by Abb Jones
The Reelness

Valerie Perrine, best known for her role as Lex Luther’s girlfriend Eve Teschmacher in the Superman films of the 1970s and 80s, has died from complications of Parkinson’s Disease at the age of 82.

Born in September 1943 in Galveston, Texas to a career U.S. military officer and a dancer from Scotland, Perrine would briefly study psychology at the University of Arizona before dropping out to become a headlining Las Vegas showgirl. Years later she would start acting after catching the eye of a casting agent at Hollywood dinner party, which would lead to her winning the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival and receiving an Oscar nomination for Lenny, director Bob Fosse’s 1974 biopic about legendary comedian Lenny Bruce. Perrine’s other film credits include The Electric Horseman with Robert Redford and What Women Want, starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt.

Having never taken acting lessons, Perrine credited her career success to appearing realistic and vulnerable. She did, however, take an acting hiatus after a career stumble in 1980’s camp classic Can’t Stop the Music with The Village People, Steve Guttenberg and Bruce (now Caitlyn) Jenner. The film was the first winner of the Worst Picture Golden Raspberry Award, also known as The Razzies.

Throughout her life, Perrine had several high-profile romances – among them, Dodi Fayed, Jeff Bridges and Elliot Gould – but her most notable relationship was with hairstylist Jay Sebring, who was murdered along with Sharon Tate by the Manson family in 1969 at a dinner party Perrine was supposed to attend but had to miss due to a work commitment.

After experiencing more than a decade of tremors which caused a reduction of her workload, Perrine was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2015. Longtime friend and caregiver Stacey Souther, who made the documentary short Valerie about Perrine in 2019, says the disease eventually robbed Perrine of her mobility and much of her ability to eat and speak.

Valerie, who was devastated at close friend Gene Hackman’s death last year, spent her final day watching her old movies.