‘Young Frankenstein, ‘Tootsie’ actress dies at 79
Actress Teri Garr has died at age 79.
Garr died Tuesday morning in Los Angeles after a long battle with multiple sclerosis, her publicist, Heidi Schaeffer, confirmed to The Post.
She is survived by her daughter, Molly O’Neil, 30, and grandson Tyryn, 6.
The late star was best known for her roles in the films “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie,” the latter of which earned her an Oscar nomination.
Garr was born on December 11, 1944, in Lakewood, Ohio. She moved to Los Angeles and later to New York to pursue acting. She started out as a go-go dancer and made appearances in six projects with Elvis Presley in the 1960s.
Her first on-screen speaking role was in 1968’s “Head,” written and produced by Jack Nicholson.
Some of her other earliest credits included appearances in shows like “Star Trek,” “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour” and “The New Dick Van Dyke Show.”
Garr’s big break came with her role as Inga, Frankenstein’s assistant, in Mel Brooks’ 1974 comedy horror “Young Frankenstein.” Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman and Cloris Leachman also starred in the movie.
That same year, Garr starred in Francis Ford Coppola’s thriller “The Conversation.” She followed that up with Steven Spielberg’s 1977 sci-fi film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
Come the 1980s, Garr landed a role opposite Dustin Hoffman in the satirical rom-com “Tootsie.” Her performance as Sandy Lester earned Garr her first and only nomination for an Academy Award.
“I was proud,” Garr wrote of her Oscar nomination in her 2005 memoir, per CNN. “The Academy not only knew I existed, they thought I was good!”
Garr starred in more movies, including “The Escape Artist,” “Mr. Mom,” “After Hours,” “Waiting for the Light,” “Michael” and “A Simple Wish.”
On television, she played Phoebe Abbot in three episodes of “Friends” in 1997 and 1998.
Garr also hosted “Saturday Night Live” three times and made appearances on various late-night shows, including “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and “Late Night With David Letterman.”
Garr’s final acting role was in the 2011 TV film “How to Marry a Billionaire.”
In 2002, Garr revealed that she had been secretly battling multiple sclerosis.
“I really didn’t think there was any reason to come out and say anything about it,” she told Larry King on CNN at the time.
“I think now, the good news is there is a lot of good medicine out there,” she added. “If I can just help people to feel better.”
Garr later suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm in 2006, which left her in a coma for a week. She recovered and briefly returned to acting before retiring in 2011.
The late star had one daughter, Molly, from her marriage to John O’Neil. The former couple was married from 1993 to 1996.
