Terry Ann “Teri” Garr (born December 11, 1944) is an American actress and comedienne.
Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio. Her father, Eddie Garr (né 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. Her mother, Phyllis Lind (née Emma Schmotzer), was a dancer, Rockette, wardrobe mistress, and model. Garr is a graduate of Magnificat High School, an all-girls Roman Catholic high school in Rocky River, Ohio.
Early in her career she was sometimes credited as Terri Garr, Terry Garr, Teri Hope, or Terry Carr. Garr’s movie debut was as an extra in 1963’s A Swingin’ Affair. She started out as a background dancer in uncredited roles for youth-oriented films like Pajama Party, a beach party film, and nine Elvis Presley features. Her first speaking role was a one-line appearance as a damsel in distress in The Monkees film Head written by Jack Nicholson. In 1974 she got her first significant film role in Francis Ford Coppola’s critically acclaimed The Conversation. She made her career breakthrough in the Mel Brooks hit comedy Young Frankenstein (1974). She then went on to appear in a string of highly successful films, often playing a housewife, in both comedies and dramas. Her most popular films include Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Oh, God! (1977), The Black Stallion (1979) and Mr. Mom (1983). In 1982 she was nominated for an Academy Award for her supporting role as Dustin Hoffman’s actress friend in Tootsie. (more…)
