[soft ambient music] ♪ ♪ - I ended up in the hospital for something-- I don't remember what.

But after that... ♪ ♪ I can't walk.

I can't write.

I can't talk right.

I can't act.

♪ ♪ I feel... Not very grown up.

Not being able to take care of myself.

♪ ♪ [indistinct chatter] ♪ ♪ - She does always.

- You wanna touch my finger?

Touch your nose.

- I don't know why.

- Good.

And then relax again.

Give me a second.

[keyboard clacking] ♪ ♪ Ooh, you see the cortex here.

All the parts of the brain necessary for memory, thinking, and other tasks and stuff.

There is some mild volume loss.

And that also again is appropriate for age.

As we get older, we have more of that volume loss.

I'm thinking more and more that we're dealing with Parkinson's as well.

- Okay.

- Right?

So, and some people do have both.

Essential tremor and Parkinson's Disease.

[light piano music] - And she won the award in Cannes for best actress.

I think it was for "Lenny."

And I know she was nominated for Golden Globe and an Academy Award for "Lenny."

- But I remember having, you know, seen her performance in "Lenny" and "Slaughterhouse Five," and you know, very impressed with her actor--acting skills.

- An Academy Award nominee and film festival prize winner for her excellent work in the film, "Lenny," would you greet the gorgeous Valerie Perrine!

[cheers and applause] - I would say Valerie is... one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen on screen.

- Valerie's always had an infectious kind of spirit.

And those eyes, you know, they're dangerous.

You could drown in 'em.

It's the most amazing eyes I've ever seen.

It's an amazing career she's had.

It's--they'll accept the beauty and the sex.

But she has far more of a give than that.

- My father, Dick Van Patten, hosted "The Merv Griffin Show."

And his favorite guest was Valerie Perrine.

- You're going to meet a gorgeous woman who has a variety of film roles from Lenny Bruce's wife to W.C. Fields' mistress to films with Superman and the Village People.

- If you really look back at these clips with Johnny Carson and David Letterman, they were speechless.

- Please welcome the lovely, the talented Valerie Perrine, ladies and gentlemen.

[cheers and applause] - She was like my dream girl.

She's everyone's dream girl.

- The epitome of a Hollywood movie star.

A truly magnetic personality.

She's great.

- [screaming] - Whoo!

- Yeah, yeah!

[cheers and applause] - Wild.

Absolutely uninhibited.

- You know, you had a sense of fun and play.

You know, she was excited about life and excited where she was.

You know, it was kind of a contagious feeling.

- Adorable.

She is adorable.

- When I was a little girl, I thought I was gonna be a movie star.

You see up there?

- All the time she spent being a showgirl in Vegas and growing up in a military family, you know, traveling all over the world made her really an interesting person.

And as an actress, she had the ability to bring all that into her performances.

- It was interesting to read in your biography today that you are a Texan.

- Right.

- A born in Texas Texan.

But you left there, what?

- Right.

When you were three years old.

- Right.

- What did your dad do?

- [laughs] He's a high ranking officer in the occupational forces.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- Army or Air Force or what?

- Army, I'm an Army brat.

Daddy was the lieutenant colonel right after the war.

So when we moved over there, we didn't have too many problems.

Why as a matter of fact, I think it helped an awful lot.

Because I have no worry about tomorrow.

I mean the fact that I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow, I've grown up with.

- Mm.

- The emperor came 300 miles to see me dance.

I would do the Shinto dance with the white makeup and the black wig.

And in the finale, they take off the black wig.

And my hair was-- I was a towhead.

It came down to my butt.

And they would scream and yell and carry me on their shoulders and "Babysan, Babysan."

[light percussion music] ♪ ♪ - I am nine years younger than Valerie.

So by the time I remember things, she was already 13 and climbing out of the window to run around at night doing things that she probably shouldn't have been doing.

- My father lost all of his money.

And he said I had to get a job and go to work.

So I ran away from home and went to Vegas.

[light ambient tones] I worked at the Desert Inn.

And then I went over to the Stardust.

It was fun.

- She was about 18 at the time and had to lie about her age because I think you had to be 21 to be a showgirl in Las Vegas at that time.

- I think of Vegas as one of the happiest times of my life.

- Can I ask you things about-- that I always wanted to ask you about-- Las Vegas?

- All right.

- 'Cause you did start off how?

