Legendary actress Teri Garr has died at the age of 79.
Garr’s manager, Marc Gurvitz, confirmed to CNN that the actress died on Tuesday, October 29, in Los Angeles. She had a long battle with multiple sclerosis (MS). She went public with her diagnosis in 2002.
Garr rose to fame in the 1970s with her breakout role in Young Frankenstein. She went on to star in Tootsie, Mr. Mom and more. Garr was nominated for her first Oscar for her role in Tootsie. In addition to film, Garr also had notable guest appearances on series shows including M*A*S*H, The Bob Newhart Show, The Odd Couple, The Andy Griffith Show and others.
While Garr made a name for herself in the ’70s and ’80s, she introduced herself to a newer generation via her recurring role in Friends. She portrayed Phoebe Abbott, the estranged birth mother of Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow).
After years of struggling with MS — which is a chronic disease that damages the central nervous system — in private, Garr revealed her condition with the hopes of spreading awareness.
“I think everybody is scared and frightened when they hear something like that,” the actress said in an interview with CNN in 2002. “That’s because there’s so much — you know, there’s not a lot of information out there about it. And a lot of people don’t know that it’s not that bad. I mean, I’m going on with my life.
In her 2006 memoir, Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood, Garr opened up about how her disease affected her career.
“Whatever this MS was, the industry wanted no part of it. At first I was outraged,” she wrote. “Whatever was going on in my body had been going on for years. It never got in the way of my work. Then I started thinking the job offers disappeared because I stunk as an actress. It was a tough trio: mysterious symptoms, my insecurities about my acting ability and the reality of being an ‘aging’ actress.”
In December 2006, Garr suffered from a ruptured brain aneurysm that left her in a coma for a week. After coming out of the coma, Garr was able to regain her motor skills and speech following therapy treatments.
Five years later, Garr officially retired from acting but continued to be an ambassador for MS.
Garr is survived by her daughter, Molly O’Neil, whom she adopted with ex-husband John O’Neil.
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