Teri Garr

Teri Ann Garr (December 11, 1944 - October 29, 2024) was an American actress, dancer and singer. She frequently appeared in comedic roles throughout her career, which spanned four decades and includes over 140 credits in film and television. Her accolades include one Academy Award nomination, a BAFTA Award nomination, and one National Board of Review Award. Born in Lakewood, Ohio, Garr was raised in North Hollywood. She was the third child of a comedic-actor father and a studio costumer mother. In her youth, Garr trained in ballet and other forms of dance. She began her career as a teenager with small roles in television and film in the early 1960s, including appearances as a dancer in six Elvis Presley musicals. After spending two years attending college, Garr left Los Angeles and studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York City. Her self-described "big break" as an actress was landing a role in the Star Trek episode "Assignment: Earth," after which she said, "I finally started to get real acting work." Garr had a supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola's thriller "The Conversation" (1974) before having her film breakthrough as Inga in "Young Frankenstein" (1974). In 1977, she was cast in a high-profile role in Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Garr continued to appear in various high-profile roles throughout the 1980s, including supporting parts in the comedies "Tootsie" (1982), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Sandra Lester, and then appearing opposite Michael Keaton the next year in "Mr. Mom" (1983). She reunited with Coppola the same year, appearing in his musical "One from the Heart" (1982), followed by a supporting part in Martin Scorsese's black comedy "After Hours" (1985). Her quick banter led to Garr being a regular guest on "The Tonight Show" starring Johnny Carson and "Late Night with David Letterman." In the 1990s, she appeared in two films by Robert Altman: "The Player" (1992) and "Prêt-à-Porter" (1994), followed by supporting roles in "Michael" (1996) and "Ghost World" (2001). She also appeared on television as Phoebe Abbott in three episodes of the sitcom "Friends" (1997–98). In 2002, Garr announced that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the symptoms of which had negatively affected her ability to perform beginning in the 1990s. After years of declining health, she passed away on October 29, 2024.