- I was a showgirl in Las Vegas way in the back.

- Right.

And then, like, what age?

- Um, 18.

- Wow.

- I might have just turned 19.

- And how long were you there?

- Oy.

Let's see.

About eight or nine or ten years.

I'm not very good with time.

- Uh-huh.

- I was there a long while.

I had a nice body, and I knew that men stared at me.

And that gave me lots of encouragement.

- She had a lot of potential when she went off to Vegas.

I don't think she knew what she was going to be doing exactly.

But I know that she felt that she was destined for stardom.

- Did you know that Valerie was a showgirl in the old days?

- Up in Vegas, weren't you?

- Mm-hmm.

- Do we have a picture of Valerie when she was a showgirl?

- Oh, wait a minute.

- Look at this!

- Oh, wow.

- "Stardust means extra excitement."

- When I think back on my life, I think of myself as a showgirl, not as a movie actress.

I would've stayed longer except my boyfriend died.

He accidentally shot himself.

And then... another one was killed by Manson.

And I just couldn't take it anymore.

- In a scene described by one investigator as reminiscent of a weird religious rite, five persons, including actress Sharon Tate, were found dead at the home of Miss Tate and her husband, screen director Roman Polanski.

Among the other victims were Hollywood hair stylist, Jay Sebring and coffee heiress, Abigail Folger.

[ominous music] ♪ ♪ - I never, never got over the pain of that.

I needed a change.

So I went to Hollywood.

They wanted girls to audition for the role of Montana Wildhack in "Slaughterhouse Five" with, um... A two-piece bathing suit.

- Mm-hmm.

- Or a bikini.

And I had just spent time in the south of France, and I didn't own a two-piece bathing suit.

I had--it was all one thing.

You wore a bottom and that was it.

So I did the audition with just my bottom on.

George said I was the only girl that didn't stand there like this trying to look busty or-- I just stood there with my boobs hanging out and talked and did my thing.

And he liked that.

- You know, I actually asked her at the time.

I said, "You know, how did you get this role?"

- And she said, "Well, they were looking for somebody "who basically had no inhibitions about performing topless."

That was the start of Valerie Perrine, the actress.

[orchestral music] - I must have interviewed over 100 girls before I found Montana Wildhack.

Actually I found Valerie Perrine only a few days before I had to shoot this scene.

- I had never read a script, never been in a play, never studied acting, didn't--I mean, I just, you know, been a Las Vegas showgirl walking around on stage with pretty clothes, and that was all.

- One of the very good moments in Billy's life was when he was joined in his private sanctuary on Tralfamador by a centerfold Playboy bunny, Montana Wildhack.

- I was--I was down in Palm Springs in the home of a producer friend of mine.

That's why I'm like this.

I don't want halter marks, naturally.

I still can't believe I'm acting.

You understand?

I mean, it just doesn't seem-- I just get up, and George tells me what it is he wants, and I do it.

I've--if that's acting, um, well, I guess I can do it.

I was down in Palm Springs.

Uh, I don't know how to say this.

Oh, I really loved George.

He was the first man that made me feel like I belonged.

Acting like--I always thought acting would be like Shakespeare and all that jazz.

I just don't feel like I'm doing that sort of a thing.

It's just much more natural to me what I'm doing.

- For a woman as beautiful as she was, she was a terrific actress.

And I envied that.

I didn't envy the women who weren't beautiful that were great actresses.

I envied the ones who were beautiful and also really could act.

So Valerie sure had that wrapped up.

- You're really nice.

- I'm not nice.

I'm perfect.

- Valerie asked me to participate in an amazing photoshoot that she had planned-- I mean, that somebody wanted to do obviously.

It was "Playboy" magazine.

It was the cover.

And also a lot of inside inserts.

- On this day, we followed José during a break to the Playboy building in Los Angeles as he was creating a style for Valerie Perrine who was shooting a cover for "Playboy."

- I believe that every woman should be treated individually.

It's like a painting.

You never do a painting twice.

[classical orchestral music] The followers, they're gonna love it.

- Her willingness to... [light music] Reveal herself, exhibit herself to the public in a time and place where that wasn't done was an extraordinarily courageous move.

- She jumped in with Dustin Hoffman into a movie about Lenny Bruce.

And everybody in Hollywood was talking about her success.

- What are you doing?

- Nothing.

It's my night off.

