Young Frankenstein, Tootsie Star Teri Garr Passes Away

Teri Garr, the comedienne known for her roles in Young Frankenstein, Tootsie, Mr. Mom and other 1970s and 1980s hits, has passed away. Deadline reports that Garr passed on Tuesday in her Los Angeles home of multiple sclerosis, a condition she was diagnosed with in 1999. She was 79 years old.

Garr became a houshold name in the 1970s and 1980s with work in the above films along with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and more, though her career began much earlier. She was born in Los Angeles to Eddie Garr, a vaudeville performer and actor, and Phyllis Lind Garr who was a dancer and Rockette. Her father passed of a heart attack at the age of 11, which she said instilled a hard work ethic in her because she had to work for any opportunities she had growing up. She trained in ballet as a child and eventually dropped out of state college to pursue acting in New York.

Garr made her film debut in 1963 as an extra in A Swingin’ Affair and went on to appear uncredited in a number of films throughout the 1960s like Red Line 7000 and The Cool Ones. She appeared as a background dancer in six Elvis Presley films including Viva Las Vegas, Roustabout, and Pajama Party thanks to her friendship with David Winters, who became a mentor to her. She also made appearances on TV in shows like Batman, The Andy Griffith Show, and Mayberry R.F.D..

Her first speaking role in film was in 1968, when she got a small role in The Monkees’ Head thanks to meeting Jack Nicholson (who wrote the film) in an acting class. Her first big TV role came that year as well in the Star Trek episode “Assignment: Earth” which was intended to be a backdoor pilot for a show that never came to fruition. She continued to rise from there, appearing as a regular on The Ken Berry “WOW” Show and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour before her career really took off with Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation in 1974. That was followed by Young Frankenstein in which she played Inga, which proved to be her career breakthrough.

Garr appeared in major roles in a number of successful films after that including Close Encounters and Oh! God in 1977, Black Stallion in 1979, and Tootsie in 1982. Her performance as Sandy Lester in the latter film earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Garr continued to work throughout the 1980s and 1990s in films like Mr. Mom, After Hours, Mom and Dad Save the World, Dumb and Dumber and Michael. She also stayed busy on television, doing a number of TV films and appearing in guest spots on the likes of Faerie Tale Theatre, Tales from the Crypt, Murphy Brown, The Larry Sanders Show, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Friends, and E.R.. She voiced Mary McGinnis in 10 episodes of Batman Beyond and made a number of celebrity appearances on shows as herself. She retired in 2011.

On behalf of 411, our condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Teri Garr. She will be missed.