Teri Garr

Teri Garr

Garr in the early 1970s
Born Terry Ann Garr
(1947-12-11) December 11, 1947
Lakewood, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation Actress, dancer, comedienne
Years active 1963–2007 (hiatus)
Spouse(s) John O'Neil (1993–1996)
Partner(s) Roger Birnbaum (1979–1983)
David Kipper (1983–1990)

Terry Ann "Teri" Garr[1] (born December 11, 1947)[2][3] is an American actress, comedienne, dancer and voice artist. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1982 film Tootsie. Her other film roles include Young Frankenstein (1974); Oh, God! (1977); Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977); The Black Stallion (1979); Mr. Mom (1983) and After Hours (1985). She also appeared as Phoebe Abbott in three episodes of the sitcom Friends (1997–98).

Early life

Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio. Her father, Eddie Garr (born Edward Leo Gonnoud),[4] was a vaudeville performer, comedian, and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road. He changed his surname before Teri's birth. Her mother, Phyllis Lind (née Emma Schmotzer),[1] was a dancer, a Rockette, wardrobe mistress, and model.[5][6][7] Her father was of Irish descent and her maternal grandparents were Austrian immigrants.[8]

Career

Early in her career she was credited as Terri Garr, Terry Garr, Teri Hope, or Terry Carr. Her movie debut was as an extra in A Swingin' Affair (1963). At the end of her senior year in high school (at Magnificat High School) she auditioned for the cast of the Los Angeles road company production of West Side Story, where she met one of the most important people in her early career, David Winters, who became her friend, her dance teacher, and her mentor and cast her in many of his early movies and projects.[9]

Garr began as a background dancer in uncredited roles for youth-oriented films and TV shows choreographed by Winters,[10] including Pajama Party, a beach party film, the T.A.M.I. Show, Shindig!, Hullabaloo, and Movin' with Nancy, and nine Elvis Presley features (many of which were also choreographed by Winters, including Presley's most profitable film, Viva Las Vegas[10][11]).

Teri Garr and Hector Elizondo on the set of Perfect Alibi with director Kevin Meyer.

When asked in a magazine interview about how she landed jobs in so many Presley films, Garr answered, "One of the dancers in the road show of West Side Story, (David Winters) started to choreograph movies and, whatever job he got, I was one of the girls he'd hire. So he was chosen to do Viva Las Vegas. That was my first movie."[12]

Her first speaking role in a motion picture was a one-line appearance as a damsel in distress in the Monkees film, Head (1968), written by Jack Nicholson. She landed her first significant motion-picture role in Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation (1974). Her career breakthrough came in the Mel Brooks comedy Young Frankenstein (also 1974) as Inga. She appeared in a string of highly successful films, often playing a housewife. These films include Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Oh, God! (1977), The Black Stallion (1979), Mr. Mom (1983), The Sting II (1983), After Hours (1985), and Let It Ride (1989) with Richard Dreyfuss. Garr was nominated for an Academy Award for her supporting role as Dustin Hoffman's character's actress friend in Tootsie (1982).

She also appeared frequently on television. She began as a go-go dancer on several musical variety shows, along with friend Toni Basil, such as Shindig! and Hullabaloo. In 1966 Garr made one appearance on Batman (episode 7, uncredited). In 1968 she appeared in both The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D.[13] and was in two episodes of It Takes a Thief. Also in 1968 she was featured as secretary Roberta Lincoln in the Star Trek episode "Assignment: Earth", designed as a backdoor pilot episode for a new series which was not commissioned. In the early 1970s, she was a regular cast member on The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, dancing and acting in comedy sketches. She also had a recurring role as a ditsy policewoman on McCloud, and appeared on M*A*S*H, The Bob Newhart Show, The Odd Couple, Maude, Barnaby Jones, and Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers. She hosted Saturday Night Live in 1980, 1983, and 1985, and was a frequent visitor on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

As a recurring guest on Late Night with David Letterman, she was renowned for her unscripted banter with David Letterman, who once goaded her into showering in his office while the camera rolled.[14][15] She landed a role as recurring character Phoebe Abbott in Friends, the estranged birth mother of Phoebe Buffay.