- Um... [laughs nervously] I've--I've got some really good news.

- That movie "Lenny" had a huge impact on me.

I'll never forget the scene where she was on the payphone.

And she able-- it was very spontaneous, she was able to sort of break down crying.

And I said, "How do you do that?

"How do you just spontaneously "when the cameras are rolling, like, have tears?"

And she goes, "Oh, that's easy."

I said, "It is?"

And she goes, "Yes."

She goes, "I just think about my life."

- I relied a lot on Bob Fosse and just gut instinct of what a woman who had never-- never gotten it together.

I mean, I fantasized what it must have been like.

- She exploded on the, you know, on the screen in that movie.

She was just great.

Yeah.

I think everybody envied Dustin Hoffman.

- The love scene between two women in "Lenny" was groundbreaking at the time.

- You know I'm in with other chicks too, right?

- I don't wanna play this stupid game!

- Going to the Oscars with Valerie was markedly surreal.

Valerie was getting a lot of attention because she was nominated for Best Actress.

- The five leading ladies nominated for the best of performance by an actress are Ellen Burstyn for "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore..." [applause] Diahann Carroll for "Claudine..." [applause] And Faye Dunaway for "Chinatown..." [applause] Valerie Perrine for "Lenny..." [applause] Gena Rowlands for "A Woman Under the Influence."

[applause] [tense music] And the winner is... Ellen Burstyn in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore."

[cheers and applause] - All your hard work on that film paid off because you were nominated for "Lenny."

- Yeah.

- When you first found out you were nominated, were you just blown away?

♪ ♪ - Well, I had just won the Cannes Film Festival.

So it wasn't that huge of a deal.

I mean, an Oscar?

- But winning the Cannes Film Festival, that must've been a... - That was pretty big.

- That was pretty spectacular, right?

- Yeah.

I don't know.

I just never really paid much attention to my career.

[laughs] - Oh, you received a telegram on the night of the Oscars... - Yes.

- From Fosse.

- We were gonna stop and do an insert of the telegram.

- And what did it say in so many words?

- It says, um, "You're the greatest actress I've ever worked with.

Love, Bobby."

- How'd that make you feel?

I mean... - That I'm proud of.

[ambient music] - As an actress, do you long for another role like that?

Do you wonder when it's coming?

- Well, I'd like--sure.

I'd like to do something like that again.

I'd like to work with somebody like Bob Fosse.

I'd work with Bob Fosse again, But Dustin told me when we were doing it.

He said, "Valerie, something like this happens about once every seven years."

- You know, you get an award or you become the new girl, and then it's very hard to get above that.

And it's also very hard to allow it to slip away.

- I think the first time I saw her was "Superman."

That's the first time I can remember her entering my brain.

- I think Valerie's performance of Eve Teschmacher is so genuine.

It's so innocent.

- But she was funny.

And you didn't often see kind of the sexy blonde being--also being funny.

[dramatic music] [door slams open] - Miss Teschmacher!

- Yes, Lex?

- It was a happy set.

And she made it happier.

It was a fun set.

She made it more fun.

She became Miss Teschmacher.

Guys that had gone off the clock and should have gone home, everybody, the whole stage was jamming to see not Miss Teschmacher, but Valerie Perrine.

- She saved Superman.

♪ ♪ She uses her humanity to go in and save an iconic character.

- They had a cute little scene where she kisses him.

But they--their characters were so cute together that they both got a little emotional.

- Why is it I can't get it on with the good guys?

[intriguing tones] - "Can't Stop the Music" is just incredible.

I love that movie.

The Village People and Bruce Jenner, just amazing.

[disco music] - She actually claims that that movie ruined her career.

[laughs] She did that movie.

She did "Superman."

[clears throat] Major hit.

And then she did "Can't Stop the Music" which was a major bomb.

- [gasps] Oh!

- Oh!

- I don't think she should be ashamed of that movie.

But I can understand when you-- you don't set out--no one sets out to make a bad movie.

When it comes out, and you have high hopes for it-- she probably wanted it to be a big hit like "Superman" had been, and that was not the case.

- It was a movie that was done with an enormous amount of energy and enthusiasm representing a moment in time.

It was extravagant, until the lights went out and the party was over.

- You know, Valerie never wanted to have children, but she would have been a great mother.

The reason why, though, is because she was an army brat.

She was always traveling around.

And she didn't have the stability.

