HOLLYWOOD'S ATTITUDE PROBLEM CITED IN ACTRESS KIDDER'S SLIDE.

Byline: Jeff Meyer Associated Press

Margot Kidder's dizzying fall from the heights of Hollywood stardom took a heavy mental toll on the actress who once flew with Superman.

Relegated to B-movie parts and doing scenes for CD-ROM computer games, Kidder hit bottom last week when she roamed the city telling wild, paranoid tales and disguised herself by hacking off hunks of her hair and trading clothes with a transient.

After three days of wandering, she was found dazed and filthy, cowering in a suburban back yard not far from the studio lot where she became famous playing Lois Lane.

Kidder was taken to a county psychiatric ward and later was checked into a private facility by family members.

Friends said the 47-year-old actress was pushed over the edge by her inability to find quality acting work.

``Once you hit a certain age, maybe put on a little weight, the roles become fewer and fewer,'' said Kevin Holt of New York. ``It's an unfortunate thing.''

Broadway producer Robert Franz spoke with Kidder by phone late in the week and heard her tell of her career depression.

``Hollywood has a system that, when you reach a certain age, you're dumped - they spit you out,'' she said, Franz told the New York Post.

Far from beaten though, she spoke of making a comeback.

``I need rest - and I need work,'' she told Franz.

The Post also reported that Kidder had been acting erratically recently at her home in Livingston, Mont. She was seen crying and muttering to herself in a library and allegedly walked out of a restaurant without paying, witnesses said.

Among well-wishers who telephoned was ``Superman'' co-star Christopher Reeve, who was paralyzed in a horseback riding accident, the Post said.

Kidder's final decline began at Los Angeles International Airport, where she claimed she had been assaulted and was being followed by her ex-husband, police said. Those claims proved false.

She was discovered Tuesday - disoriented and dirty, dressed in a transient's clothes and with her hair haphazardly hacked off - in bushes behind a home nearly 25 miles from the airport. She had removed a partial dental plate, ostensibly to further disguise herself.

Kidder became an instant star in 1978 playing opposite Reeve in the film version of the comic book classic. ``Superman'' sequels in 1980, 1983 and 1987 helped keep her at the top.

But the Canadian-born actress has made only a handful of films in the past decade, including such obscure movies as ``GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords'' (1986), ``The White Room'' (1990) and ``The Pornographer'' (1993).

A 1990 car accident on the set of ``Nancy Drew and Daughter,'' a proposed TV series that never made it to air, sidelined her for nearly two years.

The accident severely injured her neck, leaving her in nearly constant pain and occasionally dependent on a wheelchair.

Surgery eventually corrected Kidder's physical ailments but toppled her into bankruptcy when her insurer refused to pay her bills, leaving her $800,000 in debt at one point, she told People magazine in 1992.

Kidder has struggled to come back from the physical-fiscal double whammy, finding occasional roles in film and theater.

Last fall, she played a divorced mother in the low-budget independent film ``Never Met Picasso.'' Producer-director Stephen Kijak said he has not yet found a distributor for the film, which was shot in 23 days in Boston.

``She was fine during our filming,'' Kijak said. ``It was wonderful working with her. She's an amazing talent. Very professional. We all hope she is going to be OK.''

Kidder appeared last year with Stacy Keach in a Baltimore production of ``Stieglitz Loves O'Keeffe: Flowers and Photos.'' The play was produced by Franz.

She also appeared in the 1994 CD-ROM computer game Under a Killing Moon.

Her career difficulties are common among actresses in their 40s, said Mike Fenton, a Hollywood casting director.

``In a general way, there are very few over-40 women who can open movies,'' Fenton said.

Producers targeting younger audiences shy away from the kind of films best suited to older actresses, he said.