Teri Garr


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Teri Garr

Garr at the AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) benefit, September 1990
Born Terry Ann Garr
December 11, 1944 (1944-12-11) (age 63)
Lakewood, Ohio, USA
Spouse(s) John O'Neil (1993-1996)

Terry Ann "Teri" Garr[1] (born December 11, 1944)[2] is an Academy Award-nominated American actress and comedienne.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio. Her father, Eddie Garr (né Gonnoud), was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road. Her mother, Phyllis Lind (née Emma Schmotzer),[1] was a dancer, Rockette, wardrobe mistress, and model.[3][4][5] Garr is a graduate of Magnificat High School, an all-girls Roman Catholic high school in Rocky River, Ohio.

Career

Early in her career she was sometimes credited as Terri Garr, Terry Garr, Teri Hope, or Terry Carr. Garr's movie debut was as an extra in 1963's A Swingin' Affair. During her early career she appeared in several Elvis Presley movies, usually in uncredited roles as a dancer. She had a cameo appearance as a damsel in distress in The Monkees film Head. She also played a role on The Andy Griffith Show. Garr later had significant roles in major films such as Young Frankenstein, Oh, God!, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Black Stallion and Mr. Mom. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Dustin Hoffman's actress friend in Tootsie.

Garr has also appeared frequently on television. Her first appearance on The Andy Griffith Show and a major show was in Batman in 1967, and a notable early appearance came in the Star Trek episode "Assignment: Earth" (1968). She also appeared in The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, The Ken Berry 'Wow' Show, The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour, The Bob Newhart Show, and Barnaby Jones, among others. She hosted Saturday Night Live three times throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a recurring guest on Late Night with David Letterman, she was renowned for her unscripted banter with personal friend David Letterman, who once goaded her into showering in his office while the camera rolled.[6][7] She played a recurring character in Friends (the estranged birth mother of Lisa Kudrow's character, Phoebe Buffay) in the late 1990s.

Garr appeared in a series of local television commercials in several markets for various FM radio stations.

Personal life

Teri Garr said that in 1990 a woman called her at around 4:30 A.M. telling Garr that she slept with Garr's boyfriend. An enraged Garr drove to her ex-boyfriend's house and smashed the windows. The ex-boyfriend called police. Once police arrived Garr talked to the police and left. Police never filed charges against Garr.[8]

In October 2002, Garr made it public that she has multiple sclerosis.[9] 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". It is unclear exactly how long she has had the disease; in 2002, she told Larry King that she'd had it for 19 years, but in 2005, while promoting her book, she said she's had it for 25 years. That sets the date of onset to sometime between 1980 and 1983.

Since Garr announced that she has MS, she has become a leading advocate in raising awareness for MS and the latest treatments for the disease. She is a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and National Chair for the Society's Women Against MS program (WAMS).[10] WAMS is a nationwide education and fundraising program that helps to increase the public's awareness of MS and the National MS Society while acknowledging and encouraging the advancement of women philanthropists. In November 2005, Garr was honored as the society’s Ambassador of the Year for her commitment to raising awareness about MS. This honor had been given only four times since the society was founded.

She is the mother of an adopted daughter and resides in Los Angeles. On December 21, 2006, she suffered a brain aneurysm in her Los Angeles area home; her 13-year-old daughter called for help when she couldn't get her to wake up. Following surgery, her publicist Heidi Schaeffer said she expects Garr to make a full recovery.[11] She appeared on Late Show with David Letterman on June 19, 2008, clearly suffering the physical effects of her MS and aneurysm; however, she looked well otherwise and cracked several jokes. She was on the show to promote Expired, a movie in which she plays twins.

Garr sold her Los Angeles-area house in June 2008.[12].

Academy awards nomination

Academy Award
  • 1982: Nominated for "Best Supporting Actress" in Tootsie

Filmography

Features

Short Subjects

References

  1. ^ a b Garr, Teri (2005). Speedbumps: Flooring it Through Hollywood. Hudson Street Press, 68. ISBN1594630070. 
  2. ^ "Profile for Teri Garr". North Hollywood High Alumni Association. Retrieved on 2007-06-05.
  3. ^ Teri Garr Biography (1949?-)
  4. ^ As acting jobs dwindle, Teri Garr takes up her pen
  5. ^ Boston.com Local Search - Boston Globe Archives
  6. ^ Teri Garr. "My Life So Far", Ability Magazine. Retrieved on 21 June 2007. 
  7. ^ "David Letterman - 25 Years and Still Going Strong". CBS. Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
  8. ^ "When he's a cheat, revenge seems sweet." CNN.
  9. ^ "Teri Garr reveals she has multiple sclerosis". CNN. Retrieved on 2007-06-05.
  10. ^ "Actress Teri Garr named as multiple sclerosis national chair women". News-Medical.net. Retrieved on 2007-06-05.
  11. ^ Michelle Tan (January 2, 2007). "Teri Garr Recovering from Brain Aneurysm". People. Retrieved on 2007-06-05.
  12. ^ Actress Teri Garr sells her house in Los Angeles’ Brentwood area for an undisclosed price after it had been listed for $3.995M

External links

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Teri Garr






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