One of the funniest people to ever live has passed away. On October 29th, we learned that Teri Garr had passed after a long fight with multiple sclerosis, and I think she’d be happy to know that I smiled. Not at the loss, of course, but at the scenes that flood into memory, most of them during a run in the ‘70s and ‘80s when she was quite simply one of the best working actresses, comedic or otherwise. Garr was a performer who taught people how to appreciate comedy through her pitch-perfect comic timing. Yes, she was handed some of the best scripts in the history of the genre, but even in those, she would make unconventional choices that other performers would have never considered. She knew how to do so much between the lines—a glance, a wink, that unforgettable smile.
Terry Ann Garr came from a family of performers, the third child of an actor and a costumer. Raised near the industry, she trained in dance before moving into small TV roles in the ‘60s, getting her big break in a 1968 episode of “Star Trek” called “Assignment: Earth.” She had small parts throughout the ‘60s, including an appearance in The Monkees’ “Head,” but it was the ‘70s when she became an absolute force of nature, courtesy of two of the best films of the era in the same year: “The Conversation” and “Young Frankenstein.” What could these two masterpieces have in common other than Garr, a performer who was starting to prove she could do quite literally anything?
Appearing in two Oscar nominees in the same year got people calling and caught the attention of the most important artists of the era. She would work with Francis Ford Coppola again on his deeply personal “One from the Heart” and was cast by Steven Spielberg in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and Martin Scorsese in “After Hours.” I remember seeing her in key family films of my youth, like “Oh, God!,” “The Black Stallion” and “Mr. Mom,” but it was 1982’s “Tootsie” that really changed everything. Roger Ebert said of the classic farce, “The movie gets you coming and going.” It got the Oscars to a stunning ten nominations (an amazing number for a comedy), including one for Garr, who lost Best Supporting Actress to her co-star Jessica Lange.
Teri Garr never quite got that great a part again, but she had a run in the ‘90s when she was essentially a character actress all-star, coming in and stealing a few scenes before giving the film back to its leads. She worked in that era with Robert Altman on “Pret-a-Porter” (and a brief cameo in “The Player”) and appeared in hit comedies like “Dumb and Dumber” and “Dick.” One of her last memorable film roles before her disease forced her out of the industry was in a film Roger loved, 2001’s “Ghost World.” Of course, some will also remember a brief run as Phoebe’s mom on “Friends,” a bit of absolutely perfect casting. She always seemed perfectly cast.
Teri Garr was a presence as much as a performer. She appeared regularly on David Letterman and Johnny Carson’s shows, proving her wit, charm, and beauty with each appearance. In one memorably controversial appearance, Letterman convinced her to take a shower in his office during the show. On Tuesday, he wrote on Instagram, “Remembering one of our all-time favorite guests Teri Garr #RIP.”
He wasn’t alone. The love for Garr after her passing was overwhelming as comedians of all ages and fans from around the world said goodbye. I’ve always said she helped me love comedy. I guess I wasn’t alone. Here are just a few. Thanks for the laughs, Teri.