Teri Garr (original) (raw)

1944-2024

Teri Garr Today: Oscar Nominee Dies Decades After MS Diagnosis

Tootsie and Young Frankenstein actor Teri Garr died October 29 at her Los Angeles home. She was 79 years old. Her publicist said the cause was complications from multiple sclerosis, the degenerative neurological disease Garr was diagnosed with in 1999.

Garr brought her trademark humor to her work as a spokesperson and advocate for various MS-related events, even as her diagnosis more or less ended her movie and TV career. “We could laugh about tripping on the corners of rugs and similar mishaps,” Garr wrote about talking to other people living with MS in her 2005 memoir _Speedbumps. “_Not only was I making people laugh, I was feeling better myself. I think it was because I didn’t have to explain myself to them.”

Aside from a pair of independent comedies in 2007, the Academy Award nominee largely stopped acting after publicly disclosing her diagnosis five years earlier. She said opportunities for work sharply declined despite her interest in continuing to act. The daughter of an actor and a dancer, Garr had dreamed of becoming an entertainer since her early childhood.

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Who Was Teri Garr?

Actor Teri Garr was best known as Dustin Hoffman’s neurotic girlfriend in the 1982 hit movie Tootsie. She began working in the 1960s as a dancer in a series of Elvis Presley films. Garr went on to make appearances in several shows, including The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, before her movie career began to take off with 1974’s Young Frankenstein. Her performance as Sandy in Tootsie earned Garr an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Later films include Mr. Mom, After Hours, and Let It Ride. In 2002, Garr announced she was battling multiple sclerosis. She died in October 2024 at age 79.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Terry Ann Garr
BORN: December 11, 1944
DIED: October 29, 2024
BIRTHPLACE: Lakewood, Ohio
SPOUSE: John O’Neil (1993–1996)
CHILDREN: Molly
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Sagittarius

Young Teri Garr

Terry Ann Gar, best known by her nickname Teri Garr, was born in the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood, Ohio, on December 11, 1944 (some sources say 1947).

She grew up in the world of entertainment. Her parents met while working on the same Broadway show in 1934. Her father, Eddie Garr, was an actor and comedian. Her mother, Phyllis, had been a model and a dancer before devoting herself to raising Teri and her two older brothers, Ed and Phil.

Teri moved a lot as a young child, as her family followed Eddie’s work around the country. When she was 8, the Garrs relocated to California more permanently. Teri was often putting on shows in the family’s garage or living rooms.

She was only 11 years old when her father died. Years later, in her 2005 memoir, Teri described Eddie’s propensity for drinking and gambling as well as his declining health that kept him in bed or drove him to the hospital.

Propelled back into the workforce, Phyllis supported Teri and her brothers by working in the wardrobe department at NBC and later other studios. Around this time, Teri discovered her own passion for dance. She started out studying ballet and later moved on to other forms of dance. Her studies at North Hollywood High School were less captivating, though she got passable grades.

After graduation, Teri immediately focused on making it as an entertainer. Some of her early work was as a dancer in several Elvis Presley movies, including Viva Las Vegas (1964). But when gigs petered out, she enrolled in the speech and drama department at Cal State Northridge. Two years later, she left school for good.

Movies and TV Shows

marty feldman listens to gene wilders heart beat as he lies on a table, teri garr looks at marty feldman suspiciously

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Young Frankenstein was one of Teri Garr’s most memorable roles. She appeared alongside Marty Feldman and Gene Wilder among other cast members.

As an actor, Garr first found work in commercials and on TV. She made guest appearances on shows such as Star Trek and That Girl. Garr also had a role in the 1968 movie Head featuring the band The Monkees. She booked the part through her acting classmate Jack Nicholson who penned the film’s script. While the movie failed to attract much of an audience, Garr remained in demand as a performer. She worked more TV shows, including The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and McCloud.

Garr’s real breakthrough in movies came in 1974 with the comedy Young Frankenstein. She made the most out of her supporting role as Gene Wilder’s lab assistant in the popular Mel Brooks movie. In 1977, Garr starred in Steven Spielberg’s science fiction hit Close Encounters of the Third Kind with Richard Dreyfuss. She also appeared in the comedy Oh, God! with John Denver and George Burns that same year.

One of the high points of her movie career was 1982’s Tootsie. She impressed audiences and critics alike with her work in the hit comedy. Garr co-starred with Dustin Hoffman as his actress girlfriend in the movie. She was nominated for an Academy Award for the part of Sandy but lost out to her co-star Jessica Lange. Over the next few years, Garr starred in several comedies, including Mr. Mom (1983) with Michael Keaton, After Hours (1985) with Griffin Dunne, and Let It Ride (1989) with Richard Dreyfuss.

Garr continued acting regularly in the 1990s with a notable recurring role on the hit sitcom Friends toward the end of the decade. She played the biological mother of Lisa Kudrow’s character Phoebe. Her final performances were in the independent comedies Expired and Kabluey, both from 2007, as well as a 2011 appearance on the TV show How to Marry a Billionaire.

Daughter and Ex-Husband

teri garr hugs molly oneil as both smile for photos, teri wears a black and silver formal outfit, molly wears a purple black and silver sleeveless dress

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Teri Garr attends a 2012 fundraiser supporting multiple sclerosis research with her daughter, Molly.

Garr had a daughter, Molly, who she adopted during her first marriage to building contractor John O’Neil. The couple married in 1993 and divorced a few years later in 1996.

Multiple Sclerosis and Health Problems

Offscreen, Garr coped with an array of health symptoms for years. “I had no idea what was wrong,” she told CNN. “I just felt tingling... I felt buzzing in my foot. And then when I was jogging also, I would get this horrible pain in my arm like a knife stabbing.” It wasn’t until 1999 that she received a diagnosis: Garr had multiple sclerosis. She kept her battle with the disease private while continuing to act, appearing on such shows as ER and Felicity.

In 2002, Garr appeared on Larry King’s talk show to share her struggle with MS. She told Everyday Health that “I decided to go public because there were rumors floating around, and I wanted the information to come from me and not an outsider.” Garr went on to raise awareness about the disease, serving as an ambassador for the Multiple Sclerosis Society and as a paid spokesperson for a medication used to treat MS. She also wrote about her experiences in her 2005 memoir Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood.

Garr suffered a health crisis in 2006 when she had a brain aneurysm. After having surgery to fix the condition, Garr made a full recovery.

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