Teri Garr, the Oscar-nominated actress who showcased her quirky comedic skills in films such as Young Frankenstein and Tootsie, has died. She was 79.
Garr’s publicist Heidi Schaeffer confirmed to the Associated Press that the late star passed away “surrounded by family and friends” on Tuesday, Oct. 29. Garr, who was diagnosed in 1999 with multiple sclerosis, struggled with numerous health problems in recent years, undergoing surgery in January 2007 to repair an aneurysm.
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Born the daughter of vaudeville comedian Eddie Garr and Rockette Phyllis Lind, Garr studied dance as a child, performing with San Francisco and Los Angeles ballet companies by just 14, and was determined to make it Hollywood as soon as she graduated from high school in Los Angeles.
Garr’s earliest credits include dancing and working as an extra in nine of Elvis Presley’s films, including Viva Las Vegas, Roustabout and Clambake. In 2022, Garr remembered thinking early on in her career, “Why am I not in the front?,” telling Closer Weekly she determined, “I didn’t study all those years to be in the back and get no money.”
Garr would go on to appear on Star Trek, Dr. Kildare, Batman, Shindig, and The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour before getting her first big break in film on Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 thriller The Conversation. Garr’s performance led to an interview with Mel Brooks, who hired her as Gene Wilder’s lab assistant in the 1974 comedy Young Frankenstein.
She would go on to have other major roles in films like Mr. Mom, in which she played Michael Keaton’s wife, and Tootsie, which had her portray the girlfriend who loses Dustin Hoffman’s character to Jessica Lange’s. The performance scored Garr a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 1983 Academy Awards.
Garr was a frequent guest on Late Night With David Letterman and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and would go on to host Saturday Night Live three times.
Garr also showed her dramatic flair in films including Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Black Stallion and The Escape Artist before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999. After sharing her diagnosis publicly, Garr went on to become a spokesperson for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, advocating for others with her condition.
Following her diagnosis, Garr continued to work steadily, appearing on TV shows including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Greetings From Tucson, and Friends, in which she played the mother of Lisa Kudrow’s character Pheobe.
In 1993, Garr married contractor John O’Neill, with whom she adopted daughter Molly before their 1996 divorce. In 2006, she published her autobiography, Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood.
