Inside late Superman star Valerie Perrine’s tragic life

Valerie’s first major heartbreak came when she was dancing as a showgirl in Las Vegas and dating importer and gun collector Bill Haarman. 

One day in January 1969, the businessman tucked a pistol into the waistband of his pants, and the firearm fell to the floor, causing a bullet to fire. 

The bullet ricocheted off the door and struck Bill’s heart, killing him just a month before their wedding.

The second blow came that same year, when she had a fling with hairdresser Jay Sebring, who reportedly served everyone from Steve McQueen and Frank Sinatra to Paul Newman and Warren Beatty. 

Jay invited Valerie to dinner at Sharon Tate’s house on August 8, 1969, which she planned to attend. The showgirl swapped her dancing shift with a colleague, yet was forced to cancel her plans after her replacement pulled out at the last minute.

Jay, Sharon, and several others were brutally murdered that night by members of the Manson Family cult, led by Charles Manson. Valerie paid tribute to her former partner in 2023, on the anniversary of his death. 

“Remembering Jay Sebring today. We dated. I was supposed to be with him at Sharon Tate’s house,” she wrote on X. The beauty was so devastated by the loss of her two lovers that she fled Las Vegas shortly thereafter and lived in Europe for several years.

Valerie was thrown another curveball in her early 30s when she boarded a plane to the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain to promote her film, Lenny. 

The plane crashed upon takeoff in the Pyrenees, yet she walked away unharmed aside from cuts and bruises.

During the final 15 years of Valerie’s life, the Oscar-nominated star battled Parkinson’s disease and was beset with tremors, loss of mobility, and intense pain. The disease ran her finances dry, and she was often forced to rely on charity.

“She faced Parkinson’s disease with incredible courage and compassion, never once complaining,” wrote her best friend, Stacey Souther, following her death. “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.”

Valerie’s brother, Ken Perrine, who also suffers from Parkinson’s, also shared a statement in the wake of her loss. “I am devastated by the loss of my amazing sister Valerie this morning,” he said. 

“She lived an extraordinary life most of us can only dream of. She will be missed by all that knew her and her loving fans. She fought till the end and never gave up.”