Teri Garr's Real Name: Teri Garr
Teri Garr → Teri Garr
Quick answer: The actor was known professionally as Teri Garr. The Associated Press says she was sometimes credited as Terri, Terry, or Terry Ann. A Guardian obituary independently identifies her as Teri Garr and gives the birth date 11 December 1944; the AP report does not. The Associated Press, BBC News, and the Guardian all record her death on October 29, 2024, at 79.
Real name and early life
The Associated Press does not give a legal birth name beyond the professional name Teri Garr, and notes that she was sometimes credited as Terri, Terry, or Terry Ann. The Guardian uses Teri Garr and, in its closing line, gives the birth date 11 December 1944. Birthplace accounts differ. The Guardian says she was born in Lakewood, Ohio. The Associated Press says she wrote that she was born in Los Angeles, although most reference books list Lakewood, Ohio, and that in Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood (2005) she explained her decision not to discuss her age. Both name her father as the vaudeville performer Eddie Garr and her mother as Phyllis Lind, a Rockette, and both mention North Hollywood High School and California State University, Northridge.
Career highlights
The Associated Press and the Guardian both say she appeared as a background dancer in nine Elvis Presley films, including Viva Las Vegas and Clambake. Both name The Conversation (1974) as an early film break, Young Frankenstein (1974), Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Tootsie (1982), for which both record an Academy Award nomination for supporting actress. Both also name the autobiography Speedbumps (2005).
Death
An Associated Press report updated on October 29, 2024, said she died that Tuesday at age 79 of multiple sclerosis BBC News, in a report dated 30 October 2024, independently said she died at the age of 79 in Los Angeles on Tuesday, and noted that she had first spoken publicly about a multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2002. The Guardian's closing line independently gives the death date 29 October 2024 and the age 79. The AP and the Guardian also differ on a later aneurysm: the AP says she underwent an operation in January 2007 to repair an aneurysm, while the Guardian says she suffered a brain aneurysm in 2006.
Name notes for searchers
People looking up Teri, Terri, Terry, or Terry Ann Garr are looking for the same actor.
FAQ
What was Teri Garr's real name?
She was known professionally as Teri Garr. The Associated Press notes the credits Terri, Terry, and Terry Ann. The Guardian uses Teri Garr.
When and where was she born?
The Guardian gives 11 December 1944 and Lakewood, Ohio. The Associated Press does not give a calendar date and records a conflict between Los Angeles, in her own account, and Lakewood, Ohio, in most reference books.
When did she die?
The Associated Press, BBC News, and the Guardian all record October 29, 2024, at age 79. BBC News places the death in Los Angeles.
What later work is cited here?
All three sources discuss Young Frankenstein and Tootsie. The AP and the Guardian also name Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Speedbumps.