The Oscar-nominated actress Valerie Perrine, best known for playing the villainous Lex Luthor’s secretary Eve Teschmacher in two Superman movies, died on Monday morning. She was 82 years-old.
Perrine Passes Away
Perrine reportedly died at her home in Beverly Hills, California. She spent the final years of her life battling Parkinson’s disease, which she was diagnosed with back in 2015. Sadly, this debilitating disease robbed Perrine of her mobility. Eventually, it also took much of her ability to both speak and eat. Despite this, Perrine faced Parkinson’s with grace, dignity, and courage.
Perrine’s death was announced on Instagram by her friend and soulmate Stacey Souther. He directed the 2019 documentary short Valerie, which told the story of Perrine’s incredible life.
“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.”
“I love you, Valerie,” he added. “I’ll see you on the other side.”
Souther went on to encourage fans to donate to a GoFundMe page that has been set up to help pay for Perrine’s funeral expenses.
“Please consider donating, sharing, and helping spread the word for her funeral GoFundMe,” Souther stated. “Her final wish is to be laid to rest at Forest Lawn Cemetery, but after more than 15 years of fighting Parkinson’s, her finances are exhausted. Let’s come together to make her last wish a reality—she truly deserves it.”
Perrine’s History
Born into a military family in Galveston, Texas in 1943, Perrine moved around quite a bit as a child. In the 1960s, she became a showgirl in Las Vegas before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting.
Perrine skyrocketed to fame when she starred alongside Dustin Hoffman in the Bob Fosse-directed biopic Lenny, which told the story of the late standup comedian Lenny Bruce. Perrine earned rave reviews for her portrayal of Bruce’s wife Honey.
“The performances around Hoffman’s are designed primarily to reflect off his. But Valerie Perrine, as Honey, does create her character in an interesting way,” film critic Roger Ebert said at the time.
“The movie stays ambiguous about several aspects of her personality (there’s a menage a trois that’s played for erotic effect while it’s on, and then used to inspire an ambiguous fight),” he continued. “But she does project a certain tarnished sexuality, and she gives us at last a stripper without a heart of gold.”
Perrine’s performance was so good that she earned herself an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Though she lost that award to Ellen Burstyn for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Perrine cemented herself as a household name.
Perrine would go on to star as Eve Teschmacher, the secretary of the villainous Lex Luthor, in both Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980). She brought a level of humanity to this role that endeared her to moviegoers everywhere.
Perrine Never Took An Acting Lesson
Despite the incredible level of success that she achieved in Hollywood, Perrine often said that she never took an acting lesson. Instead, she credited her acting abilities to just being real.
“I don’t really know what I do. I don’t think about anything until I get on the set, I just learn my lines, period,” she once confessed. “Then when I’m on the set, I think of something that has happened to me in the past — like in that crying scene with Dustin in Lenny, I thought of an old boyfriend who had hurt me, and — that really did it.”
Rest in peace, Valerie Perrine.