Oscar-nominated actress Teri Garr, known for Young Frankenstein and Tootsie, dies at 79

Teri Garr, an Oscar-nominated actress known for her work in films such as Young Frankenstein, Tootsie and multiple TV series such as Friends, has died according to her manager.

She was 79.

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Garr died Tuesday in Los Angeles, more than 20 years after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, her manager Marc Gurvitz told CNN.

She first shared her diagnosis publicly in a 2002 interview with CNN in an effort to raise awareness for others living with MS.

“I think everybody is scared and frightened when they hear something like that,” Garr recalled of first learning her diagnosis, after visiting 11 doctors and experiencing years of symptoms they couldn’t explain.

“That’s because there’s so much — you know, there’s not a lot of information out there about it. And a lot of people don’t know that it’s not that bad. I mean, I’m going on with my life.”

The daughter of a Broadway performer and a Rockette, Garr studied dance growing up and began auditioning soon after she graduated from high school in Los Angeles. Her earliest credits include dancing and appearing as an extra in films such as Elvis Presley’s Viva Las Vegas.

“I finally asked myself, Why am I not in the front?” Garr later reflected. “I didn’t study all those years to be in the back and get no money.”

The 1970s proved to be a prolific time for Garr, who appeared on several episodes of the sketch comedy series The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, The Odd Couple and The Bob Newhart Show, among many others.

Her big break came in 1974, when she starred as Inga in the Mel Brooks-directed comedy hit Young Frankenstein alongside Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn and Marty Feldman.

Two years later, Garr appeared in one of her most notable roles when she played Ronnie Neary, a wife trying to understand her husband’s (Richard Dreyfuss) inexplicable obsession as the result of an alien encounter, in Steven Spielberg’s 1977 sci-fi epic Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Teri Garr and Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie. Credit: IMDB

Teri Garr (far right) Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, and Cloris Leachman in Young Frankenstein. Credit: IMDB

In Tootsie, Garr played a put-upon struggling actress who was dating Dustin Hoffman‘s protagonist who in turn goes on to great fame pretending to be a woman on a soap opera.

The role scored Garr a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 1983 Academy Awards.

“I was proud,” Garr wrote of the nomination in her 2005 memoir, Speedbumps: Flooring it Through Hollywood.

“The Academy not only knew I existed, they thought I was good!”

Also in 1983, she played advertising executive Caroline Butler in the rousing family comedy Mr. Mom alongside Michael Keaton.

In a 2012 interview, Garr said she was not surprised two of her most memorable roles dealt with breaking stereotypes about gender norms.

“I resent it when they write the part of a woman who’s just a sexy femme fatale who seduces people to get her way, perpetuating the myth that that’s how women have to operate, instead of using their brains or their wit,” Garr reflected.

Her career continued with more film and television work. Throughout the ’90s, Garr appeared in 1991’s Good & Evil, 1994’s Good Advice and 1995’s Women of the House.

Garr played Lisa Kudrow’s mother in Friends. Credit: Getty

Garr was known for her slightly addled and zany comic timing, which naturally made her the perfect candidate to play mother to Lisa Kudrow’s Phoebe Buffay on Friends. Garr appeared in three episodes total over the third and fourth seasons.

Throughout the 2000s, Garr made guest appearances on Felicity, ER and Live with Bonnie.

She also delved into voice acting work in the early aughts, voicing the character of Mary McGinnis in the animated Batman Beyond TV series, as well as voicing Sandy Gordon in 2003’s What’s New, Scooby Doo? animated series.

Garr’s final credit came in 2011 when she appeared on the TV series How to Marry a Billionaire.

Garr was an advocate for people living with MS. Credit: AAP

Through it all, Garr was a vocal advocate for people living with MS.

“I think some people want you to be upset. Not only am I not upset, but I’m okay. I don’t see any profit in being down, I don’t see that it gets you anywhere,” Garr reflected in an interview about the sense of optimism she maintained.

“Maybe it has to do with my show-business background. You’re always being told that you’re not right for something, not tall enough, not pretty enough, whatever. I would say, ‘But I’m smart, I’m talented, I’m this, I’m that!!’ I’ve always been able to do that, and I do it now with MS.”

“I’ve always been a feisty person,” she added.