Valerie Perrine, who appeared in such movies as Lenny (1974) and Superman II (1980), died on March 23, 2026 at the age of 82. She had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2015.
Valerie Perrine was born on September 3, 1943, in Galveston, Texas. Her mother was a dancer who had appeared in The Earl Carroll Vanities on Broadway. Her father was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army,. Her father being a career military man, the family frequently moved and as a result young Valerie Perrine lived in Japan, Paris, and elsewhere when she was growing up.
For brief time, Valerie Perrine studied psychology at the University of Arizona. She left college to become a showgirl in Las Vegas. At the height of her career was a Vegas showgirl, she was making $800 a week as the lead dancer in a Lido de Paris show at the Stardust Hotel. After the accidental gun death of her fiancé, Bill Haarman, an importer and gun collector, Valerie Perrine left Las Vegas and travelled throughout Europe. She then moved to Los Angeles.
It was there that she met casting agent Robert Walker at a dinner party. This led to her being cast in the movie Slaughterhouse Five (1972), which marked her film debut. In the Seventies, Valerie Perrine appeared in such movies as The Last American Hero (1973), Lenny (1974), W,C, Fields and Me (1976), Mr. Billion (1977), Superman (1978), The Magician of Lublin (1979), The Electric Horseman (1980), Agency (1980), Can't Stop the Music (1980), and Superman II (1980). On television she appeared in several TV movies, including The Couple Takes a Wife, Lady Luck, Steambath (on which Valerie Perrine became the first woman to expose her breasts on television), and Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women. She guest starred on the TV shows Love Story.
In the Eighties, she starred in the short-lived show Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills. She guest starred on the shows Faerie Tale Theatre, George Burns Comedy Week, and CBS Summer Playhouse. She appeared in the TV movies Marian Rose White, Malibu, When Your Lover Leaves, and Sweet Bird of Youth. She appeared in the movies The Cannonball Run (1981), The Border (1982), Water (1985), Maid to Order (1987), and Bright Angel (1990).
In the Nineties, Valerie Perrine appeared in the movies Reflections in a Dark Sky (1991), Boiling Point (1993), The Break (1995), Girl in the Cadillac (1995), 54 (1998), Curtain Call (1998), Brown's Requiem (1998), A Place Called Truth (1998), Shame, Shame, Shame (1999), Picture This (1999), My Girlfriend's Boyfriend (1999), and What Women Want (2000). On television, she guest starred on Northern Exposure; Ghostwriter; Burke's Law; Homicide: Life on the Street;, ER; Nash Bridges, The Practice; Walker, Texas Ranger; and As the World Turns. She appeared in the mini-series The Secrets of Lake Success.
From the Naughts into the Teens, Valerie Perrine appeared in the movies The End of the Bar (2002), The Moguls (2005), The Californians (2005), Redirecting Eddie (2008), and Silver Skies (2016). She guest starred on the shows Just Shoot Me!, Family Law, The Beast, Grounded for Life, Third Watch, and Lights Out.
Valerie Perrine was an immensely talented actress. She won the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Oscar for Best actress for playing Honey Bruce, the wife of comic Lenny Bruce, in the movie Lenny (1974), and she deserved both. In both Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980), she originated the role of Eve Tessmacher, Lex Luthor's personal assistant and love interest. Despite her relationship with Lex, Miss Tessmacher was tender-hearted and offended by Lex's cruelty. On ER she appeared in two episodes as Cookie Lewis, the self-centred, scatterbrained mother of Dr. Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) and her sister Chloe (Kathleen Wilhoite). In The Magician of Lublin (1979), she played one of the title character's girlfriends. Valerie Perinne could play a wide array of roles, and she was as good at comedy as she was drama. Such was her talent that she could deliver good performances regardless of a film's quality.
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