Valerie Perrine, the actress whose career spanned from a Cannes Film Festival Best Actress award to one of the most beloved supporting roles in superhero cinema history, died on March 23 at her home in Beverly Hills. She was 82. The cause was complications from Parkinson's disease, which had been diagnosed in 2015 [1].

Born Valerie Ritchie Perrine on September 3, 1943, in Galveston, Texas, she grew up in a military family and worked as a Las Vegas showgirl before breaking into Hollywood in the early 1970s. Her breakthrough came with the 1972 film Slaughterhouse-Five, adapted from Kurt Vonnegut's novel, but it was her portrayal of Honey Bruce in Bob Fosse's 1974 biopic Lenny that established her as a serious dramatic talent [2]. The performance earned her the Best Actress prize at Cannes and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Four years later, Perrine secured her place in pop culture permanently when she was cast as Eve Teschmacher, Lex Luthor's glamorous girlfriend, in Richard Donner's 1978 Superman. The role, opposite Gene Hackman and Christopher Reeve, showcased her comic timing and screen presence. She reprised the character in Superman II in 1980 [3].

Her friend Stacey Souther announced the death and set up a GoFundMe page to help cover funeral expenses, a detail that drew attention to the financial difficulties Perrine faced in her later years as Parkinson's disease progressively limited her ability to work [4]. Souther wrote that "Valerie Perrine gave everything to her art."

Perrine amassed nearly 70 film and television credits over a career that stretched from the early 1970s through the 2010s. She passed away peacefully at home. Her final wish was to be buried at Forest Lawn's Hollywood Hills cemetery [5].

-- Maya Calloway, Los Angeles