Teri Garr, the Oscar-nominated comedic actor best known for her spirited performances in classics such as “Young Frankenstein,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Tootsie,” died Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to her publicist and friend Heidi Schaeffer.
She was 79. The cause of death was complications from multiple sclerosis, Schaeffer said.
Garr was open about her experience with MS, a health ordeal she chronicled in the 2005 autobiography “Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood.”
In a screen career that spanned more than 40 years, Garr endeared herself to audiences with her quirky on-screen persona and quick wit. She was a familiar face on sitcoms and late-night talk shows, including NBC’s “The Tonight Show” during the Johnny Carson era.
Garr, who was trained as a ballet performer, launched her Hollywood career as an uncredited go-go dancer in six musicals starring Elvis Presley.
In the early 1970s, Garr pivoted to more substantive acting roles and collaborated with some of the leading filmmakers of the decade.
The year 1974 was pivotal: Garr delivered a supporting turn in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” and played Gene Wilder’s German-accented assistant, Inga, in Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein,” a black-and-white spoof of Hollywood horror flicks.
“She was so talented and so funny,” Brooks said in a tribute to Garr on X. “Her humor and lively spirit made the YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN set a pleasure to work on. Her ‘German’ accent had us all in stitches! She will be greatly missed.”
Garr’s profile rose further after Steven Spielberg cast her as Richard Dreyfuss’ wife in the science fiction landmark “Close Encounters.” Garr’s character watches in bewilderment as her husband becomes increasingly fixated on UFOs.
Sydney Pollack’s “Tootsie” brought Garr an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. She played a neurotic acting student whose heart is broken by Dustin Hoffman’s character, a struggling artist who disguises himself as a woman to land a part on a soap opera.
Garr also teamed up with Martin Scorsese (“After Hours”) and Robert Altman (“Prêt-à-Porter”); Coppola made her the center of the surrealist 1982 musical “One from the Heart,” a box-office disaster that contemporary critics have positively reappraised.
Younger viewers may be more familiar with Garr thanks to her role opposite Michael Keaton in “Mr. Mom,” as well as her recurring role on the NBC sitcom “Friends” as Lisa Kudrow’s estranged mother.
Teri Ann Garr was born Dec. 11, 1944, in Ohio; her father was a vaudeville performer, and her mother was a dancer. The family eventually settled in the Los Angeles area, where Garr’s father died of a heart attack when she was young. Garr trained in the art of ballet before she headed to New York City to try her hand at acting.
She landed her first speaking role in 1968’s “Head,” a kooky satirical musical starring The Monkees and written by Jack Nicholson.
Garr’s early small-screen work included appearances on the 1960s incarnation of “Batman,” an episode of the original “Star Trek” and the variety show “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.”
“I was always hustling for the next job,” Garr wrote in her autobiography.
Garr’s doggedness paid off, and she remained prolific all through her screen career. Pauline Kael, the legendary film critic for The New Yorker, once hailed Garr as “perhaps the funniest, most neurotic dizzy dame on the screen.”
Garr went public with her multiple sclerosis diagnosis on national television in October 2002. She later became a key advocate for MS awareness, traveling across the country to speak with doctors and patients about her experiences.
“I think everybody is scared and frightened when they hear something like that,” Garr told CNN in 2002. “That’s because there’s so much — you know, there’s not a lot of information out there about it. And a lot of people don’t know that it’s not that bad. I mean, I’m going on with my life.”
In late 2006, Garr suffered a brain aneurysm that changed her speech and motor skills.
She retired from acting in 2011, but her legacy continued to loom over the comedy world, inspiring younger female comedians.
“The person I always think of is Teri Garr,” Tina Fey was once quoted as saying. “There was a time when Teri Garr was in everything. She was adorable, but also very real. Her body was real, her teeth were real, and you thought that she could be your friend.”
