The REEL RETRO CINEMA columnist pays tribute to the screen siren, who has died at 82… By ROB KELLY The iconic Miss Teschmacher, Valerie Perrine, has died at age 82 due to Parkinson’s disease. Born in 1943, Perrine was an Army brat who ended up as a Vegas showgirl in the late 1960s. For many people, “Late ’60s Vegas Showgirl” would be the defining experience of their life. But for Perrine, it was just the beginning. Moving to Los Angeles in the early 1970s, Perrine found herself at a dinner party where an agent was looking to cast a small, but key, role in director George Roy Hill’s adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five. Despite not being an actress, she was offered the role of soft-core porn actress Montana Wildhack. Her combination of sweetness and undeniable sex appeal made Perrine pop off the screen, and she was on her way to a Hollywood career. In just her third film, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as stripper Honey Bruce, girlfriend to tortured comedian Lenny Bruce (played by Dustin Hoffman) in Bob Fosse’s Lenny. She appeared in other films alongside actors like Jeff Bridges, Jackie Gleason, and Rod Steiger, but it was in 1978 that she achieved silver screen immortality. Superman director Richard Donner originally pictured superstar Goldie Hawn as Lex Luthor’s gal pal Eve Teschmacher, but the producers refused to pay her requested salary. They then turned to Ann Margret, who was also deemed too expensive. Donner then went to Valerie, who took the role and made it her own. As Donner later remarked in the audio commentary to the film, “Sometimes the third choice is the best choice.” Valerie’s Miss Teschmacher is sadistic and malevolent to be sure (watch the way she claps with glee when Luthor threatens to beat the hell out of Otis in the van), but the actress’ inherent loveableness still shines through. So it makes sense, dramatically, when she eventually does a reverse heel turn in the final third of the movie and helps rescue the Man of Stee l— but not before stealing a kiss. It says something about how irresistible Miss Teschmacher is that she manages to foil Luthor’s plan, landing him in prison, and yet they are still a couple in Superman II. Perrine went...