Teri Garr Dead At 79; Starred In 'Young Frankenstein' And 'Tootsie'

LOS ANGELES — Actress Teri Garr, of "Young Frankenstein" and "Tootsie" fame, died Tuesday of multiple sclerosis. She was 79.

Garr was "surrounded by family and friends" when she died, according to her publicist, Heidi Schaeffer.

Film critic Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com described Garr in a social media post as "one of the funniest women to ever live."

"Teri was a legend," director Paul Feig wrote in a post on X. "So funny, so beautiful, so kind. I had the honor of working with her in 2006 and she was everything I dreamed she would be. Truly one of my comedy heroes. I couldn’t have loved her more. This is such a loss."

In "Young Frankenstein" Garr played the straight woman equal to Gene Wilder's comedic genius.

"Never the star, but always shining," screenwriter Cinco Paul wrote in a post on X. "She made everything she was in better. RIP, Teri Garr."

Feig and Paul were among many friends and colleagues who took to social media to pay tribute to Garr.

"We became fast friends nearly 50 years ago when I was close with the late Carrie Fisher, as they were roommates in New York," singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop wrote on X. "The world has lost not only a beautiful soul but also an incredible talent. Her brilliance on screen was matched only by her warmth and generosity as a friend."

Her father was Eddie Garr, a well-known vaudeville comedian; her mother was Phyllis Lind, one of the original high-kicking Rockettes at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Their daughter began dance lessons at 6 and by 14 was dancing with the San Francisco and Los Angeles ballet companies.

She was 16 when she joined the road company of "West Side Story" in Los Angeles, and as early as 1963 she began appearing in bit parts in films.

She recalled in a 1988 interview how she won the "West Side Story" role. After being dropped from her first audition, she returned a day later in different clothes and was accepted.

From there, the blonde, statuesque Garr found steady work dancing in movies, and she appeared in the chorus of nine Presley films, including "Viva Las Vegas," "Roustabout" and "Clambake."

She graduated from North Hollywood High School and studied speech and drama for two years at California State University, Northridge.

She also appeared on numerous television shows, including "Star Trek," "Dr. Kildare" and "Batman," and was a featured dancer on the rock 'n' roll music show "Shindig," the rock concert performance T.A.M.I. and a cast member of "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour."

Her big film break came as Gene Hackman's girlfriend in 1974's Francis Ford Coppola thriller "The Conversation." That led to an interview with Mel Brooks, who said he would hire her for the role of Gene Wilder's German lab assistant in 1974's "Young Frankenstein" — if she could speak with a German accent.

"Cher had this German woman, Renata, making wigs, so I got the accent from her," Garr once recalled.

Her big smile and off-center appeal helped land her roles in "Oh God!" opposite George Burns and John Denver, "Mr. Mom" (as Michael Keaton's wife) and "Tootsie" in which she played the girlfriend who loses Dustin Hoffman to Jessica Lange and learns that he has dressed up as a woman to revive his career. (She also lost the supporting actress Oscar at that year's Academy Awards to Lange.)

Although best known for comedy, Garr showed in such films as "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "The Black Stallion" and "The Escape Artist" that she could handle drama equally well.

She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999. For three years Garr didn't reveal her illness, but after going public, she became a spokeswoman for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, making humorous speeches to gatherings in the U.S. and Canada.

She also continued to act, appearing on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Greetings From Tucson," "Life With Bonnie" and other TV shows. She also had a brief recurring role on "Friends" in the 1990s as Lisa Kudrow's mother.

Her last on-screen appearance was in 2011, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Garr battled other health problems in recent years, and underwent an operation in January 2007 to repair an aneurysm.

After several failed romances, she married contractor John O'Neill in 1993. They adopted a daughter, Molly, before divorcing in 1996.

She is also survived by a grandson, Tyryn, according to the Reporter.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.