Her friend Stacey Souther announced her death on Facebook: “It is with deep sadness that I share the heartbreaking news that Valerie has passed away. 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.

Lenny earned six Oscar nominations, including one for Perrine for best actress.

Stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce was a complex, controversial figure, and Fosse’s biopic, starring Dustin Hoffman, inspired a wide range of strong reactions from critics. Roger Ebert said: “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. 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). But she does project a certain tarnished sexuality, and she gives us at last a stripper without a heart of gold.”

In the 2000s Perrine guested on TV series including “Just Shoot Me!” and “Third Watch,”  and she made her final big-screen appearance in “Silver Skies” (2014).

Valerie Ritchie Perrine was born in Galveston, Texas, to a mother who had been a dancer in Earl Carroll’s Vanities.

The family moved frequently as Perrine’s father was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army who was transferred from post to post.

Perrine was featured in a pictorial layout in Playboy’s May 1972 issue and on the cover of the magazine in August 1981.

During PBS” 1973 broadcast of Bruce Jay Friedman’s “Steambath” on “Hollywood Television Theater,” she became the first actress to purposely appear nude on U.S. television as  she completely bared her breasts in a scene in which was seen taking a shower from the side. Only a few PBS stations opted to air the program.

In 1973 she was the female lead in “The Last American Hero,” in which Jeff Bridges played a moonshine runner-turned-NASCAR driver, and Perrine played a girl in whom Bridges is interested but “who turns out to be a race track groupie providing her own prizes to the winners,” according to the Cleveland Press’ Tony Mastroianni.

After appearing in “Lenny” in 1974, she starred with Rod Steiger in Arthur Hiller’s  “W.C. Fields and Me” (1976) and with Terence Hill in action road picture “Mr. Billion” (1977).

She then took the role of Miss Teschmacher for the first two Superman films starring Christopher Reeve.

She appeared in Sydney Pollack’s Robert Redford-Jane Fonda vehicle “The Electric Horseman” (1979), and the New York Times said: “Mr. Pollack has also cast the supporting roles with care, especially Willie Nelson, the country-music star, as Sonny’s laid-back rodeo pal; Valerie Perrine as Sonny’s sweet but not infinitely patient former wife, and John Saxon as the amusingly ruthless head of Amco.” Less successfully for all involved, the actress appeared with the Village People in the 1980 musical comedy “Can’t Stop the Music.”

The actress tried series regular television with “Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills” (1986), in which she starred opposite Harvey Korman, but the CBS show, co-created by Steve Martin, lasted only 6 episodes.

In 1987 feature comedy “Maid to Order,” Ally Sheedy starred as a young brat who, by means of a fairy godmother teaching her a life lesson, is suddenly alone and homeless and finally gets a job as a domestic for a couple, played by Valerie Perrine and Dick Shawn.

The actress starred with Elizabeth Taylor and Mark Harmon in Nicolas Roeg’s 1989 TV adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ “Sweet Bird of  Youth.”

During the 1990s Perrine guested on series including “Northern Exposure,” “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “ER,” “Nash Bridges” and “The Practice.” She also appeared on daytime soap “As the World Turns” as Dolores Pierce in 1998-1999 before scoring the role in Nancy Meyers’ extraordinarily successful 2000 comedy “What Women Want.”