"Lenny" Actress Valerie Perrine 1943-2026 Career - Memorial Video

Valerie Ritchie Perrine (September 3, 1943 – March 23, 2026) was an American actress. She was best known for her portrayal of Honey Bruce in the film Lenny (1974). For the role, she won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival, and she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

In 1968, Perrine worked as a showgirl in "Lido de Paris" at the Stardust Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. After several years in Las Vegas, Perrine moved to Los Angeles. Perrine was photographed nude for a pictorial in the May 1972 issue of Playboy, and she later appeared on the magazine's cover in August 1981. 

She became the first actress to appear nude intentionally on American network television during the May 4, 1973, PBS broadcast of Bruce Jay Friedman's Steambath on Hollywood Television Theater.

Perrine appeared in Slaughterhouse-Five (1972), W.C. Fields and Me (1976), Superman (1978), The Electric Horseman (1979), Can’t Stop the Music (1980), Superman II (1980), and The Border (1982). 

In 1986 starred opposite Harvey Korman in the short-lived CBS sitcom Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills.

Stacey Souther directed and produced Valerie, a 45-minute documentary about Perrine's career and her experience with Parkinson's disease. The film screened at the Edmonton Film Festival in 2020.

On August 8, 1969, hairstylist Jay Sebring invited her to a dinner party with his former girlfriend, actress Sharon Tate, and their friends Abigail Folger and Wojciech Frykowski at the El Coyote Cafe in Los Angeles, but she was unable to attend. Shortly after midnight on August 9, all four were murdered by members of the Manson Family at Tate's home in Benedict Canyon.

Valerie Perrine was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2015. In 2017, she underwent dental surgery to repair teeth damaged by medication used to manage the condition. Perrine died at her home in Beverly Hills on March 23, 2026, at the age of 82.

"Lenny" Actress Valerie Perrine 1943-2026 Portraits - Memorial Video

Valerie Ritchie Perrine (September 3, 1943 – March 23, 2026) was an American actress. She was best known for her portrayal of Honey Bruce in the film Lenny (1974). For the role, she won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival, and she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

In 1968, Perrine worked as a showgirl in "Lido de Paris" at the Stardust Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. 

After several years in Las Vegas, Perrine moved to Los Angeles. Perrine was photographed nude for a pictorial in the May 1972 issue of Playboy, and she later appeared on the magazine's cover in August 1981. 

She became the first actress to appear nude intentionally on American network television during the May 4, 1973, PBS broadcast of Bruce Jay Friedman's Steambath on Hollywood Television Theater.

Perrine appeared in Slaughterhouse-Five (1972), W.C. Fields and Me (1976), Superman (1978), The Electric Horseman (1979), Can’t Stop the Music (1980), Superman II (1980), and The Border (1982). In 1986 starred opposite Harvey Korman in the short-lived CBS sitcom Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills.

Stacey Souther directed and produced Valerie, a 45-minute documentary about Perrine's career and her experience with Parkinson's disease. The film screened at the Edmonton Film Festival in 2020.

On August 8, 1969, hairstylist Jay Sebring invited her to a dinner party with his former girlfriend, actress Sharon Tate, and their friends Abigail Folger and Wojciech Frykowski at the El Coyote Cafe in Los Angeles, but she was unable to attend. Shortly after midnight on August 9, all four were murdered by members of the Manson Family at Tate's home in Benedict Canyon.

Valerie Perrine was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2015. In 2017, she underwent dental surgery to repair teeth damaged by medication used to manage the condition. Perrine died at her home in Beverly Hills on March 23, 2026, at the age of 82.