Teri Garr, a Scene-Stealer in ‘Tootsie’ and ‘Young Frankenstein,’ Dies at 79

Teri Garr, the Oscar-nominated actress best known for her scene-stealing comedic turns in Young Frankenstein and Tootsie—whom The New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael once called “the funniest neurotic dizzy dame on the screen,” died Tuesday, following a decades-long fight against multiple sclerosis, Variety reports. She was 79.

When remembering how he cast Garr in her breakout role as Inga, Dr. Frankenstein’s comely lab assistant in Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks jokingly recalled, “Gene (Wilder) told me about this Teri Garr person. We had some film on Teri and I said, ‘She’s absolutely beautiful; can she act?’ And Gene said, ‘Who gives a shit?’”

She could act. In the 1970s and early 80s, Garr worked with Hollywood’s leading directors, including Francis Ford Coppola (The Conversation), Steven Spielberg (Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Carl Reiner (Oh, God!) and Martin Scorsese (After Hours).

She could also dance. Her earliest screen appearances were vivacious dancing roles in the seminal rock concert film The T.A.M.I. Show, Pajama Party and seven Elvis Presley films, including Viva Las Vegas.

Garr was also a sparkling and quick-witted talk show guest, most memorably on Late Night with David Letterman; the host called her one of his favorites. She and Letterman enjoyed a charming rapport. Perhaps her most audacious appearance came in 1985, when Letterman filmed a show entirely in his office and goaded her into taking a shower during the program. “I hate you,” she can be heard screaming behind the shower curtain. “Why am I doing this?”

Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio on Dec. 11, 1945. Her father, Eddie Garr, was a former vaudevillian and nightclub entertainer who later appeared on Broadway. Her mother, Phyllis, was an original Radio City Rockette. Eddie died when Teri was 11, and her mother moved the family to California, where she became a costumer. Her credits included the TV series That Girl and the films Tell Me You Love Me, Junie Moon and Walking Tall.