The “Lenny” star was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2015.

Valerie Perrine, Superman actress and Oscar nominee, dies at 82

The "Lenny" star was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2015.

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

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March 23, 2026 4:03 p.m. ET

Valerie Perrine in 2013. Credit:

Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times via Getty

Oscar-nominated actress Valerie Perrine, who starred in 1978's *Superman*, died on Monday in Beverly Hills. She was 82.

Perrine was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2015, and her friend and caretaker Stacey Souther announced the news of Perrine's death on social media. "It is with deep sadness that I share the heartbreaking news that Valerie has passed away," Souther wrote. "She faced Parkinson's disease with incredible courage and compassion, never once complaining. She was a true inspiration who lived life to the fullest — and what a magnificent life it was. The world feels less beautiful without her in it."

Perrine's life as a performer began as a showgirl in Las Vegas, and that's where she met boyfriend Jay Sebring, a hairstylist to the stars. She was set to join Sebring and friends for a dinner in Los Angeles in August 1969, but she was called into work back in Vegas — not knowing she would cheat death. Sebring and actress Sharon Tate were among the six murdered at Tate's home that night by members of the Manson Family.

A few years later, Perrine arrived in Hollywood, making her acting debut as adult film actress Montana Wildhack in 1972's *Slaughterhouse-Five*. "He asked if I had ever acted, and I said no," she said of being discovered by a casting agent at a party. "He asked me if I could, and I said yes. He asked me if I had a picture, and the only picture I had was me as a topless showgirl in Vegas in a little G-string."

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The same year as *Slaughterhouse-Five*, she appeared in the pages of *Playboy*, and she'd later serve as the cover star. Then, in 1973, she went down in the history books as the first actress to be purposely nude on U.S. television, in PBS' controversial airing of Bruce Jay Friedman's *Steambath* on *Hollywood Television Theater.*

But Perrine's breakout moment came via 1974's* Lenny*. Bob Fosse's biopic of Lenny Bruce starred Dustin Hoffman as the trailblazing comedian and Perrine as his stripper wife Honey. "Valerine Perrine does create her character in an interesting way," Robert Ebert wrote in his review. "The movie stays ambiguous about several aspects of her personality. But she does project a certain tarnished sexuality, and she gives us at last a stripper without a heart of gold." *Lenny* was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Perrine for Best Actress.

Valerie Perrine and Gene Hackman in 'Superman.'.

Courtesy Everett Collection

Perrine's most iconic performance came in 1978's *Superman*, in which she costarred opposite Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman. Perrine played Eve Teschmacher, the love interest and accomplice of Hackman's big bad Lex Luthor. But when Lex enacts his plan to use hijacked nuclear missiles on the United States, Eve refuses to let her mother and millions of others die, freeing Superman and allowing him to save the day. Perrine would return as Eve in 1980's *Superman II.*

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In the '90s, Perrine became a television staple, guest-starring on hit series *Northern Exposure*, *Homicide: Life on the Street*, *ER*, *Nash Bridges*, *The Practice*, *Walker, Texas Ranger*, and *As the World Turns*.

In addition to revealing the loss Perrine, Souther also shared a GoFundMe link in hopes of fulfilling her "final wish" of being buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery, the home to many legendary celebrities. "After more than 15 years of fighting Parkinson’s, her finances are exhausted," he said. "Let's come together to make her last wish a reality — she truly deserves it."

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