Teri Garr was an American actress, comedian, and dancer. Known for her comedic roles in film and television in the 1970s and 1980s, she frequently played women struggling to cope with the life-changing experiences of their husbands, children, or boyfriends.
Quick Facts About Terry Ann Garr
Basic Info
- Full Names: Terry Ann Garr
- Popular As: Terri Garr
- Gender: Male
- Occupation: Actors Actresses — Actress, comedian and dancer.
- Nationality: American
- Ethnicity: White
- Religion: Christianity
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
Birthday
- Age: 80 Years
- Birth Sign: Scorpio
- Date of Birth: 11/12/1944
- Place of Birth: Lakewood, Ohio, United States
Body Measurements
- Height: 173 cm
- Weight: 62 kg
- Eye Color: Blue
- Hair Color: Black
- Bust Size: 31
- Waist Size: 28
- Hip Size: 32
Family and Relationship
- Father: Eddie Garr
- Mother: Phyllis Garr
- Siblings:
- Ed (Brother)
- Phil (Brother)
- Marital Status: Divorced
- Children:
- Molly O'Neill (Daughter)
Net Worth and Salary
- Net Worth: $6M USD
- Source of Income: Actress, Comedian, Dancer.
Life and Career
- Education:
- North Hollywood High School
- San Fernando Valley State College
- Career Milestones:
- 1974: Starred in Young Frankenstein
- 1977: Starred in Oh, God!
- Awards:
- National Board of Review — 1994
- Is Deceased: Yes — Died on 10/29/2024
Teri Garr Biography
Teri Garr was an American actress, comedian, and dancer. Known for her comedic roles in film and television in the 1970s and 1980s, she frequently played women struggling to cope with the life-changing experiences of their husbands, children, or boyfriends. She obtained nominations for an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award for her performance in Tootsie (1982), playing a struggling actress who loses the soap opera role of a female hospital administrator to her male friend and acting coach.
Teri Garr Age
Teri was 79 years old as of 2024, she was born on December 11, 1944, in Lakewood, Ohio, USA. She celebrates her birthday on December 11 every year, and her birth sign is Sagittarius. She died 29 October 2024, in Los Angeles, California, United States
Teri Garr Height
Teri Garr stood at a height of 5 feet 8 inches (173 cm).
Teri Garr Height
Garr weighed 62 kg (136 lbs). Her body measurements are 31-28-32 inches.
Early Life and Education
Teri was Teri Ann Garr on December 11, 1944, in Lakewood, Ohio, USA. She went to North Hollywood High School. She later joined California State University, Northridge for two years before dropping out and relocating to New York City to further pursue acting. While in New York, she studied at the Actors Studio and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
In her youth. Teri trained in ballet and other forms of dance. She began her career as a teenager with small roles in television and film in the early 1960s, including appearances as a dancer in six Elvis Presley musicals. After spending two years attending college, she left Los Angeles and studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York City.
Rise to Fame and Breakthrough Moment
After gaining attention for her 1974 roles in Francis Ford Coppola’s thriller The Conversation and Mel Brooks’s comedy horror Young Frankenstein, Garr became increasingly successful with major roles in Carl Reiner’s comedy Oh, God! and Steven Spielberg’s science fiction film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Major Achievements and Contributions
- National Board of Review
Personal Life
Teri Garr Family, Parents
Teri was born in Lakewood, Ohio, to her father, Eddie Garr (born Edward Leo Gonnoud), and her mother, Phyllis Garr. Her father, Eddie Garr (born Edward Leo 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, while her mother, Phyllis Lind Garr (born Emma Schmotzer), was a dancer, a Rockette, wardrobe mistress, and model. Her father was of Irish descent, and her maternal grandparents were Austrian immigrants.
Teri Garr Siblings
Teri had two older brothers, Ed and Phil. Her family briefly relocated to New Jersey before settling in Los Angeles, California. At the age of 11, her father died in Los Angeles of a heart attack.
Teri Garr Husband
Teri was in a four-year relationship with Roger Birnbaum, a film executive in the 1980s. After their separation, she was in a seven-year relationship with David Kipper, a physician. Teri later got married to John O’Neil, a building contractor. The couple tied the knot in 1993. That same year, they adopted a daughter called Molly O’Neil.
In 1996, the couple got divorced. In July 1990, a Los Angeles County judge ordered a woman charged with stalking Teri to cease contacting her and to remain 100 yards (91 m) away from Teri, her home, and her work locations for three years. In 2002, Teri announced that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the symptoms of which had affected her ability to perform beginning in the 1990s.
Teri Garr Children
Garr had a daughter, Molly, whom she adopted during her first marriage to building contractor John O’Neil.
Teri Garr Net Worth
Teri Garr’s net worth was estimated at $6 million dollars. This includes his assets, money, and income. Her primary source of income is her career as an Actress, Comedian, Dancer, and Singer. Through her various sources of income, Teri has been able to accumulate good fortune but prefers to lead a modest lifestyle.

Illness and Death
In October 2002, Garr confirmed that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. After years of uncertainty and secrecy about 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.
In interviews, Garr said that she first started noticing symptoms while she was in New York filming Tootsie around 1982. 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 November 2005, Garr was marked as the society’s Ambassador of the Year. The same year, she revealed her treatment regimen for the disease, which included regular steroid injections to help manage symptoms.
Closer reported in 2015 that she credited her positive attitude and her family’s support with helping her fight the disease. In December 2006, Garr had a ruptured brain aneurysm. The aneurysm left her in a coma for a week, though after therapy, she regained speech and motor skills, and in 2008, she appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman to promote Expired, a 2007 film in which she played one of a set of twins.
Garr passed from complications of multiple sclerosis at her home in Los Angeles, surrounded by family and friends, on October 29, 2024, at the age of 79.
Frankenstein
In 1974, Teri made her film breakthrough as Inga, an assistant to Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, in Young Frankenstein. Young Frankenstein is a 1974 American comedy horror film directed by Mel Brooks. The screenplay was co-written by Brooks and Gene Wilder. Young Frankenstein talks about a medical lecturer, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder), who learns that he has inherited his infamous grandfather’s estate in Transylvania.
Dr. Frankenstein soon begins to recreate his grandfather’s experiments with the help of servants Igor (Marty Feldman), Inga (Teri Garr), and the fearsome Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman) after arriving at the castle. After creating his own monster (Peter Boyle), new complications ensue with the arrival of the doctor’s fiancée, Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn).
Star Trek
Teri starred Roberta Lincoln, a secretary, in the Star Trek episode “Assignment: Earth”. “Assignment: Earth” is the twenty-sixth and final episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek.
In the episode, engaged in “historical research”, the USS Enterprise travels back through time to 1968 Earth, where they encounter an interstellar agent planning to intervene in 20th-century events. Kirk and Spock are uncertain of his motives. The episode features backtracking through time to discover why the Earth narrowly escaped disaster in 1968, Kirk makes the acquaintance of Mister Seven, and comes down to Earth with a vengeance.
Tootsie
Teri starred as Sandy Lester, an actress in Tootsie (1982). In the film, she disguises himself as a woman to further his career. For her role, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Tootsie is a 1982 American romantic comedy film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Dustin Hoffman. The film tells the story of a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult drives him to adopt a new identity as a woman to land a job.
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