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Legendary Tootsie and Young Frankenstein star Teri Garr dies, age 79

Nicole Keramos
Oct 30, 2024
As news of the actress's death made headlines, fans paid tribute to Garr's life and work. Source: AP PHOTO.

Academy Award-nominated actress Teri Garr, best known for such films as Young Frankenstein, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Tootsie, has sadly died at the age of 79.

Garr reportedly passed away due to complications from multiple sclerosis (MS). In 2002 she disclosed that she had been diagnosed with the condition after experiencing symptoms for some two decades and underwent surgery for a brain aneurysm in 2007.

Her publicist, Heidi Schaeffer, told People magazine that she was “surrounded by family and friends” when she passed away.

The Young Frankenstein actress was born to showbiz parents in Cleveland, Ohio, on December, 11, 1941. Her father, Eddie, was a vaudeville performer and actor who appeared on Broadway and her mother, Phyllis, had been a Rockette.

After attending college in Los Angeles, Garr moved to New York City to pursue a career first in ballet and then in acting, studying at the famed Actor’s Studio in Manhattan. The comedy legend went on to appear in over 140 roles on television and film over a 40 year period and was recognised for her talent with a BAFTA and Academy Award nominations and and a National Board of Review Award.

The Mr Mom star said her “big break”  was appearing on an episode of the original season of Star Trek in 1968 but she hit her stride in the early 70s and rose to fame with stand-out performances in Francis Ford Coppola’s thriller The Conversation (1974), Mel Brooks’s comedy Young Frankenstein (1974), and in 1977 both Steven Spielberg’s science fiction film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 

The show business veteran was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Sydney Pollack comedy Tootsie in 1982. She continued to work steadily in the 80s and 90s, making multiple appearances in the hit sitcom Friends, as Phoebe’s mother.

After announcing her MS diagnosis in 2002, she retired from acting.

As news of the actress’s death made headlines, fans paid tribute to Garr’s life and work.

Garr is survived by her daughter, Molly O’Neil, and grandson, Tyryn.

-with Reuters.

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