ANOTHER KIDDER UPDATE

[Brian.Cady@turner.com]

     Actress Found Wandering in a Daze Was Writing Autobiography of
     Troubles·
     With PM-Curse of Superman·
     AP Photo NY111·
     By JENNIFER BOWLES·
     Associated Press Writer·
        GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) -- Margot Kidder spent the last few years
     writing a book about her life. The working title, a friend said,
     was "Calamities."
        For the woman who became known to the American public as the
     feisty and determined reporter Lois Lane in the "Superman"
     movies, her personal life was full of mishaps -- financial,
     physical, marital.
        Her latest calamity has left police and friends mystified.
        Dirty, dazed and claiming she had been stalked and assaulted,
     Kidder was found crouching in a stranger's back yard Tuesday, two
     days after she told a TV news crew that an ex-husband had hired
     someone to kill her. Police say she seemed to have cut her hair
     with a razor to alter her appearance and she was missing her front
     dental bridge.
        "She was afraid she was being followed. She was frightened for
     her life," said Glendale police Sgt. Rick Young, who described her
     responses to their questions as "cryptic."
        "We asked her who was following her. She wouldn't say."
        Tests showed no sign of drugs or alcohol in her system, Young
     said.
        Kidder initially was taken to a psychiatric hospital in the Los
     Angeles suburb of Sylmar for observation, but reportedly was moved
     to an undisclosed location Wednesday. Glendale police said they
     weren't aware of the transfer.
        Police said they had found no evidence to support her claims of
     assault. She was scratched and bruised, they believe, while hiding
     in the bushes.
        The news shocked friends of the 47-year-old Canadian-born
     actress, whose career peaked in the 1970s and '80s with the
     "Superman" series and was followed by a string of mediocre films
     and acting projects.
        A close friend, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition
     of anonymity, said Kidder was in "a difficult patch" in her life.
        "She's just a real authentic, original person," he said.
     "It's sad."
        Her autobiography, the friend said, is not yet complete but she
     wanted to call it "Calamities."
        Her "Superman" co-star Christopher Reeve, paralyzed from the
     neck down in a horse-riding accident last May, offered help.
        "She is a dear friend who has always been there for me, and I
     would do anything to help her," Reeve said in a statement.
        Kidder, whose former husbands were novelist Thomas McGuane,
     actor John Heard and French director Philippe De Broca, was headed
     to Arizona last Saturday to teach an acting class at the Theatre
     Guild, a producer of plays.
        A Knoxville, Tenn., TV news crew, in Los Angeles to cover
     Wednesday night's Academy of Country Music Awards, encountered her
     early Sunday morning at Los Angeles International Airport. She was
     waiting to board a flight to Phoenix.
        WBIR-TV anchor Ted Hall said a disheveled and dirty Kidder
     identified herself, asked to "hang out" with the crew, then said
     an ex-husband -- it was not clear which one -- had hired someone to
     kill her. Hall said Kidder pointed to other travelers at the
     airport as though they were after her. A Hertz rental car employee
     finally called a taxi for her, and she left.
        Kidder's agent reported her missing on Monday.
        In 1978, Kidder landed her best-known role as Lois Lane in
     "Superman," and she appeared in three "Superman" sequels. Other
     film credits include "The Great Waldo Pepper," "The Amityville
     Horror" and "Maverick."
        She injured her spinal cord in a 1990 auto accident while
     filming a cable TV series in Canada based on the Nancy Drew
     mysteries. Surgery eventually solved Kidder's physical ailment, but
     sent her into bankruptcy when her insurer refused to pay her bills,
     People magazine reported in 1992.
        A warrant for her arrest remains outstanding. It was issued in
     October 1992 after she failed to appear in court for arraignment on
     a misdemeanor charge of driving without a valid driver's license
     and running a red light.