Under the heading of the wrong people keep dying, I was sad to hear yesterday that Teri Garr had passed away.
I always enjoyed everything that I ever saw Teri in. She was very funny and had a warm, friendly vivaciousness.
Teri Garr appeared in the chorus of nine Elvis Presley films, including Viva Las Vegas, Roustabout and Clambake. She also appeared on numerous television shows, including Star Trek, Batman and M*A*S*H.
While Teri was a sweet and affable person, you did NOT ask her about Star Trek. Her experience on the set was NOT a pleasant one due to Gene Roddenberry’s obsession over the shortness of her skirt. So talking about Star Trek was an absolute no-no.
Which is a damn shame because Teri's Roberta Lincoln was a humorous counterpoint to the grim and taciturn alien visitor Gary Seven.
Roddenberry thought this skirt needed to be shorter. And apparently he was kind of handsy in demonstrating how much shorter it should be.
My absolute favorite comic role in the movies was Garr's appearance as Gene Wilder’s German lab assistant in Young Frankenstein. (“Would you like a roll in zee hay? Roll! Roll! Roll!”)
Yes. Yes I would very much like a roll in ze hay.
While mostly cast in comedies, Teri Garr would find her way into other things like Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
She was also made frequent appearances on Late Night with David Letterman where she was always a delightful and funny guest.
It was also during this time that she realized that her body didn’t feel or respond quite like it should.
She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999. A cold and cruel fate for a woman who started her career as a dancer.
She continued to act, appearing in episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and a recurring role as Phoebe’s mother in Friends.
Teri Garr excelled at characters who were sweet and kind and funny and by all accounts, that described the woman herself.
The world feels like a darker place without Teri Garr in it.
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