One of the silver screen’s most beautiful and talented actresses, Valerie Perrine has lit up the screen with her warmth and humor and diverse range. From portraying Dustin Hoffman’s wife in Lenny, to films such as Can’t Stop the Feeling with the Village People, to a memorable cameo as a female police officer in The Cannonball Run, to her title role in Lady Luck, her career has spanned five decades and countless film and television appearances.

Of course, her most memorable role is of Eve Teschmacher, Lex Luthor’s girlfriend, in Superman: The Movie and Superman II. Interesting thing is that her character is never referred to as Eve on screen, only Miss Teschmacher. (To this day I have always wondered why.) And in one sweet moment, she gives Christopher Reeve’s title character his first on-screen kiss. It’s not until Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut that we get to see a more hot and heavy loop that prompted Donner to say, “I want a short, sweet high school kiss!”

And her attire through the film is every sort of haute couture from 1950’s tacky to 1960’s businesswoman to sultry and finally 1970’s modern, which reveals that her character is looking for identity and validation and approval from Luthor, despite all of his negative comments towards her in both films in a bit of an abusive relationship. Ultimately, Miss Teschmacher finds her way back to her heart during her brief encounters with Superman. This is what prompts her to ask, “Why is it I can’t get it on with the good guys?” Superman sees that potential in her, and so do we, the audience. Even after Superman saves her mother and her hometown of Hackensack, New Jersey, from an aborted nuclear missile, and even after he saves her from being killed by Luthor’s babies, she still remains loyal to him throughout her time in Superman II.

When Christopher Reeve passed away in 2004, Valerie penned a beautiful tribute to him for the New York Post in which she shared her memories of working with the iconic actor in 1977.

That’s how beautiful and sweet her heart is. And in her interactions with fans, she has the same giving heart that has brightened up people’s lives everywhere.

But life has a way of twisting and turning in ways we don’t see coming.

For the past several years, Valerie Perrine has been fighting Parkinson’s disease. Named for Dr. James Parkinson, who wrote the first study of the palsy-like disease in 1817, it’s the same brutal neurological disease that claimed the life of famed boxer Muhammad Ali and has also affected the lives of actors Michael J. Fox and Alan Alda and over 6.2 million people in the United States alone. I have seen the effects of Parkinson’s firsthand in my life, losing my dad to the disease in 2002 after a six-year downhill struggle. It affects the speech and the body but not the mind. And it has affected Valerie as well.

A couple of years ago, Stacey Souther produced a wonderful documentary on Vimeo about her called Valerie, which features interviews with George Hamilton, Jeff Bridges, Loni Anderson, Sarah Douglas, and the late Richard Donner sharing their thoughts about working with her and knowing her. It’s sweet, and it’s sad, because she is a bright light in this world, and Parkinson’s is a cruel disease. Anyone who has walked this path knows what she’s going through, and seeing it personally in my life, my heart goes out to her.

In order to raise money for her continued care, Valerie has offered a number of her personal items for auction through Julien’s Auctions, including the iconic red dress she wore in Superman during the missile hijacking sequence. The auction runs this weekend at julienslive.com, so bid high and bid often.

Bid in the auction. Get the documentary. Reach out on social media. Offer your prayers, thoughts, and well wishes. All of it amounts to the same message…

We love you, Valerie.