Actor Teri Garr, Star of 'Young Frankenstein' and 'Mr. Mom' Passes Away at Age 79
"The older I get, the better I feel about things."
Published Oct. 29 2024, 2:46 p.m. ET
In March 1984, actor Teri Garr was a guest on Late Night with David Letterman who described her as "terrifically talented." That was putting it mildly. A year prior, Teri had been nominated for her work on the hit film Tootsie and was in production for an upcoming film titled Firstborn. The comedic actor was dipping her toes into the thriller and drama categories.
She referenced actor Lillian Gish, who was 91 years old at the time. Teri wasn't sure so she said Lillian was 70 or 80. "Once you get up there it's all the same, isn't it? Until we get there of course, then it will be very important." Four decades later, Terri passed away after living her own very important life. Here's what we know about the cause of her death.
Teri Garr's cause of death revealed.
According to Variety, Teri passed away at the age of 79 on Oct. 29, 2024 "after a long battle with multiple sclerosis." Her death was confirmed by long-time manager Marc Gurvitz. In 2005, Teri did a storytelling show that was covered by Brain&Life Magazine. She discussed the first signs of MS, which arrived in 1983. "I was living in New York and I'd go jogging in Central Park, and I'd start tripping," she recalled. "I'd notice that the more I ran and got my body heated up, the weaker I'd get."
The symptoms came and went, and were inconsistent, until Teri finally got officially diagnosed with MS in 1999. "It's a saga that is familiar to many other people with the disease," she said. She revealed her diagnosis to Larry King while guesting on his show in 2002. For Teri, it was important to help people understand a disease that was deeply misunderstood. She then took calls from strangers who either had questions about how she handled her MS, or how they can handle theirs.
Per Teri's IMDb page, her last role was in 2011. She had a small part in a TV show called How to Marry a Billionaire. A year after that, she spoke with Roger Ebert about her career, and the fact that despite his compliments, people like David Letterman often treated her like a "ditz." She was a frequent guest but admitted that she had painted herself into a foolish corner.
This conversation was far more respectful and ended with Roger Ebert simply asking how things were going. "I’m pretty happy," she shared. "The older I get, the better I feel about things." Here's hoping that trend continued.