Teri Garr passed away after a long battle with multiple sclerosis
30 october 2024 в 19:37
Teri Garr recently passed away, more than twenty years after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She was 79 years old.
The news was announced by her publicist Heidi Schaefer on October 29, stating that Garr passed away peacefully on Tuesday morning in Los Angeles, surrounded by family and friends.
Here is everything you need to know about the disease and Garr’s long battle with it.
Garr once described multiple sclerosis as a «strange disease», - and she was not wrong. MS is a chronic condition of the central nervous system — the brain and spinal cord — that is highly unpredictable. Its effects can vary; some people may experience mild symptoms, while others may lose the ability to see clearly, write, speak, or walk.
In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath (myelin) around nerve fibers, leading to communication problems between the brain and the rest of the body. Over time, this can result in permanent damage or degradation of nerve fibers. The term «sclerosis» refers to the formation of scars caused by the disease, which manifest as lesions or plaques in the brain or spinal cord.
To this day, there is no cure for multiple sclerosis. Once diagnosed with MS, it remains a lifelong condition, but treatment and specialists can help manage the disease and its symptoms.
Garr was diagnosed with MS in 1999. By that time, her symptoms had become so severe that she sought medical help, leading to the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
However, she did not publicly disclose her illness until 2002, when she announced it at a press conference at the New York Academy of Sciences.
After becoming public, Garr became an official spokesperson for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, delivering humorous speeches at meetings across the United States and Canada. In 2005, she stated: «You have to find your center and take the hits, because it’s hard when people feel sorry for you. Just trying to explain to people that I’m okay is exhausting».
That same year, Garr released her autobiography «Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood». However, in 2006, she suffered a brain aneurysm rupture, which put her in a coma for a week. After working with a therapist, she regained her speech and motor skills and made a triumphant return to television, appearing on David Letterman’s talk show to promote her film «Expired».
Garr appeared in some of the biggest films of her time, including «The Conversation», - «Mr. Mom», - «Oh, God!» and «Close Encounters of the Third Kind». However, her breakthrough role came as the seductive Inga in «Young Frankenstein» alongside Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks.
She then received widespread acclaim for her performance in «Tootsie», - for which she was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Dustin Hoffman’s neurotic girlfriend, Sandy, in the 1982 film.
Marty Cook, a comedy professor at Emerson College, noted that Garr perfected and inverted the stereotype of the «smart dumb blonde», - adding her own sad wit, giving depth to the childlike roles she often portrayed. Legendary New Yorker critic Pauline Kael, known for her sharp critiques of actors and directors, also praised Garr, describing her as «the funniest neurotic head case on screen»
The news was announced by her publicist Heidi Schaefer on October 29, stating that Garr passed away peacefully on Tuesday morning in Los Angeles, surrounded by family and friends.
Here is everything you need to know about the disease and Garr’s long battle with it.
Garr once described multiple sclerosis as a «strange disease», - and she was not wrong. MS is a chronic condition of the central nervous system — the brain and spinal cord — that is highly unpredictable. Its effects can vary; some people may experience mild symptoms, while others may lose the ability to see clearly, write, speak, or walk.
In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath (myelin) around nerve fibers, leading to communication problems between the brain and the rest of the body. Over time, this can result in permanent damage or degradation of nerve fibers. The term «sclerosis» refers to the formation of scars caused by the disease, which manifest as lesions or plaques in the brain or spinal cord.
To this day, there is no cure for multiple sclerosis. Once diagnosed with MS, it remains a lifelong condition, but treatment and specialists can help manage the disease and its symptoms.
Garr was diagnosed with MS in 1999. By that time, her symptoms had become so severe that she sought medical help, leading to the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
However, she did not publicly disclose her illness until 2002, when she announced it at a press conference at the New York Academy of Sciences.
After becoming public, Garr became an official spokesperson for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, delivering humorous speeches at meetings across the United States and Canada. In 2005, she stated: «You have to find your center and take the hits, because it’s hard when people feel sorry for you. Just trying to explain to people that I’m okay is exhausting».
That same year, Garr released her autobiography «Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood». However, in 2006, she suffered a brain aneurysm rupture, which put her in a coma for a week. After working with a therapist, she regained her speech and motor skills and made a triumphant return to television, appearing on David Letterman’s talk show to promote her film «Expired».
Garr appeared in some of the biggest films of her time, including «The Conversation», - «Mr. Mom», - «Oh, God!» and «Close Encounters of the Third Kind». However, her breakthrough role came as the seductive Inga in «Young Frankenstein» alongside Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks.
She then received widespread acclaim for her performance in «Tootsie», - for which she was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Dustin Hoffman’s neurotic girlfriend, Sandy, in the 1982 film.
Marty Cook, a comedy professor at Emerson College, noted that Garr perfected and inverted the stereotype of the «smart dumb blonde», - adding her own sad wit, giving depth to the childlike roles she often portrayed. Legendary New Yorker critic Pauline Kael, known for her sharp critiques of actors and directors, also praised Garr, describing her as «the funniest neurotic head case on screen»
© Kolganov Andrey
