The 1970s and 1980s actress Teri Garr, who starred in such films as, “Mr. Mom,” “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie” has died.
She was 79 years old.
Garr died of multiple sclerosis “surrounded by family and friends” her publicist announced, according to The Associated Press.
She had other health problems, including an aneurysm which was repaired in 2007.
Garr, born in 1947, was from an entertainment family. Her father Eddie was a vaudeville comedian while her mother Phyllis was a member of the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. Garr started dancing at the age of 6 and by 14 was performing with ballet companies in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the AP reported.
She toured with “West Side Story” when she was only 16 and got her first film acting roles in 1963 dancing in movies.
Garr appeared in several Elvis Presley movies including “Viva Las Vegas,” “Roustabout” and “Clambake.”
She also appeared on several television shows including “Star Trek,” “The Andy Griffith Show” and “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.”
One of her first big roles was as Inga in Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein.” Garr also appeared as Bobbie Landers in George Burns’ “Oh, God!,” Sandy Lester in “Tootsie” opposite Dustin Hoffman and Caroline Butler in “Mr. Mom” opposite Michael Keaton, according to her IMDB profile.
While she was known for her comedic chops, she also appeared in dramas such as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and ”The Escape Artist,” the AP reported.
Still, she thought she was typecast for comedy, with New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael calling her “the funniest neurotic dizzy dame on the screen.”
She realized that something was wrong in 1983 when she felt “a little beeping or tickling” in her right leg. The sensation spread to her right arm, but she said she could deal with it.
But by 1999 the symptoms advanced and she saw a doctor who diagnosed her with multiple sclerosis, a diagnosis that she kept secret for three years, to allow her to keep working. She eventually announced her condition and became a spokeswoman for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
“You have to find your center and roll with the punches because that’s a hard thing to do: to have people pity you,” she said in 2005, the AP reported. “Just trying to explain to people that I’m OK is tiresome.”
Her last role was in the 2011 television series “How to Marry a Billionaire.”
Garr leaves behind her daughter Molly O’Neil and a grandson, Variety reported.
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