Health issues

Garr at the AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) benefit, September 1990

In October 2002, Garr publicly confirmed that she was battling multiple sclerosis.[16] After years of uncertainty and secrecy surrounding her diagnosis, Garr explained her reasons for deciding to go public: "I'm telling my story for the first time so I can help people. I can help people know they aren't alone and tell them there are reasons to be optimistic because, today, treatment options are available." In interviews, she has commented that she first started noticing symptoms while in New York filming Tootsie. For the next few years, as acting jobs brought her to various locations around the world, she continued to see different doctors in different cities, until she finally found a doctor who correctly diagnosed her as having MS.

After disclosing her condition, she became a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and National Chair for the Society's Women Against MS program (WAMS).[17] In November 2005, Garr was honored as the society's Ambassador of the Year. This honor had been given only four times since the society was founded.

On December 21, 2006, she suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm in her home. Her 13-year-old daughter called 9-1-1 when she could not wake her mother up.[18] After therapy to regain her motor skills and speech, she appeared on Late Show with David Letterman on June 19, 2008, without the need of a wheelchair. She was on the show to promote Expired, a 2007 film in which she played a set of twins.

However, because of her battle with multiple sclerosis, Garr has had recent trouble finding acting work. She has not acted in films or television since 2007, though she did publicly appear at the 19th Annual Race to Erase MS (multiple sclerosis) event in 2012.[19] Closer reported in 2015 that she credited her positive attitude and support of her family as helping her fight the disease.[20]

Awards and Nominations

Academy Award (Oscar)
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
National Society of Film Critics, USA
National Board of Review, USA
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
CableACE Awards

Selected filmography

Short subjects

Television

References

  1. 1 2 Garr, Teri (November 2005). Speedbumps: Flooring it Through Hollywood. Hudson Street Press. p. 68. ISBN 1-59463-007-0.
  2. ↑ "Teri Garr Biography", Biography.com
  3. ↑ FamilySearch.org, a service of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, cites 1947 as Garr's birth year.
  4. ↑ Autobiography by Teri Garr (Flooring it Through Hollywood above).
  5. ↑ Teri Garr Biography
  6. ↑ Guthmann, Edward (January 7, 2004). "As acting jobs dwindle, Teri Garr takes up her pen". San Francisco Chronicle.
  7. ↑ Boston.com Local Search - Boston Globe Archives
  8. ↑ Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood By Teri Garr, Henriette Mantel
  9. ↑ "Teri Garr - My Life So Far" Ability Magazine; accessed April 7, 2014.
  10. 1 2 David Winters Bio at IMDb
  11. ↑ Garr bio at IMDB
  12. ↑ "January 2004 Talkin' 'bout my g-g-g-generation", David Winters.net; accessed April 7, 2014.
  13. ↑ S01E12
  14. ↑ Wascalus, Jacob. "Teri Garr - My Life So Far" 2007 (1). Ability Magazine. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  15. ↑ "David Letterman - 25 Years and Still Going Strong" (PDF). CBS. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-20. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  16. ↑ "Teri Garr reveals she has multiple sclerosis". CNN. October 9, 2002. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
  17. ↑ "Actress Teri Garr named as multiple sclerosis national chairwoman". News-Medical.net. April 29, 2004. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
  18. ↑ Tan, Michelle (January 2, 2007). "Teri Garr Recovering from Brain Aneurysm". People. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
  19. ↑ http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/teri-garr-and-nancy-davis-attend-the-19th-annual-race-to-news-photo/144765017
  20. ↑ http://www.closerweekly.com/posts/exclusive-teri-garr-battles-multiple-sclerosis-stays-positive-67607

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