Young Frankenstein Actress Teri Garr Dead at 79

Actress Teri Garr, best known for her comedic roles, died at the age of 79, confirmed her publicist Heidi Schaffer to The Hollywood Reporter. Garr had worked with what feels like every iconic director in Hollywood: Mel Brooks in Young Frankenstein, Steven Speilberg in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Sydney Pollack in Tootsie, just to name a few. She even acted alongside Elvis Presley in Girl Happy in 1965. However, her decades-long career in Hollywood slowed down in the 90s when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2002. She made her last on-screen appearance with the television film How to Marry a Billionaire in 2011.

Brooks, who cast Garr as Inga, Gene Wilder’s assistant in Young Frankenstein, remembers her “humor and lively spirit” on set. “Her ‘German’ accent had us all in stitches,” Brooks recalled in a tribute post on X. Lisa Kudrow, who played Garr’s estranged daughter in Friends, shared a tribute to her TV mom “Teri Garr was a comedic acting genius who was and is a huge influence on me and I know I’m not alone in that,” she said in a statement to People. adding that she feels “so lucky and grateful” that she got to work with her. Michael Keaton, Garr’s co-star in Mr. Mom, responded to news of her death on Instagram, writing, “this is a day i feared and knew was coming. Forget about how great she was as an actress and comedienne. she was a wonderful woman. not just great to work with but great to be around. AND go back and watch her comedic work-Man, was she great!!”