Recently, news of Valerie Perrine passing away got me thinking of some of the leading actresses from my early film studies. Actresses from that era were in tough competition with the Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Fay Dunaway, Julie Christie, Glenda Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Sally Field, Ciceli Tyson and Diane Keaton for the meaty, leading roles.
Then there were the young actresses like Farrah Fawcett, Ellen Burstyn, Ali McGraw, Jaqueline Bissett, Pam Grier, Isabelle Adjani, Sissy Spacek, Genevieve Bujold, Madeline Kahn, Margot Kidder, Jill Clayberg, Candice Bergen and Goldie Hawn, some reaching incredible heights, others a steady list of credits, and others passing at a relatively young age.
And then there was Valerie Perrine, Karen Black and Susan Anspach who starred in numerous films, continued working after those starring roles, but never attained the success of those on the above list. That’s a shame because these were talented, hardworking actresses, whose beauty worked as much against as for them. Take them seriously? They were favorites of some directors, at least for a while, but Hollywood churns through a lot of actors. These three actresses had a relatively brief time in the spotlight and then were left to navigate life as a working actor.
Let’s look at some of their roles.
Valerie Perrine started as a showgirl in Las Vegas, but wanted to do more than look pretty, wear flamboyant costumes, and be topless. These were the days of old Vegas. After moving to L.A., she was spotted at a party and would up with a role in Slaughterhouse-Five (1972), not only her first film, but her her first acting job.
Within a couple of years Perrine would be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Lenny (1974), and take home other awards for her role as Honey Bruce.
In the years that followed, Perrine had roles some major films: W. C. Fields and Me (1976), Mr. Billion (1977), Superman (1978), The Electric Horseman (1979), Can’t Stop the Music (1980), Superman II (1980), and The Border (1982). After that, the roles or the projects were smaller, but she kept on working, and she crossed over into television. In 1986, Perrine co-starred with Harvey Korman in a short-lived sitcom, Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills. In 1992, she guest-starred in a very memorable episode of Northern Exposure as Holling’s long-lost grifter daughter, Jackie Vincoeur. I lost track of her after that.
Perrine never married but was linked to many famous men in Hollywood. In later years, she noticed a tremor in her hand and eventually diagnosed with Parkinson’s, which she fought and never gave into. “I try to live for today, and Parkinson’s hasn’t changed that,” she said. Perrine passed away on March 23, 2026 at age 82.
Weird fact: Perrine was to be Jay Sebring’s date the night that he, Sharon Tate and two others were murdered by the Manson Family. Perrine had to work and couldn’t find a replacement. That saved her life.
Karen Black started acting in the 1960’s, landing a few small stage roles, then appeared in several films (including Francis Ford Coppola’s You’re a Big Boy Now) and working in episodic television.
Her big break came when she played a prostitute in Easy Rider (1969). During the next six years she worked steadily in films and amazed a resume that included Five Easy Pieces (1970), Portnoy’s Complaint (1972), The Great Gatsby (1974), Airport 1975 (1974), The Day of the Locust (1975), Nashville (1975), Family Plot (1976).
Along the way, she picked up a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination for Five Easy Pieces, and took home a Golden Globe for that role. She received another Golden Globe for The Great Gatsby, and was nominated for a lead actress Golden Globe for The Day of the Locust. In Robert Altman’s Nashville, Black was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Black was a very dynamic actress who despite a variety of well-received roles, got typecast and stopped being offered significant roles in major films. A few roles in horror films, Trilogy of Terror, a 1975 made for TV film, Burnt Offerings (1976) and The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver (1977), another TV film, didn’t help her career arc. By the start of the 1980’s, Black’s films got smaller, and she crossed over into television, yet she found plenty of parts.
Peter Fonda, her co-star in Easy Rider, commented upon her death: “[Karen] managed to play kooky, she managed to play sexy, she managed to play crazed. She managed to play all the different ways of human nature.”
Black amazed more than 200 acting credits in her career before she died of cancer in 2013, at age 74.
Weird fact: There is a book called The Stewardess is Flying the Plane, in reference to Black’s role in Airport 1975, in which her character is forced to pilot a disabled airliner.
Susan Anspach is an actress few film fan probably recall, but she turned in a few fine roles. Born in Queens, she received a full scholarship to the Catholic University of America in Washington, studyng music and drama. After graduating, she headed for New York City.
A stage actress, made her stage debut in 1965 in the off-Broadway play A View from the Bridge, starring Jon Voight and Robert Duvall. She guessed on numerous television shows in the late 1960s before making her big screen debut in Hal Ashby’s The Landlord (1970). Then landed in Bob Rafelson’s Five Easy Pieces with Jack Nicholson. Anspach played the finance of Nicholson’s brother, who falls into the bed of Nicholson’s character, and in real life.
Throughout the decade, Anspach appeared as Woody Allen’s ex-wife in 1972’s Play It Again, Sam, followed by Paul Mazursky’s film Blume in Love (1973), co-starting Kris Kristofferson and George Segal, Richard Dreyfuss’ The Big Fix (1978), rounding out the 1970’s appearing with Michael Douglas in Running (1979). Anspach also appeared in numerous made-for-television films during the decade.
Her career slowed down, the film and TV appearances were less in the following years. She married twice and raised two children, one of which was fathered by Jack Nicholson, who Anspach claimed only recognized the child as his, years later.
Anspach played a lot ex-wives, fiancées and ex- girlfriends in the 1970s, the beautiful object of desire.
Anspach passed away in 2018.
Weird fact: Was cast as country singer Barbara Jean in Robert Altman’s Nashville, but couldn’t agree to terms. The role instead went to Ronee Blakey, which won her won her a National Board of Review for Best Supporting Actress, and garnered Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe nominations.
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