While it’s been an exciting year of 2024 movies, we have also lost titans of stage, screen, and television. The unforgettable Teri Garr is one such legend that we have come to memorialize today, as the star of films such as Young Frankenstein and Tootsie, has died at the age of 79.
Variety broke the news, reporting Garr’s passing with no further information on cause of death. The source also noted the fact that Teri Garr was diagnosed with MS in 2002, and had suffered an aneurysm in 2006; but no connection to her passing has been made at this time.
Teri Garr’s career started as an uncredited performer in a series of Elvis movies between 1963 and 1964. Eventually the Ohio born talent would land herself roles as part of Star Trek canon with a role in that entry into classic TV series finale canon. Appearing on other TV landmarks like The Bob Newhart Show and M*A*S*H, which ultimately led to the 1,2 punch of her roles in The Conversation and Young Frankenstein, both released in 1974.
Over time, Garr’s comedic timing would be shared with an even wider audience, thanks to roles in projects like Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Considered one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, it was only the beginning as Teri Garr would continue to play in the realms of both TV and movies.
Ms. Garr’s imprint was all the better felt on the pop culture landscape through other roles, such as playing Lisa Kudrow's birth mother on the NBC hit Friends, which may or may not have contributed to Phoebe's most memorable Friends lines. Animation fans would also be familiar with the late actor's work, in voiceover roles such as Mary McGinnis in Batman Beyond.
Unfortunately her diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis would necessitate her retirement from acting in 2011, with her final screen credit being that year’s TV movie How to Marry a Billionaire. Even with that said, Teri Garr’s time on screens big and small saw her never passing up an opportunity to give her all for a role that she had landed.
Light hearted comedies like the 80's movie Mr. Mom (which also happens to be one of Michael Keaton's best movies) mingled easily with roles like The Conversation on her resume. And Ms. Garr's experimental side was also well represented, as counterculture offerings like The TAMI Show, and even a part in one of Francis Ford Coppola’s experimental 1982 musical One From The Heart, contributed to her enduring legacy.
If you were to sum up Teri Garr in a word, "fearless" is as good a choice as any. When we lose a talent like hers' it’s easy to remember just how talented she was. But as always, it’s going to be those who had the most personal connections to her that will be feeling the deepest feelings. It’s with that knowledge that we here at CinemaBlend send our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Teri Garr, as they navigate this time of sorrow and remembrance.
