Teri Garr, who starred in Tootsie and Young Frankenstein, dies aged 79
Oscar-nominated actress Teri Garr, best known for her roles in Young Frankenstein and Tootsie, has died.
Garr, who also starred in Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, died at the age of 79 due to complications from multiple sclerosis (MS), her manager Heidi Schaeffer said on Tuesday.
She appeared in three episodes of Friends in 1997 and 1998 as Phoebe Abbott, the estranged birth mother of Lisa Kudrow’s Phoebe.
Teri Garr with Dustin Hoffman (L) and Sydney Pollack in Tootsie. Pic: Rex Features/Everett/Shutterstock
In a screen career that spanned more than 40 years, she was nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar for her role in 1982’s Tootsie, starring opposite Dustin Hoffman, but lost out to Maureen Stapleton.
Her most famous role was playing Inga, a Transylvania local who becomes the assistant to Gene Wilder’s Dr Frederick Frankenstein in Mel Brooks’s 1974 comedy hit, Young Frankenstein, part of a star-studded cast that included Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman and Gene Hackman.
Garr had plenty of memorable lines, such as “Vould you like to have a roll in zee hay?”
She was a familiar face on sitcoms and late-night talk shows, including NBC’s The Tonight Show during the Johnny Carson era.
She struggled with health issues in recent years and in 2002, she revealed she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and had been suffering symptoms for some two decades.
Five years later, she underwent surgery for a brain aneurysm.
Teri Garr in Los Angeles in 2012. Pic: Reuters
She later became a key advocate for MS awareness, traveling across the country to speak with doctors and patients about her experiences, NBC News, Sky’s US partner said. She retired from acting in 2011.
Teri Ann Garr was born in Cleveland in 1944 to showbusiness parents and began dance lessons aged six.
Her father, Eddie, was a vaudeville performer and actor who appeared on Broadway and her mother, Phyllis, had been a member of the Rockettes precision dance troupe.
After studying in Los Angeles, Garr moved to New York to pursue a career first in ballet and then in acting, studying at the famed Actor’s Studio in Manhattan.
Garr, a quirky comedy performer, got her break with bit parts in a number of 1960s Elvis Presley movies, including Viva Las Vegas and Roustabout.
As well as enjoying memorable movie roles, such in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation and One From The Heart, she was a familiar face on TV, including roles in That Girl, Batman, and The Andy Griffith Show, Variety said on its website.
She played a dizzy secretary in an episode of the original Star Trek and became a regular singer and dancer on The Sonny And Cher Show.
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In her autobiography, Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood, published in 2005, she complained of being typecast as a ditzy woman, Variety said.
In 1993, Garr married building contractor John O’Neil, and that same year, in November, they were present when their adopted daughter Molly O’Neil was born.
The couple divorced three years later.
She is survived by her daughter, and a grandson, Tyryn.
Entertainment
Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it’s ‘an underdog just like me’
Police are taking no further action over Kneecap’s performance at Glastonbury.
Officers said they had investigated “comments about a forthcoming court case made during Kneecap’s performance” at the festival on 28 June.
However, after Crown Prosecution Service advice, they decided there is not enough evidence “to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.
The Avon & Somerset force started investigating the Irish group’s show last month, as well as comments by punk-rap duo Bob Vylan.
It said they were looking at a possible public order incident.
Police said on Friday that the investigation into Bob Vylan’s performance was ongoing.
The London duo were widely criticised – and caused a BBC crisis – after leading on-stage chants of “death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces).
Kneecap’s Liam Og O Hannaidh appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June. Pic: PA
Kneecap posted a photograph on Instagram, which the group said was an email from police announcing the case was being dropped.
They said their packed Glastonbury gig was a “celebration of love and solidarity” and reporting used “wildly misleading headlines”.
Fears over what Kneecap might do or say during the performance had prompted the BBC not to show it live.
The group said: “Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close… yet the police saw fit to publicly announce they were opening an investigation.”
“There is no public apology, they don’t send this to media or post it on police accounts,” they added.
The police statement on Friday said they had informed Kneecap of their decision to drop the case.
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One of the group’s members appeared in court in June charged with a terror offence.
Liam Og O hAnnaidh is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation in the UK, at a gig last year.
He was released on unconditional bail ahead of a second court appearance in August.
Entertainment
Tomorrowland: ‘Devastating’ blaze destroys main stage at major festival – two days before it was due to begin
A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.
Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.
Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.
The fire gutted the main stage
Fire crews attempt to bring the blaze under control
The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.
It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.
Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.
Black smoke could be seen rising into the sky
The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.
The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.
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Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.
“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told reporters ‘a lot of people are devastated’
Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.
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