- What about children, Valerie?

Have you ever thought about that?

- I don't think I'd be a good mother.

I mean, I'm probably too selfish.

- Really?

- Well, I would think.

Either that or I'm definitely not mature enough to take care of a child.

- When will Valerie be grown up?

- I hope never.

- Really?

- Yes.

[rustling] [light piano music] ♪ ♪ - Why do you do your own makeup?

- Why?

- Yes.

- I always have.

♪ ♪ I know the way I like it to look.

- How hard is it for you to do your makeup nowadays?

- It's almost impossible with the shakes.

[dramatic piano music] ♪ ♪ - How long does it normally take?

- Normally?

15 minutes.

With the shakes?

A half an hour or 45 minutes.

♪ ♪ If you get me eating soup, that's really a joke.

- Valerie throughout her whole life has been a very vibrant, outgoing, very vital sort of woman.

And it's been terrible watching her go through this decline.

- I've done this to my knees.

I bruised them when I fell.

I didn't just bruise them.

I cut the hell out of them.

♪ ♪ And my arms are pretty bruised.

- How do you feel today?

♪ ♪ - I don't feel very good.

The doctors don't know what's going on with me.

They can't figure out what it is.

- What do you think it is?

- Karma.

[laughs] - There are times where we aren't able to pin down a diagnosis or perhaps we have multiple diagnoses.

And I think Valerie is an example of this.

- So go first, second, third, fourth.

First, second, third, fourth.

[dramatic music] Okay.

- It's gotten terrible.

- Yeah.

I wish we knew, you know, how to understand that better.

You're a complicated lady.

- Yeah.

I don't wanna be.

- I know that.

I know.

I know.

It's not that much fun all the time, is it?

- Mm-mm.

- No.

- No matter what life gives you, you have to fight.

[soft ethereal music] ♪ ♪ - Okay.

You're all set.

[indistinct chatter] - Gonna open this up right here, not up here.

Little tiny incision like that.

- Yeah.

- And pass down to here.

- Okay.

- Hook it to the battery.

And then we'll turn it on once you're awake.

- You know, batteries... - Okay.

- Hopefully it gets at the tremor more.

- Good-bye, Stacey.

- See you on the other side.

- Okay.

[indistinct chatter] ♪ ♪ - How do you feel?

- Like I've been beaten up.

- All right.

It's been about 24 hours since your surgery.

How do you feel?

- I feel perfect.

- Within a few days after the surgery, she had a series of bizarre neurologic events happen.

[dramatic music] ♪ ♪ - What's your name?

Can you say your name?

- Ask her to count.

- Valerie, count to three.

Can you count to three for me?

♪ ♪ You awake?

Are you okay?

Sure?

Where are you going?

Where are you going?

What are you doing?

- Um, I don't remember.

I can't remember words I wanna talk to.

Can't remember how to talk.

My mind doesn't work like it was working.

♪ ♪ I feel like... ah, like a baby.

I have to be taken care of.

♪ ♪ - Very, very good.

Your blood pressure is good.

It's within the normal range.

Your heart rate is 80.

That's very good.

Deep breath.

- [breathes deeply] - Again.

- [breathes deeply] - All right.

Right there.

Gonna write 80... [murmuring] 18.

♪ ♪ - There we go.

Heads up, Valerie.

All right.

Relax.

[indistinct], Valerie?

- Uh-huh.

- All right.

Gonna put your hands up, okay?

- Okay.

♪ ♪ - Any questions or concerns?

- No.

- Well, all right.

Well, I will be back next weekend.

I'll see you and we'll do everything again, okay?

- Okay.

- All right, dear.

- Open your mouth.

♪ ♪ Okay.

Close.

- [grunts] - Like this.

Look up for me.

Now move forward a little bit, move forward.

There you go, Valerie.

- Thank you.

[eggs tapping] I never thought that at 75, I'd be crippled and bed-ridden.

[somber music] ♪ ♪ - So, uh, it's either really severe essential tremor or a combination of essential tremor and Parkinson's disease.

- How do I get rid of it?

- Uh...

I don't think you can get rid of it entirely.

It's a matter of controlling the symptoms.

- Even if they were to figure out what is wrong, there's really no treatment for it, unfortunately.

So she has a progressive movement disorder that's going to probably continue on.

