‘Superman’ Star’s Cause of Death Revealed
April 10, 2026
The Daily Beast
Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesValerie Perrine, the actor best known for co-starring with Christopher Reeve in the 1978 movie Superman, died of sudden cardiac arrest, according to her death certificate. The document, obtained by People, listed acute cardiopulmonary arrest as the immediate cause of death. Parkinson’s disease, which Perrine was diagnosed with in 2015, was listed as the underlying cause, while dementia was noted as a contributing factor by the Los Angeles Department of Health.
Perrine died on March 23 at her Beverly Hills home. She was 82. “It is with deep sadness that I share the heartbreaking news that Valerie has passed away,” her close friend, film producer Stacey Souther, announced in a Facebook post. “She faced Parkinson’s disease with incredible courage and compassion, never once complaining.” Souther added in a GoFundMe for the actress’s funeral that Perrine “passed away peacefully at her home” and was “surrounded by love, exactly as she had wished.” Best known as Eve Teschmacher, Lex Luthor’s sidekick in Superman and its 1980 sequel, Perrine also earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in the 1974 biopic Lenny, in which she starred as the wife of comedian Lenny Bruce, played by Dustin Hoffman.Read it at PeopleRead more at The Daily Beast.
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