The artist had an outstanding career in both film and television, and revealed her illness in 2002.
American actress and comedian, Teri Garr, died this Tuesday at the age of 79 in Los Angeles, after suffering from a case of multiple sclerosis for a large part of his life. Heidi Schaeffer, the artist’s representative and friend, confirmed the sad news.
Garr revealed his diagnosis in 2002, when he stated: “I think everyone gets scared when they hear something like that, that’s because there’s not a lot of information about it.”
Born in Ohio, the actress began her career as a background dancer alongside Elvis Presley in party films in the 1960s. She then continued to land small roles in films throughout the decade and also appeared in episodes of the classic television series Star Trek.
An outstanding career in film and television
In the early 1970s, he appeared recurrently in The Sonny and Cher Hour and was invited to M*A*S*H, The Odd Couple, The Bob Newhart Show, Barnaby Jones and other popular series. However, his great success came in 1974, when he appeared in The Conversationnominated for an Oscar for best film by Francis Ford Coppola, where she played the girlfriend of the protagonist (Gene Hackman) and later that year she got probably her most famous role: she played Inga, a Transylvanian local who becomes the assistant of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Wilder) in the hit comedy Young Frankenstein. Furthermore, he participated in one of Steven Spielberg’s best works, Close Encounters of the Third Kindwhere he played Ronnie Neary.
In 1982, he received an Oscar nomination for his performance in Tootsie. The comedy, directed by Sydney Pollack, is about an unemployed actor who lands an important role in a soap opera disguised as a woman. “Dorothy Michaels” becomes an overnight sensation and hijinks ensue as Michael Dorsey, played by Dustin Hoffman, fights to keep his secret.
Sandy Lester (Garr) becomes Dorsey’s lover, while he secretly lusts after his co-star Julie, played by Jessica Lange, who won the Oscar for best supporting actress over Garr. The film, which also starred Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning and Bill Murray, was also a huge commercial success.
Garr continued to work in films and television until the 2010s, where she became famous for her recurring role in Friends as Phoebe’s mother (Lisa Kudrow) and also for her participation as a guest star in television series like ER, Frasier, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and others.
Source: Ambito
