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    • “Young Frankenstein” actress, who battled MS, dies at 79
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    “Young Frankenstein” actress, who battled MS, dies at 79

    Online Niel Posted on

    Teri Garr, comedic actress who starred in “Tootsie” and “Young Frankenstein“, died at 79 years old.

    Her publicist Heidi Schaeffer told USA TODAY that Garr died Tuesday morning “after a long battle with MS” and did so “peacefully surrounded by family and friends.” In 2002, Garr shared publicly on CNN’s “Larry King Live.” she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosiswhich is known as MS.

    Garr, the daughter of actor Eddie Garr and costume designer Phyllis Garr, began her career with small gigs in Elvis Presley movies before her scene-stealing performances in movies like “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie.” She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for the latter role.

    Her many Hollywood admirers paid tribute on social media as news of her death spread.

    “This is a day I dreaded and knew was coming,” posted Michael Keaton, her “Mr. Mom”, on Instagram. “Forget how great she was as an actress and comedian. She was a wonderful woman. Not just great to work with, but great to be around.” He urged fans to come back and check out his comedy work: “Man, that was great!!”

    “Teri was a legend. So funny, so beautiful, so kindPaul Feig, who directed her in Unaccompanied Minors, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I had the honor of working with her in 2006 and she was everything I dreamed she would be. Truly one of my comedy heroes. I couldn’t have loved her more.”

    Garr was a favorite of talk show hosts such as Johnny Carson and David Letterman, where her incandescent aura and quick wit often made for memorable appearances. In her many roles, Garr had a way of seeming simultaneously idiotic and savvy, clueless and intelligent.

    The actress launched her career as a dancer, appearing on popular TV shows like ‘Shindig!’ and “Hullabaloo,” which capitalized on the rock craze of the ’60s. This soon translated into a series of often brief television appearances on programs ranging from ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ to ‘Star Trek’ before landing a regular role as an actress and dancer on the hugely popular ‘ Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour”.

    Garr came into her own in the 1970s with roles in films that became classics. Her talent has allowed her to span multiple genres, from Francis Ford Coppola’s intense drama The Conversation to Steven Spielberg’s alien epic Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

    But it was her performance in Mel Brooks’ classic horror film Young Frankenstein (1974) where Garr really shined. Playing Dr. Frankenstein’s (Gene Wilder) accented assistant Inga, Garr was both a draw and a source of high comedy, including a memorable scene in which she asks Frankenstein if he’d like to roll in hay. He bristles at the offer, but she takes it literally.

    “It’s fun,” says Garr as Inga, suddenly rolling back and forth in a pile of hay. “Roll, roll, roll in zee fan.”

    Director Mel Brooks, in his 2016 book, Young Frankenstein: The Making of the Movie, recalled how he was immediately captivated by Garr when she auditioned.

    “Gene, not me, insisted we hear her,” he wrote. “I knew Teri was going to be sensational when she read the line where Cloris (Leachman) removes the large steel barriers that held the monster on the table. Teri had to come down the steps and say, “No, no, you don’t have to ‘t.’ In Teri’s audition, with great fear in her voice, she said, “No, no, no! giving it just the right Transylvanian touch. She was perfect!

    “Gene didn’t know he was funny and Teri didn’t know she was hot,” Brooks wrote. “She acted so innocent, like a farm girl.”

    The 1980s brought several top-notch Garr performances that cemented her reputation as a reliable box-office draw. In 1982, he appeared in Tootsie, opposite Dustin Hoffman, whose main character believes the only way to get a role is to dress as a woman. Garr earned an Oscar nomination for her efforts, though she lost to her co-star Jessica Lange.

    A year later, Garr played Keaton’s wife in Mr. Mom,” the story of the fired husband who ends up switching family roles with his husband. And in 1985, Garr played Julie, a waitress who falls in love with Griffin Dunne’s lead character, Paul, in Martin Scorsese’s madcap After Hours, which follows Paul through his Manhattan manic all night.

    Although Garr continued to act into the 1990s, appearing on TV shows such as “Friends” (playing Phoebe’s mother), her career slowed after she discovered that the muscular and cognitive symptoms she had been experiencing were MS. She has embarked on a disease awareness campaign, appearing on behalf of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Race to Erase MS, leaning on a cane or in a wheelchair.

    Garr was briefly married from 1993 to 1996 to entrepreneur John O’Neil, and the couple adopted a child, Molly. In 2005, Garr released his autobiography, Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood. In 2006, she suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm that left her in a coma for a week. After working with a therapist, he regained his speech and motor skills and even appeared on Letterman’s show again to promote his movie “Expired.”

    Legendary New York film critic Pauline Kael was renowned for actors and directors alike. But she had nothing but praise for Garr, rightly describing the actress as “the funniest giddy neurotic lady on screen”.

    Contributors: Kim Willis and Gary Levin

    (This story has been updated with new information.)

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