Margot Kidder died on Sunday at her home in Livingston, Montana, aged 69, according to the funeral home that is handling her arrangements. Her manager Camilla Fluxman Pines said she died peacefully in her sleep, without saying what the cause of death had been.

She became famous for her role as Lois Lane, a reporter and the love interest of Superman and Clark Kent in the "Superman" series. Directed by Richard Donner, the movies were blockbusters in the 1970s and 1980s.

Kidder and Christopher Reeve, who played Clark Kent, were largely unknown when they were cast as the main characters in 1978's "Superman" and went on to star in three more "Superman" films, the last being "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace," in 1987.

DC Comics, the home of the 'Superman' franchise, paid tribute to her on its Twitter account.

"Thank you for being the Lois Lane so many of us grew up with," the company said.

Health struggles

Reeve, who was paralyzed from the neck down in a horseback riding accident in 1995, died in 2004.

Kidder had a debilitating car accident in 1990 that left her in a wheelchair for most of two years and made it difficult to work.

She suffered a highly publicized mental breakdown in 1996 after she disappeared for four days and spent time as a homeless person. She had been living in Montana since.

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she later became activist for mental health and political issues.

Long career

Born on October 17, 1948 in Canada's Northwest Territories, Kidder became a US citizen in 2005.

Kidder appeared in 1975's "The Great Waldo Pepper" with Robert Redford and 1978's "The Amityville Horror." She also appeared on Broadway in "The Vagina Monologues" in 2002 and won a Daytime Emmy for her 2015 role in children's series "R,L. Stine's the Haunting Hour."

The actress was married three times, including a six-day marriage in 1979 with actor John Heard. She was also famously linked to former Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau. She is survived by her daughter, Maggie McGuane.

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jbh/se (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)