Kidder, one of five children, was born Margaret Ruth Kidder in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, the daughter of Jill (née Wilson), a history teacher, and Kendall Kidder, an explosives expert and mining engineer. She was born in Yellowknife because of her father's job, which required the family to live in remote locations. She has a sister, Annie, and three brothers, John, Michael and Read more...

In the late 1960s, Kidder was based in Toronto, and appeared in a number of TV drama series for the CBC, including guest appearances on Wojeck, Adventures in Rainbow Country, and a semi-regular role as a young reporter on McQueen. Later, she made an appearance as a barmaid in Nichols, a short-lived James Garner vehicle made for American television. She also appeared in a number of low-budget Canadian Read more...

In the past, Kidder dated former Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau and director Brian DePalma. She has been married and divorced three times: to American novelist Thomas McGuane (by whom she had her only child, daughter Maggie, in 1976); to actor John Heard; and to French film director Philippe de Broca. None of the marriages lasted longer than a year. Since her divorce from De Broca, she has Read more...