Teri Garr in ‘One from the Heart’. Photo: Columbia Pictures.
Preview:
- Actor Teri Garr has died at the age of 79.
- She’s best remembered for her performances in ‘Tootsie’ and ‘Young Frankenstein.’
- Garr got her start as a background dancer for the likes of Elvis Presley.
Teri Garr, whose bubbly charm made her memorable both on and off screen, has died. She was 79.
Garr will forever be known for her roles in Mel Brooks’ ‘Young Frankenstein’ and the 1982 comedy ‘Tootsie.’
Yet her career, and indeed her life, was much more varied than that, taking in background dancing and regular appearances on comedy variety shows.
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Early life and Career
Teri Garr in ‘One from the Heart’. Photo: Columbia Pictures.
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 (which would end up being helpful later in her daughter’s career.)
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.
This is how Garr remembered her mother to the LA Times in 2008:
“She put two kids through school. 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…’ ”
Before she ever considered acting, Garr started training as a dancer, with an emphasis on ballet., and it would play a part in her performing career too.
Still, 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.
(L to R) Michael Keaton and Teri Garr in ‘Mr. Mom’. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Her earliest projects allowed her to use her dancing skills. She appeared in six movies starring Elvis Presley, including 1964’s ‘Viva Las Vegas.’ She also appeared on TV variety shows as a dancer.
But she tired of simply being part of chorus and began to pursue more acting work. After meeting Jack Nicholson in an acting class, she scored her first speaking role in The Monkees’ 1968 movie ‘Head,’ which he wrote.
Her film career began to take off, and she won roles in the likes of ‘The Conversation’ in 1974 and, most memorably, in Mel Brooks’ ‘Young Frankenstein’ as Inga, Dr. Frankenstein’s assistant.
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Garr’s mother was the wardrobe woman on the movie, but that didn’t automatically open the door for her –– the actor still had to audition, and after four rounds, she got the part.
From there, she would enjoy a run of roles in big movies, including playing Richard Dreyfuss’ worried wife in ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ and then scored an Oscar nomination for her work alongside Dustin Hoffman in 1982’s ‘Tootsie.’
Among her other credits? ‘The Black Stallion’ and its 1983 sequel, ‘Witches’ Brew,’ ‘The Sting II,’ ‘After Hours,’ ‘Full Moon in Blue Water,’ ‘Waiting for the Light,’ ‘The Player,’ ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and ‘Dick.’
TV Work
(L to R) Lisa Kudrow and Teri Garr on ‘Friends’. Photo: Warner Bros. Television.
Garr’s notable TV work included her first major role, on the original ‘Star Trek’ series in the episode “Assignment: Earth.”
She sang, danced and played various characters during the 1971–72 season of ‘The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour,’ then had recurring roles on the two NBC shows: the short-lived Sally Field sitcom ‘The Girl With Something Extra’ and, as a ditzy policewoman, on the Dennis Weaver cop show ‘McCloud.’
Garr hosted ‘Saturday Night Live‘ three times (in 1980, 1983 and 1985) and was a frequent visitor on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson‘. She also appeared often on David Letterman’s shows.
The actor was also seen on ‘M*A*S*H,’ ‘The Bob Newhart Show,’ ‘The Odd Couple,’ ‘Maude’ and ‘Barnaby Jones.’ She made memorable appearances on ‘Friends,’ playing Phoebe’s estranged birth mother.
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Illness and Family Life
Teri Garr in ‘One from the Heart’. Photo: Columbia Pictures.
In the 1990s, Garr was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and it impacted her career going forward, though she continued to work.
This is how she described her condition in her memoir, “Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood” in 2006:
“My body had a trick or two up its sleeve. A stumble here, a tingling finger there. I was trained as a dancer and knew better than to indulge the random aches and pains that visited now and then. Being a successful Hollywood actress may be challenging, but little did I know that the very body that had always been my calling card would betray me.”
Garr married John O’Neil in 1993. Together they adopted daughter Molly, and the couple split in 1996.
She’s survived by Molly and her granddaughter, Tyryn.
(L to R) Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Gene Wilder and Teri Garr in ‘Young Frankenstein’. Photo: 20th Century-Fox.