Teri Garr

Acting

Teri Garr

Born 1944-12-11 · Lakewood, Ohio, USA

Teri Ann Garr (December 11, 1944 – October 29, 2024) was an American actress, dancer and singer. She frequently appeared in comedic roles throughout her career, which spanned 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. Born in Lakewood, Ohio, Garr was raised in North Hollywood. She was the third child of a comedic-actor father and a studio costumer mother. In her youth, Garr 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, Garr left Los Angeles and studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York City. Her self-described "big break" as an actress was landing a role in the Star Trek episode "Assignment: Earth," after which she said, "I finally started to get real acting work." Garr had a supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola's thriller "The Conversation" (1974) before having her film breakthrough as Inga in "Young Frankenstein" (1974). 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 "Tootsie" (1982), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Sandra Lester, and then appearing opposite Michael Keaton the next year in "Mr. Mom" (1983). She reunited with Coppola the same year, appearing in his musical "One from the Heart" (1982), followed by a supporting part in Martin Scorsese's black comedy "After Hours" (1985). Her quick banter led to Garr being a regular guest on "The Tonight Show" starring Johnny Carson and "Late Night with David Letterman." In the 1990s, she appeared in two films by Robert Altman: "The Player" (1992) and "Prêt-à-Porter" (1994), followed by supporting roles in "Michael" (1996) and "Ghost World" (2001). She also appeared on television as Phoebe Abbott in three episodes of the sitcom "Friends" (1997–98). 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. After years of declining health, she passed away on October 29, 2024.

Acting credits

Dumb and Dumber poster
6.7

Lloyd and Harry are two men whose stupidity is really indescribable. When Mary, a beautiful woman, loses an important suitcase with money before she leaves for Aspen, the two friends (who have found the suitcase) decide to return it to her. After some "adventures" they finally get to Aspen where, using the lost money they live it up and fight for Mary's heart.

Dumb and Dumber

1994

Close Encounters of the Third Kind poster
7.4

After an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

1977

Young Frankenstein poster
7.9

A young neurosurgeon inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback, a pretty lab assistant and the elderly housekeeper. Young Frankenstein believes that the work of his grandfather was delusional, but when he discovers the book where the mad doctor described his reanimation experiment, he suddenly changes his mind.

Young Frankenstein

1974

The Conversation poster
7.5

A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.

The Conversation

1974

After Hours poster
7.5

Desperate to escape his mind-numbing routine, uptown Manhattan office worker Paul Hackett ventures downtown for a hookup with a mystery woman.

After Hours

1985

The Player poster
7.2

A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected - but which one?

The Player

1992

Tootsie poster
7.2

When struggling, out of work actor Michael Dorsey secretly adopts a female alter ego—Dorothy Michaels—in order to land a part in a daytime drama, he unwittingly becomes a feminist icon and ends up in a romantic pickle.

Tootsie

1982

Michael poster
5.7

Tabloid reporters are sent by their editor to investigate after the paper recieves a letter from a woman claiming an angel is living with her.

Michael

1996

Unaccompanied Minors poster
6.0

Five disparate kids snowed in at the airport on Christmas Eve learn some lessons about friendship when they launch a bid to get back to their families and outsmart a disgruntled airport official who wants to keep them grounded.

Unaccompanied Minors

2006

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker poster
7.3

The Joker is back with a vengeance, and Neo-Gotham's Dark Knight, Terry McGinnis, needs answers as he stands alone to face the old Gotham's most infamous Clown Prince of Crime.

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

2000

Prêt-à-Porter poster
5.2

During Paris Fashion Week, models, designers and industry hot shots gather to work, mingle, argue and try to seduce one another.

Prêt-à-Porter

1994

Mr. Mom poster
6.6

Jack and Caroline are a couple making a decent living when Jack suddenly loses his job. They agree that he should stay at home and look after the house while Caroline works. It's just that he's never done it before, and really doesn't have a clue...

Mr. Mom

1983

Viva Las Vegas poster
6.1

Lucky Jackson arrives in Las Vegas with his car literally in tow ready for the first Grand Prix — once he has the money for an engine. He gets the cash easily enough but mislays it when the pretty pool manageress takes his mind off things. It seems he'll lose both race and girl, problems complicated by rivalry from womanizing fellow racer Elmo Mancini.

Viva Las Vegas

1964

Short Time poster
6.5

As a result of a misdiagnosis, Detective Burt Simpson is told he has just weeks to live. He gains a new respect for his life and loved ones but learns that in order for his wife, Carolyn, and son, Dougie, to collect any insurance money, he must be killed in the line of duty. He then becomes the most reckless man on the police force, volunteering for dangerous assignments over the objections of his by-the-book partner.

Short Time

1990

Batman Beyond: The Movie poster
7.2

Fuelled by remorse and vengeance, a high schooler named Terry McGinnis becomes the new Batman as he fights crime in the futuristic Neo-Gotham City.

Batman Beyond: The Movie

1999

The Black Stallion poster
7.1

While traveling with his father, young Alec becomes fascinated by a mysterious Arabian stallion that is brought on board and stabled in the ship he is sailing on. When it tragically sinks both he and the horse survive only to be stranded on a deserted island. He befriends it, so when finally rescued both return to his home where they soon meet Henry Dailey, a once successful trainer. Together they begin training the horse to race against the fastest ones in the world.

The Black Stallion

1979

Ghost World poster
7.1

Two quirky, cynical, teenaged girls try to figure out what to do with their lives following high school graduation. After they play a prank on an eccentric, middle-aged record collector, one of them befriends him, which causes a rift in the girls’ friendship.

Ghost World

2001

One from the Heart poster
5.9

In a dazzling, dreamlike Las Vegas, longtime couple Hank and Frannie break up on their fifth anniversary and each pursue the fantasy of new love over one neon-soaked night—he with a free-spirited acrobat, she with a seductive musician. But as illusion and reality blur, both must decide whether passion or devotion truly defines the heart.

One from the Heart

1982

Aloha Scooby-Doo! poster
7.1

The Mystery Gang goes to Hawaii for the Big Kahuna of Hanahuna Surfing Contest. However, the gang and the locals find the island invaded by the vengeful Wiki Tiki spirit and his demons.

Aloha Scooby-Doo!

2005

Casper Meets Wendy poster
5.9

When a warlock threatens Wendy the Good Little Witch, she and her aunts hide out at a resort where Casper the Ghost is vacationing with his uncles. Although Casper and Wendy are told ghosts and witches don't get along, the two are kindred spirits! This spooky family-friendly adventure finds Casper and Wendy bridging the ghost-witch divide to battle the warlock who is intent on destroying Wendy.

Casper Meets Wendy

1998

A Simple Wish poster
5.5

Murray is a male fairy godmother, and he is trying to help 8-year-old Anabel to fulfil her "simple wish" - that her father Oliver, who is a cab driver, would win the leading role in a Broadway musical. Unfortunately, Murray's magic wand is broken and the fairies convention is threatened by evil witches Claudia and Boots.

A Simple Wish

1997

Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood poster
4.4

A would-be filmmaker and actress shake up the industry with a trick dog who gets discovered by a studio bus driver in the 1920s.

Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood

1976

What a Way to Go! poster
7.1

A four-time widow discusses her four marriages, in which all of her husbands became incredibly rich and died prematurely because of their drive to be rich.

What a Way to Go!

1964

Clambake poster
5.8

The heir to an oil fortune trades places with a water-ski instructor at a Florida hotel to see if girls will like him for himself, rather than his father's money.

Clambake

1967