LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� Teri Garr, the quirky comedy actor who rose from background dancer in Elvis Presley movies to co-star of such favorites and "Tootsie," has died. She was 79.
Garr died Tuesday of multiple sclerosis 鈥渟urrounded by family and friends,鈥� said publicist Heidi Schaeffer. Garr battled other health problems in recent years and underwent an operation in January 2007 to repair an aneurysm.
Admirers took to social media in her honor, with calling her 鈥渢ruly one of my comedy heroes. I couldn鈥檛 have loved her more鈥� and saying: 鈥淣ever the star, but always shining. She made everything she was in better.鈥�
The actor, who was sometimes credited as Terri, Terry or Terry Ann during her long career, seemed destined for show business from her childhood.
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, 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 also appeared on numerous television shows, including 鈥淪tar Trek,鈥� 鈥淒r. Kildare鈥� and 鈥淏atman,鈥� and was a featured dancer on the rock 鈥榥鈥� roll music show 鈥淪hindig,鈥� the rock concert performance T.A.M.I. and a cast member of 鈥淭he Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.鈥�
Her big film break came as Gene Hackman鈥檚 girlfriend in 1974鈥檚 thriller 鈥淭he Conversation.鈥� That led to an interview with Mel Brooks, who said he would hire her for the role of Gene Wilder鈥檚 German lab assistant in 1974鈥檚 鈥淵oung Frankenstein鈥� 鈥� if she could speak with a German accent.
鈥淐her had this German woman, Renata, making wigs, so I got the accent from her,鈥� Garr once recalled.
The film established her as a talented comedy performer, with New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael proclaiming her 鈥渢he funniest neurotic dizzy dame on the screen.鈥�
Her big smile and off-center appeal helped land her roles in 鈥淥h, God!鈥� opposite George Burns and John Denver, 鈥淢r. Mom鈥� (as Michael Keaton鈥檚 wife) and 鈥淭ootsie鈥� 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鈥檚 Academy Awards to Lange.)
Although best known for comedy, Garr showed in such films as 鈥淐lose Encounters of the Third Kind,鈥� 鈥淭he Black Stallion鈥� and 鈥淭he Escape Artist鈥� that she could handle drama equally well.
鈥淚 would like to play 鈥楴orma Rae鈥� and 鈥楽ophie鈥檚 Choice,鈥� but I never got the chance,鈥� she once said, adding she had become typecast as a comic actor.
She had a flair for spontaneous humor, often playing David Letterman鈥檚 foil during guest appearances on NBC鈥檚 鈥淟ate Night With David Letterman鈥� early in its run.
Her appearances became so frequent, and the pair鈥檚 good-natured bickering so convincing, that for a time rumors cropped up that they were romantically involved. Years later, Letterman credited those early appearances with helping make the show a hit.
It was also during those years that Garr began to feel 鈥渁 little beeping or ticking鈥� in her right leg. It began in 1983 and eventually spread to her right arm as well, but she felt she could live with it. By 1999 the symptoms had become so severe that she consulted a doctor. The diagnosis: multiple sclerosis.
For three years Garr didn鈥檛 reveal her illness.
鈥淚 was afraid that I wouldn鈥檛 get work,鈥� she explained in a 2003 interview. 鈥淧eople hear MS and think, 鈥極h, my God, the person has two days to live.鈥欌��
After going public, she became a spokesperson for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, making humorous speeches to gatherings in the U.S. and Canada.
鈥淵ou have to find your center and roll with the punches because that鈥檚 a hard thing to do: to have people pity you,鈥� she commented in 2005. 鈥淛ust trying to explain to people that I鈥檓 OK is tiresome.鈥�
She also continued to act, appearing on 鈥淟aw & Order: Special Victims Unit,鈥� 鈥淕reetings From Tucson,鈥� 鈥淟ife With Bonnie鈥� and other TV shows. She also had a brief recurring role on 鈥淔riends鈥� in the 1990s as Lisa Kudrow鈥檚 mother. Garr married contractor John O鈥橬eil in 1993. They adopted a daughter, Molly, before divorcing in 1996.
In her 2005 autobiography, 鈥淪peedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood,鈥� Garr explained her decision not to discuss her age.
鈥淢y mother taught me that showbiz people never tell their real ages. She never revealed hers or my father鈥檚,鈥� she wrote.
She said she was born in Los Angeles, although most reference books list Lakewood, Ohio. As her father鈥檚 career waned, the family, including Teri鈥檚 two older brothers, lived with relatives in the Midwest and East.
The Garrs eventually moved back to California, settling in the San Fernando Valley, where Teri graduated from North Hollywood High School and studied speech and drama for two years at California State University, Northridge.
Garr recalled in 1988 what her father had told his children about pursuing a career in Hollywood.
鈥淒on鈥檛 be in this business,鈥� he told them. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the lowest. It鈥檚 humiliating to people.鈥�
Garr is survived by her daughter, Molly O鈥橬eil, and a grandson, Tyryn.
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Bob Thomas, a longtime Associated Press journalist who died in 2014, was the principal writer of this obituary. AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy contributed to this report.
Bob Thomas, The Associated Press
