October 29, 2024

Goodbye to Teri Garr.

The brilliant comic actress died today, at the age of 79 (from complications of multiple sclerosis).

From the NYT obituary: "Onscreen, Ms. Garr’s outstanding features were her eyes, which could seem simultaneously pained, baffled, sympathetic, vulnerable, intrigued and determined, whether she was registering a grand new discovery or holding back tears...."

ADDED: Here's my son John's tribute to Teri Garr, at Facebook.

51 comments:

mikeski said...

"I never said I love you, I don't care about I love you! I read 'The Second Sex'; I read 'The Cinderella Complex'; I'm responsible for my own orgasm; I don't care! I just don't like to be lied to!"

She managed to take The Ditzy Blonde and elevate her to high comedy, while endowing her character with serious soul.

john said...

Ah, to have rolled in the hay with her.

Iman said...

An excellent actor in comedies and a good-hearted woman, from all reports.

RIP

Temujin said...

I just heard about her passing and I thought...I wonder if Ann will be posting a clip from "After Hours". And sure enough. She was, as that movie was, vastly underrated. I thought she was one of the more underrated actresses of her time. A terrific talent. Time to go back and watch a few of her movies. And laugh.

Rocco said...

“What knockers!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB_aegewceU

Oh Yea said...

This one hits hard. Loved everything about Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein but absolutely had a crush on Teri in that movie.

n.n said...

An entertaining and skilled actress. Fond farewell.

William said...

She had such an endearing presence and then such blighted health. I'm glad that she got to live part of her life as a movie star.......I guess by some accounting systems she had a life of blessings. In the NYT obit, she said she used to count her blessings, but now she finds it too tiring so she has someone come in to do it for her.

mezzrow said...

I wonder right now if Teri Garr ever understood how many people loved Teri Garr. I hope she did. I know we did.

RCOCEAN II said...

Sad to hear it. I loved terri Garr and always wanted her to get more roles. She was great in Young Frankenstein, Mr Mom, Tootsie and After hours. She was also good in TOS Star Trek episode that was supposed to be a pilot for a new series.

She was also charming and funny on the talk shows, but of course was a complete libtard.

Guess she had MS for years , which is even more sad. Meanwhile [insert horrible actress X] lives on.

rehajm said...

Beautiful and wonderful. We followed the course of her MS closely. It is most unfortunate, there has been so much progress in the last few years. My wife's neuro is using words like 'cure'....so sorry she has passed. Funny ladies so hard to come by nowadays...

joshbraid said...

First saw her on the original Star Trek, just a babe at the time and she still impressed me with her looks and her acting.

donald said...

Probably not, she was too nice. I sure did.

Political Junkie said...

In the 80s she and Letterman had nice chemistry on Dave's show.

CJinPA said...

She was a very affecting actress. So sad. There is little demand for actresses like her today.

Saint Croix said...

Put the candle, back!

Sedagive

Enormous Schwanzstucker

"Oof"

RIP, Teri, and thank you

Yancey Ward said...

This one is painful for me- I had a long crush on Teri Garr growing up from that first time I saw her in Star Trek when I was around 8 or 9 years old and it continued to grow as I saw her in various guest roles on television. I think more than any actress I ever saw I thought of her as "Now that is the kind of woman I would like to marry."

ron winkleheimer said...

I'm going to out myself, I liked _Mom and Dad Save The World_

ron winkleheimer said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4DLVTazJRs

Kate said...

We know all the movie quotes. Now, that's a testament to a great actress (and a great script-picker). RIP, love.

Butkus51 said...

Young Frankenstein. Her character's name was Inga.

Butkus51 said...

and RIP

ronetc said...

In the movie, as in life

Jersey Fled said...

Good one !

TaeJohnDo said...

As did I ... well, I had a crush on her ever since her appearance in the original Star Trek.

Another old lawyer said...

And a great '60s dancer. Multiple YT clips of her dancing on various TV shows and in more than a few Elvis movies - Viva Las Vegas, Girl Happy come to immediate mind.

And when she showed up on Late Night with Letterman in the '80s, you knew it would be well worth missing the sleep to stay up and watch.

