Teri Garr Dead: 'Tootsie' Oscar Nominee & 'Young Frankenstein' Star Was 79
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Teri Garr, who scored an Oscar nomination for Tootsie , starred opposite Gene Wilder in Mel Brooks' classic horror spoof Young Frankenstein and played Richard Dreyfuss' put-upon wife in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, died Tuesday. She was 79.
Her publicist Heidi Schaeffer told The Associated Press that Garr died of multiple sclerosis after struggling with health issues in recent years.
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Garr got her start with bit parts in a number of 1960s Elvis Presley movies, including Viva Las Vegas and Roustabout and appeared in the 1964 Annette Funicello romp Pajama Party. She continued to land small movie roles throughout the decade and also appeared in episodes of classic TV series Star Trek, That Girl, Mayberry R.F.D., It Takes a Thief and Room 222.
In the early '70s, she recurred on The Sonny and Cher Hour and guested on M*A*S*H, The Odd Couple, The Bob Newhart Show, Barnaby Jones and other popular series. But her breakout year was 1974.
That year she appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's Best Picture Oscar nominee The Conversation starring Gene Hackman and later landed likely her most famous role. Garr played Inga, a Transylvania local who becomes the assistant to Wilder's Dr. Frederick Frankenstein — FRONK-en-steen, if you please — in Brooks' smash comedy Young Frankenstein. It's stellar cast also included Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman and Hackman in a memorable cameo.
The film won critical acclaim and was a huge commercial hit, later being resurrected as a Broadway musical.
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Great movie.
she was a great actress and deserved to be in classic TV shows and classic movies.
Maybe, I just reflexively put obit stories in the news section.
So sad to hear this. I loved her as an actress. There's another movie she starred in with Richard Dreyfus as his much put upon wife and that was "Let It Ride". It's a movie about a horse and some others
I think my favorite movie of hers was Mr. Mom. Such a great actress.
Yeah, she was great in that movie, too
I've only seen her comedies.