Born in Galveston, Texas, her father was a military officer and they traveled from base to base throughout the world. Perrine began her career as a Las Vegas showgirl. She made her motion picture debut with an uncredited part in Diamonds Are Forever (1971), then played the soft-core porn actress Montana Wildhack in Slaughterhouse-Five (1972).
In 1975, she was nominated for the Academy Award for (*****) for playing Honey Bruce in Lenny (1974), for which she was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama. She was also nominated for the 1979Saturn Award for (*****) playing Eve Teschmacher in Superman (1978).