- When we spent some time together in Detroit-- and I don't think that's too many years ago-- with Howard Hesseman who was on WKRP, we were all sitting together, and there just we formed a bond, a real closeness, and-- and started talking to one another about our lives and more intimate things.

And, um--and I noticed for the first time I met her until we were together again in Detroit that she had a more difficult time walking.

And then Howard and I talked about it later.

And he said that her condition was deteriorating.

And, uh, it made me so sad.

With all that life and great movement that she was always able to do-- she had such command of her body-- to lose that for anybody is so--so incredibly difficult.

And you have no cause and no cure.

And all you can do is keep a good attitude.

That's what she has.

She has that positive attitude.

And she's a smiling, adorable person.

- I came down with Parkinson's.

And it's a good thing I did because it would be the last film I could ever do.

- Mm.

- And I went out with a bang.

[laughter] [cheers and applause] - It's Hollywood.

And if people kinda sense that you're not at your best, then you might not get the opportunity to do a job.

And you might not necessarily move forward.

And it's a living.

She's a working actress.

She has to make a living.

♪ ♪ - I didn't want the world to think I just faded away.

I have Parkinson's.

It's tough.

I have to go day by day.

- I think seeing the way that Valerie has dealt with her awful set of circumstances is quite encouraging and empowering because she's battling her Parkinson's with such strength and determination.

Her life has set her up to be a warrior, to battle and to give it her all.

- I hope there's a cure for Parkinson's... someday soon.

[hopeful music] ♪ ♪ - It's just awful.

Any disease is terrible.

And I think we all feel so helpless when it didn't happen to us and it happened to somebody else.

And yet, we can't help them.

So it's...it's not good.

- I think she's one of the braver people I've ever known, frankly.

I think this illness has been very difficult for everybody and especially for her.

And especially for her because she's always been the center of attention in a wonderful, sparkly, vivacious, full of energy kind of person.

And she just can't do that anymore.

I think she's incredibly brave.

- Every time I'm here and then leave, I don't know if it's the last time I'm ever gonna see her.

So it makes it pretty difficult saying good-bye.

♪ ♪ all: ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Happy birthday, dear Valerie ♪ ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ - It's really hard to see Valerie have to deal with all the incredibly difficult challenges she's faced, but she does it with dignity.

And she does it with a sense of humor.

Which is, you know, her great quality.

She didn't let it stop her.

[hopeful music] - It's karma.

That's all I can tell you.

I had some very bad things happen for a while.

And I got into religion.

And, um, I think that had a lot to do with it.

Positive thinking.

I got into a lot of philosophies that tell you to, like, look at the good things in life and kind of forget the bad.

Which is exactly like the Tralfamadorians think, isn't it?

- Something left that you haven't accomplished in your life.

♪ ♪ - I think I've done it all.

[hopeful music] ♪ ♪ - Valerie, I just wanna say to you that meeting you was a thrill because I've admired you my entire career.

And, uh, you know, you're just for any young actress coming up who had any idea of being attractive or cute or funny or any of those things, you were the one to beat.

- Valerie, I love you.

You are the greatest.

And still sexy and still... your amazingly wry sense of humor.

Kind.

You're an original.

And there's no one like you.

Thank you for being you.

- In the best, highest, most complete, and sensual sense, thank you for being you.

- I love you.

And I pray for you.

And I think of you.

And I just wish they'd come up with a miracle that would help you.

I hope they will.

- I can tell you that she's a wonderful friend.

If you have Valerie for a friend, you have her for life and she would do anything for you.

And I treasure her.

And I'm so pleased and glad that she's been in my life.

- I am very, very lucky that I got to know her in the latter years because "Superman" was a long time ago.

But I do wish I had known her a little bit more back then in England because I think she's so much fun.

And I'm just delighted that she's-- I'm able to be a little part of her life now and enjoy her company still.

- Valerie.

There's only one Valerie.

And if you can describe Valerie in one word, it's Valerie.

Nobody will ever be Valerie.

- Valerie, you are a genuine Hollywood legend.

I will always look up to you.

Thank you so much for creating such a brilliant character.

I hope I can do it justice.

[kisses] [laughs] - Hey, Val.

Hope you're doing well, my dear.

I hear you're going through some struggles.

Fuck.

But, um, you know... We're live.

We're still alive.

We're still, uh, get to be here.

I hope you're-- you're doing well and our paths cross soon.

♪ ♪