Known For: Acting

Born: Lakewood, Ohio, USA, 1944-12-11

Died: 2024-10-29

Film

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1963	A Swingin' Affair		60
2	1963	Fun in Acapulco	Hotel Guest (uncredited)	59
3	1964	Viva Las Vegas	Dancer (uncredited)	62
4	1964	Kissin' Cousins	Hillbilly Dancer (uncredited)	47
5	1964	What a Way to Go!	Shipboard Number Dancer (uncredited)	70
6	1964	Pajama Party	Pajama Girl	49
7	1964	Roustabout	Carnival Dancer (uncredited)	59
8	1964	The T.A.M.I. Show	Self - Go-Go Dancer (uncredited)	80
9	1965	John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!	Harem Girl (uncredited)	34
10	1965	Red Line 7000	Nightclub Dancer (uncredited)	54
11	1966	Where's the Bus?	Girl	0
12	1966	For Pete's Sake		60
13	1967	The Cool Ones	Whiz Girl	49
14	1967	The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk	Susie	60
15	1967	Clambake	Dancer (uncredited)	59
16	1968	Maryjane	Teri	35
17	1968	Head	Testy True	62
18	1969	Changes	Waitress	50
19	1970	You Haven't Changed a Bit	Corinne	0
20	1970	The Moonshine War	Young Wife	58
21	1971	Summertree	Bennie's Girlfriend (uncredited)	57
22	1974	The Conversation	Amy Fredericks	75
23	1974	Young Frankenstein	Inga	79
24	1976	Law and Order	Rita Wasinski	0
25	1976	Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood	Fluffy Peters	41
26	1977	The Absent-Minded Waiter	Susan Cates	65
27	1977	Oh, God!	Bobbie Landers	65
28	1977	Once Upon a Brothers Grimm	Frog Princess	0
29	1977	Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary	Self	0
30	1977	Close Encounters of the Third Kind	Ronnie Neary	73
31	1979	Java Junkie	Waitress	0
32	1979	Mr. Mike's Mondo Video	Self	53
33	1979	The Black Stallion	Alec's Mother	70
34	1980	Doctor Franken	Kelli Fisher	20
35	1980	Witches' Brew	Margaret Lightman	44
36	1981	Inside the Coppola Personality	Self	70
37	1981	Rendez-Vous Video Magazine	Self (segment "Coppola")	50
38	1981	Honky Tonk Freeway	Ericka	51
39	1982	Prime Suspect	Amy McCleary	66
40	1982	One from the Heart	Frannie	60
41	1982	The Escape Artist	Arlene	62
42	1982	The Tale of the Frog Prince	Princess	61
43	1982	Tootsie	Sandy Lester	72
44	1983	The Sting II	Veronica	46
45	1983	Do It Debbie's Way	Self	0
46	1983	The Black Stallion Returns	Alec Ramsay's Mother	65
47	1983	Mr. Mom	Caroline	66
48	1983	The Winter of Our Discontent	Mary Hawley	40
49	1984	To Catch a King	Hannah Winter	40
50	1984	Steve Martin: Homage to Steve	Self	64
51	1984	Firstborn	Wendy	59
52	1985	Night of 100 Stars II	Self	80
53	1985	The History of White People in America	Self	62
54	1985	After Hours	Julie	75
55	1986	Intimate Strangers	Sally Bierston	0
56	1986	Miracles	Jean	50
57	1987	Pack of Lies	Helen Schaefer	66
58	1987	Paul Reiser: Out on a Whim	Self	0
59	1988	Flapjack Floozie	Helen Eagles	0
60	1988	Jackie Gleason: The Great One	Self	80
61	1988	Full Moon in Blue Water	Louise	62
62	1989	Out Cold	Sunny	59
63	1989	Let It Ride	Pam	63
64	1990	Short Time	Carolyn Simpson	64
65	1990	Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme	Jill (of Jack and Jill)	48
66	1990	Waiting for the Light	Kay	66
67	1990	A Quiet Little Neighborhood, a Perfect Little Murder	Marsha Pegler	55
68	1991	The Best of Disney: 50 Years of Magic	Self	75
69	1991	Stranger in the Family	Randi Thompson	54
70	1992	Robert Altman's Players	Self	55
71	1992	The Player	Teri Garr	72
72	1992	Deliver Them from Evil: The Taking of Alta View	Susan Woolley	100
73	1992	Mom and Dad Save the World	Marge Nelson	49
74	1993	Fugitive Nights: Danger in the Desert	Brita Burrows	40
75	1994	Aliens for Breakfast	Mrs. Bickerstaff	30
76	1994	Dumb and Dumber	Helen Swanson	66
77	1994	Prêt-à-Porter	Louise Hamilton	52
78	1995	Perfect Alibi	Laney Tolbert	35
79	1995	Shining Time Station: One of the Family	Sister Conductor	0
80	1996	Making Frankensense of Young Frankenstein	Inga (archive footage)	85
81	1996	Double Jeopardy	Cindy Dubroski	57
82	1996	Michael	Judge Esther Newberg	57
83	1997	Murder Live!	JoAnn McGrath	57
84	1997	Ronnie and Julie	Elizabeth Monroe	10
85	1997	NightScream	Julie Ordwell	36
86	1997	Changing Habits	Connie	13
87	1997	The Definite Maybe	Dionne Waters	0
88	1997	A Simple Wish	Rena	55
89	1998	Casper Meets Wendy	Fanny	60
90	1999	Batman Beyond: The Movie	Mary McGinnis (voice)	72
91	1999	Kill the Man	Mrs. Livingston	56
92	1999	Half a Dozen Babies	Lee Dilley	55
93	1999	Dick	Helen Lorenzo	59
94	2000	Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker	Mary McGinnis (voice)	73
95	2001	The Wandering Soul Murders	Tess Malone	50
96	2001	The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'	Self	69
97	2001	The Sky is Falling	Mona Hall	80
98	2001	Ghost World	Maxine (uncredited)	71
99	2002	Life Without Dick	Madame Hugonaut	38
100	2002	Searching for Debra Winger	Self	63
101	2004	The Dream Studio	self	0
102	2005	The Wiki-Tiki Tail of Aloha Scooby-Doo	Herself	0
103	2005	Aloha Scooby-Doo!	Mayor Molly Quinn (voice)	71
104	2005	A Taste Of Jupiter		42
105	2006	Unaccompanied Minors	Aunt Judy / Valerie’s Sister	59
106	2007	Expired	Claire's Mother / Aunt Tilde	57
107	2007	Kabluey	Suze	60
108	2008	A Better Man: The Making of 'Tootsie'	Self	60
109	2013	Mel Brooks: Make a Noise	Self (archive footage)	82
110	2014	And the Oscar Goes To...	Self (archive footage)	70
111	2018	Mel Brooks: Unwrapped	Self (archive footage)	67

