical expenses bankrupted her.
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"The accident threw everything out of kilter," Kidder had complained earlier in 1996. "I lost my house. I sold all my jewelry. By the time I got my life together. I'd gone from being a young woman to being middle-aged." Sadly, she also admitted: "I've been sober for seven years, but — in AA terms — I've slipped. Now I drink socially."
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But, she insisted, "If I find I can't maintain, I'll just stop again." Instead, Margot's worsening condition had her committed to four nights in the psychiatric wards of L.A. hospitals after being found in Glendale. Nurses later revealed to The ENQUIRER that Margot insisted that she'd been wandering L.A. to look for a hunk she'd met on a movie set 20 years before!
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"He was the only guy I ever really wanted to marry," Margot told staffers, referring to a man who had been an extra on her 1975 movie "The Reincarnation of Peter Proud" — adding that "Eric" lived in Glendale, and took her for walks in the park and gave her tennis lessons during the filming of the movie. "He never treated me bad," Kidder told a nurse. "He protected me."
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By July of 1996, Margot was on medication after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She'd also left Hollywood for Montana, where she'd stay until her death on April 13, 2018. "I'm doing fine here," Margot told The ENQUIRER. "Nobody bothers me." Locals near her small town added that the star had become reclusive — with a pharmacy cashier saying: "I didn't even know she was here!"
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Margot would keep working over the years, and then had to face a new challenge after a 2002 car accident left her with a broken pelvis. This time, however, she was able to stay sober after treatment. Margot began to concentrate on being a political activist — with the Canadian-born star becoming a U.S. citizen in 2005, and being
arrested during a White House protest in 2011.
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She even won a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her performance in the children’s show, R.L. Stine’s “The Haunting Hour.” Margot would always live alone in Montana, however — after a tumultuous love life that included a six-day marriage to
volatile "Home Alone" star John Heard in 1979. “I’ve been married and divorced three times,” she told The ENQUIRER. “I was so disastrous at romance that I’m better off with dogs!”
Minarik continued: "She kept muttering, 'They're after me, they're after me, someone's following me.' She was in the yard, and every so often she'd dart behind the bushes and hide." Sgt. Rick Young added that Margot was "'in obvious mental distress" when coaxed out of the bushes. "She looked like a bag lady," said resident Jerry Pascoe. "She was begging for change and bumming for cigarettes."
The former Lois Lane — whose final "Superman" film had been shot in 1987 — had gone missing three days before from Los Angeles International Airport, with a self-medicating mix of methamphetamines and Valium having sent her into a downward spiral. Hollywood insiders revealed to
The National ENQUIRER that Margot had been working steadily, but had also been battling financial and health problems for the past six years.
Photo credit: Getty Images
A 1990 car accident on the set of a Canadian TV series left her with such severe neck injuries that she was in constant pain and often confined to a wheelchair. She began taking strong painkillers to deal with the agony, but complained that they left her mind "muddied." Kidder eventually underwent surgery to correct the problem — but the exorbitant medical expenses bankrupted her.
"The accident threw everything out of kilter," Kidder had complained earlier in 1996. "I lost my house. I sold all my jewelry. By the time I got my life together. I'd gone from being a young woman to being middle-aged." Sadly, she also admitted: "I've been sober for seven years, but — in AA terms — I've slipped. Now I drink socially."
Photo credit: Getty Images
But, she insisted, "If I find I can't maintain, I'll just stop again." Instead, Margot's worsening condition had her committed to four nights in the psychiatric wards of L.A. hospitals after being found in Glendale. Nurses later revealed to The ENQUIRER that Margot insisted that she'd been wandering L.A. to look for a hunk she'd met on a movie set 20 years before!
"He was the only guy I ever really wanted to marry," Margot told staffers, referring to a man who had been an extra on her 1975 movie "The Reincarnation of Peter Proud" — adding that "Eric" lived in Glendale, and took her for walks in the park and gave her tennis lessons during the filming of the movie. "He never treated me bad," Kidder told a nurse. "He protected me."
By July of 1996, Margot was on medication after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She'd also left Hollywood for Montana, where she'd stay until her death on April 13, 2018. "I'm doing fine here," Margot told The ENQUIRER. "Nobody bothers me." Locals near her small town added that the star had become reclusive — with a pharmacy cashier saying: "I didn't even know she was here!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
Margot would keep working over the years, and then had to face a new challenge after a 2002 car accident left her with a broken pelvis. This time, however, she was able to stay sober after treatment. Margot began to concentrate on being a political activist — with the Canadian-born star becoming a U.S. citizen in 2005, and being
arrested during a White House protest in 2011.
Photo credit: Getty Images
She even won a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her performance in the children’s show, R.L. Stine’s “The Haunting Hour.” Margot would always live alone in Montana, however — after a tumultuous love life that included a six-day marriage to
volatile "Home Alone" star John Heard in 1979. “I’ve been married and divorced three times,” she told The ENQUIRER. “I was so disastrous at romance that I’m better off with dogs!”
Photo credit: Getty Images
