Teri Garr RIP
She was on the set of It Takes a Thief when she got the bad news. Her backdoor pilot hadn’t been picked up. It wasn’t really a surprise. Laugh-in always buried that show in the ratings. It would have been her big break but, ah well, that’s show biz, she thought to herself. Teri Garr had no way to know that Star Trek had delivered her big break after all.
Sad but expected bad news. The final curtain has fallen on the brilliant comedic actress Teri Garr. She had announced in 2002 that she had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She continued to work off and on over the next twenty-two years, her condition permitting. She was unsurprisingly doing voice work toward the end.
Teri Garr was born on December 11, somewhere between 1944 to 1949. She exercised the actress’ privilege regarding her actual age. I suspect the earlier year is the more accurate since she would have 14 when she worked as a go-go dancer in Viva Las Vegas. The King liked them young but the studio not so much.
She attended the Lee Strasberg school where she became friends with Jack Nicholson, he was able to get her, her first speaking role in the Monkee’s movie Head. It was one line but it was actual dialog.
She was never really a Star Trek fan, which doesn’t change the fact that the backdoor pilot Assignment Earth proved to be the role that opened doors for her. She had a good reputation as a working TV actress. But most of those were one shot roles. Assignment Earth was a little different. Since it was one of the few Star Trek episodes to take place on Earth it stood out. The blond with charisma, nice legs and comedic timing was the stand out when the voyages of the Enterprise went mere reruns to pop culture phenomena.
Her first big film role was in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation in 1974, which immediately followed up with the cult classic Young Frankenstein where she held her own against Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman. “Her ‘German’ accent had us all in stitches,” Brooks recalled. She had acquired it from the wig maker on the Sonny and Cher Comedy hour where she was regular.
She could make Mom roles work without being drab. She played one in Oh God! Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as well as Mister Mom. Tootsie got her an Oscar nomination which she should have won but the Academy followed the Hollywood rules and gave it to her bigger name costar Jessica Lange.
She had a decent career but she never got a chance to really spread her wings as a dramatic actress. She was just too good at comedy.
Her good-natured sparring with David Letterman helped him land his late night talk show. They worked together so well there were frequent rumors they were having an affair but both denied it and thought the matter hilarious.
Although, it was on the Larry King Show that she came forward with her illness. It had started in 1983 with a tingling in her leg and then it moved on to her arm. She opted to just ignore it. By 1999 she couldn’t and began the diagnostic process. The result was MS. She didn’t mention for four years because she was afraid she couldn’t get work. But she would continue to work into her 70s.
However, yesterday surrounded by family and loved ones she died of complications resulting from MS at the age of 74 to 79.
Never the star yet always shining brightly.
Rest in peace, dear lady.