Television

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1944	Golden Globe Awards	Self - Presenter	68
2	1960	The Andy Griffith Show	Girl In A Red Convertible	76
3	1962	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	Self	74
4	1962	The Merv Griffin Show	Self	56
5	1964	Shindig!	Self - Dancer	62
6	1966	Batman	Girl Outside Rink (uncredited)	73
7	1966	Star Trek	Roberta Lincoln	80
8	1966	That Girl		62
9	1967	The Mothers-in-Law	Usherette	58
10	1968	It Takes a Thief	Maggie Philbin	70
11	1968	Mayberry R.F.D.	Cashier	57
12	1970	McCloud	Sgt. Phyllis Norton	71
13	1970	The Odd Couple	Insurance Agent	78
14	1971	The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour	Wife/Singer	65
15	1971	The New Dick Van Dyke Show	Waitress	40
16	1972	Banyon	Mabel	70
17	1972	The Bob Newhart Show	Miss Brennan	74
18	1972	MAS*H	Lt. Suzanne Marquette	79
19	1973	Barnaby Jones	Maria Thompson	69
20	1973	The American Film Institute Salute to ...	Self	63
21	1973	The Girl with Something Extra	Amber	75
22	1975	Saturday Night Live	Self - Host	69
23	1977	Hunter	Peg Foley	80
24	1977	Bitte umblättern	Self	60
25	1982	Wogan	Self	45
26	1982	Faerie Tale Theatre	Self	82
27	1982	Faerie Tale Theatre	Princess	82
28	1986	Fresno	Talon Kensington	64
29	1988	Murphy Brown	Teri Garr	64
30	1989	Tales from the Crypt	Irene Paloma ("segment "The Trap")	80
31	1990	Dream On	Sandra McCadden	69
32	1991	Good & Evil	Denise Sandler	60
33	1992	Adventures in Wonderland	Duchess	72
34	1993	Good Advice	Paige Turner	60
35	1993	Frasier	Nancy (voice)	77
36	1993	Intimate Portrait	Self	45
37	1994	ER	Celinda Randlett	78
38	1994	Friends	Phoebe Sr.	84
39	1995	Women of the House	Sissy Emerson	60
40	1996	The Rosie O'Donnell Show	Self - Guest	35
41	1996	Men Behaving Badly	Carol	55
42	1996	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	Yenta	78
43	1997	King of the Hill	Laney (voice)	73
44	1997	The Weird Al Show		65
45	1998	Felicity	Dr. Zwick	66
46	1999	Batman Beyond	Mary McGinnis (voice)	81
47	1999	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Minerva Grahame-Bishop	79
48	2000	Strong Medicine	Mimi Stark	71
49	2002	What's New, Scooby-Doo?	Sandy Gordon (voice)	79
50	2002	Life with Bonnie	Mrs. Abigail Portinbody	65
51	2004	The Tony Danza Show	Self	61
52	2006	Legends	Inga (archive footage) (uncredited)	50