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Teri Garr

Teri Garr

Actress, Comedian, Multiple Sclerosis Spokesperson

Teri Ann Garr is a retired American actress, singer, and dancer.

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Teri Ann Garr is a retired American actress, singer, and dancer. She frequently appeared in comedic roles throughout her career, which spans four decades and includes over 140 credits in film and television. Her accolades include one Academy Award nomination, a BAFTA Award nomination, and one National Board of Review Award.

Garr had a supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola’s thriller The Conversation before having her film breakthrough as Inga in Young Frankenstein. In 1977, she was cast in a high-profile role in Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Garr continued to appear in various high-profile roles throughout the 1980s, including supporting parts in the comedies Mr. Mom and Tootsie, for the latter of which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role Sandra Lester. She reunited with Coppola the same year, appearing in his musical One from the Heart, followed by a supporting part in Martin Scorsese’s black comedy After Hours.

Her quick banter led to Garr being a regular guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and David Letterman’s late night talk shows in the 1980s. In the 1990s, she appeared in two films by Robert Altman: The Player and Prêt-à-Porter, followed by supporting roles in Michael and Ghost World. She also appeared on television as Phoebe Abbott in three episodes of the sitcom Friends. In 2002, Garr announced that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the symptoms of which had negatively affected her ability to perform beginning in the 1990s.

In October 2002, Garr publicly confirmed that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. After disclosing her condition, she became a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and National Chair for the Society’s Women Against MS program (WAMS).

In December 2006, Garr suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm. The aneurysm left Garr in a coma for weeks, but after therapy, she regained speech and motor skills.

In March 1988, Garr was arrested for trespassing in Mercury, Nevada, during a protest against nuclear weapons testing in the area. Garr has participated in events for The Trevor Project, a non-profit gay youth suicide prevention organization

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An Evening With Teri Garr 

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Teri Garr Opens Up About MS Diagnosis & Life On The Screen | Studio 10

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