Teri Garr,TootsieandYoung FrankensteinStar, Dies at 79

Mar. 15, 2025

Teri Garr has died at the age of 79.

Garr acted widely in film and television, with over 140 credits. She was most famous for her comedic work in movies like 1974’sYoung Frankensteinand 1982’sTootsie, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. In 2002, Garr revealed that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Garr was born in Ohio in 1944. Both her parents worked in show business: Her father was a vaudeville performer, while her mother was a Rockette who eventually worked in costume production. The family, which also included her two older brothers, moved to New Jersey before settling in Los Angeles. Garr’s father died when she was 11.

Teri Garr in 1975.Archive Photos/Getty

Archive Photos/Getty

“She put two kids through school,” Garr told theLos Angeles Timesof her mom in 2008. “I have one brother who is a surgeon, there’s me, and my other brother builds boats. She was in wardrobe. She was a costumer at the studio. She would always say, ‘We’re still alive. . . .’”

Garr started training as a dancer, with an emphasis on ballet. She dropped out of college to move to New York to focus on acting, where she studied at the Actors Studio and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.

Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman and Teri Garr in ‘Young Frankenstein.'.Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty

Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty

“I got sick and fed up of dancing in the chorus,” she toldRoger Ebertin 1980. “I trained for 10 years. I finally asked myself, ‘Why am I not in the front? I didn’t study all those years to be in the back and get no money.'”

She continued, “But I was shy and sweet. So I started going to the shrink and I learned how to talk to people. Directors would tell me, ‘We want you to play a character a little less complex than you are.’ Yeah, sure. What they mean is, ‘You’re playing a dummy.'"

Teri Garr in 1983.Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty

Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty

Soon Garr began to find major success. In 1974, she appeared in Francis Ford Coppola’s thrillerThe Conversation. That same year, she starred in the Mel Brooks horror comedyYoung Frankensteinas Inga, Dr. Frankenstein’s assistant — a role she secured with some help from her mom.

Teri Garr in 1984.Bob Riha, Jr./Getty

Bob Riha, Jr./Getty

“My mother was the wardrobe woman onYoung Frankenstein,” she toldPBSin 2012. “I asked her if they’d finished casting, and she said she didn’t know.” Garr asked her agent to get her an audition, and after four rounds of auditions, she was cast. “It was unbelievable.” Her time onSonny & Cherhelped her nail the role. “I got the German accent from Cher’s wig lady,” she revealed.

Teri Garr and Dustin Hoffman in ‘Tootsie.'.Columbia Pictures/Getty Images

Three years later, she starred in Steven Spielberg’sClose Encounters of the Third Kind, which let her flex her dramatic skills. Then in 1982, she starred alongside Dustin Hoffman inTootsie. Film critic Pauline Kael called Garr “the funniest neurotic dizzy dame on the screen.” She received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for the film, but lost to herTootsiecostar Jessica Lange.

Teri Garr and Michael Keaton in ‘Mr. Mom.'.20th Century Fox

“I tried to make the character a little more real,” she toldThe Washington Postin 1983 about her part inMr. Mom. “And they stopped me dead in my tracks. You don’t have to have too much of a brain in this business to realize that the only way you’ll ever get to do anything that you really want to do is to become a director.”

Teri Garr and David Letterman in 1982.Yvonne Hemsey/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

“I went on the Letterman show the first time to plug something, and then I came back as the Fool, the court jester,” she said. Ebert noted that Garr was one of the only Letterman guests who could “put dents in his aplomb.”

Teri Garr in ‘Women of the House’ in 1995.CBS via Getty

CBS via Getty

Later roles for Garr included parts inCasper Meets Wendy, theDesigning Womenspinoff seriesWomen of the House,DickandGhost World. She also appeared onFriendsas Phoebe’s birth mother.

Garr revealed in 2002 that during the 1990s she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She first began noticing symptoms while filmingOne From the HeartandTootsie.

Teri Garr.Mark Sullivan/WireImage

Gossip about her diagnosis before she went public hurt her career. “Whatever this MS was, the industry wanted no part of it,” she wrote. “At first I was outraged. Whatever was going on in my body had been going on for years. It never got in the way of my work. Then I started thinking the job offers disappeared because I stunk as an actress. It was a tough trio: mysterious symptoms, my insecurities about my acting ability, and the reality of being an ‘aging’ actress.”

Garr became a national ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and national chair for the Society’s Women Against MS program. She limited the number of projects she appeared in and retired from acting in 2011.

Teri Garr in 2015.Albert L. Ortega/Getty

Albert L. Ortega/Getty

“Slowing down is so not in my nature, but I have to,” she toldBrain & Life Magazinein 2005. “Stress and anxiety and all those high-tension things are not good for MS.”

Garr married John O’Neil in 1993. Together they adopted daughter Molly. The couple split in 1996.

source: people.com