TaeJohnDo said...

Well said - I saw this after I posted about my crush on her after seeing her in Star Trek. I think she was well loved by many young men.

Rory said...

She had little roles in the sitcoms of my youth. She told Felix Unger that she was going to bust him right in the chops. RIP

Eva Marie said...

Teri Garr on the Bob Newhart Show: “Don’t touch the pachinko machine.”

Sydney said...

I always thought of Lisa Kudrow as the next generation Teri Garr. I wonder if she was inspired by Teri Garr.

Steven Wilson said...

Loved her. RIP.

Iman said...

don't hold that agin 'er!

Mr. D said...

Thanks for picking the clip from "After Hours," a wonderful movie that deserves more attention. She was great.

effinayright said...

I always loved the confused and alarmed expressions playing across her lovely face when Dr. Frankenstein ordered her to:

"Elevate me!!.... ELEVATE ME!!!"

"Here??? ...NOW??"

Rory said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
dreams said...

I always liked her.

Leland said...

Wonderful lady and actress.

Jay Vogt said...

I can't be one upped by the crowd here; I loved her non-stop for decades: beautiful, funny, gracious and a skilled dancer. Her body language was perfect - and I'm pretty sure that she knew what he was doing the whole time.RIP.

Dixcus said...

Fell in love with her when she was Gary Seven's secretary. On Star Trek.

Marcus Bressler said...

When I watched the video to the end, there was a Downfall Hitler Rants video where he calls Kamala. Worth watching her actual word salad. RIP Teri.

traditionalguy said...

MS is a mystery disease that has multiple variants in effects on human nervous system. Hence its name. The experts of all experts are the Neurologists whose virtue is not to prescribe the latest medicines that have zero success. They will say no one knows what MS is and no one has a treatment for it.

But they can name its symptoms as being stable or progressive. And in the meantime prescribe many medicines to make their disability less of a nightmare.

The real need of MS sufferers is a patient and dedicated caregiver that will not abandon them. Mobility requires help24/7.

traditionalguy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Aggie said...

I stumbled across "One from the Heart" years ago, channel surfing - and found it about a third of the way through. I was captivated by the scenery, although the story itself was kind of bland and uninteresting. It's where I found out that Teri Garr was a dancer. And at the end, noting in the credits that the whole thing was filmed on a sound stage, I was amazed. It's quite an interesting film, visually, considering how big a flop it was, for Coppola.

RIP to Ms. Garr, wherever you are, I'm sure you're dancing.

Wince said...

Teri Garr epitomized the beauty of a gentle soul.

gilbar said...

me too!

Joe Bar said...

I watched that old Star Trek episode last night. We have Paramount Plus so Mrs. Bar can watch old NCIS episodes. It was quite entertaining, and Ms. Garr is lovely in it. One mistake gnawed at me through it though. In the episode, the US was launching a "suborbital nuclear platform." What good would it do to be suborbital? It would have to be orbital.

dbp said...

Lisa Kudrow:

"“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,” Kudrow said in a statement to People. “I feel so lucky and grateful I got to work with Teri Garr.”"

Rocco said...

suborbital nuclear platform…

Orbital nuclear platforms were barred by the 1967 SALT treaty.

Around the time the episode was written, the Soviets were doing test launches of a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS), which is a suborbital nuclear platform. The US did not develop any FOBS systems, seeing that they did not offer any real advantages over ICBMs. IF the US did develop such a system, and IF they did a test launch that that went wrong and looked like an actual attack, it could possibly play out like it did in the episode - except for Gary Seven, of course. A lot of IFs there, though.

mindnumbrobot said...

What a beautiful woman, inside and out. The world is a lesser place without her. RIP

ron winkleheimer said...

That episode was a backdoor pilot. I think it would have been a great show. I think the concept, some advanced alien species kidnapped humans from Earth thousands of years ago and are using their descendants, all perfect specimens of humanity, as agents on Earth, could be an interesting addition to current Star Trek. What species did this? What are the ethical implications? Are they still active in The Federation?

donald said...

Where’s the Bus?!