Teri Garr A Life of LAUGHTER & STRENGTH

THE COMEDY ACTRESS DIDN'T ALLOW MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS TO EXTINGUISH HER INNER SPARK

- LOUISE A. BARILE

Teri Garr danced with Elvis Presley in five movies, including Viva Las Vegas. She partied with the Beatles in London, made a movie with the Monkees and appeared in comedy sketches on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour - all before Young Frankenstein made her a star in her own right in 1974.

A child of showbiz, Teri, who died on Oct. 29 at age 79, gave even her ditziest, most neurotic roles depth. In Tootsie, which earned her a 1983 Academy Award nomination, her jilted character, Sandy, expresses relatable exasperation to Dustin Hoffman. "I never said, 'I love you.' I don't care about 'I love you,'" she roared, unleashing her frustration. "I just don't like to be lied to!"

Teri first began noticing odd physical symptoms including tingling, tripping, muscle weakness and fatigue - around the time she filmed Tootsie. "Every movie I did, I'd go see a different doctor in the location where we were shooting, and every one had a different opinion about what it might be," she said. "Every so often someone would mention MS, but then someone else would think it was something else."

She finally received the correct diagnosis in 1999 and went public with her condition two years later. "I think some people want you to be upset," she said. "Not only am I not upset, but I'm OK. I don't see any profit in being down; I don't see that it gets you anywhere."

ALWAYS A FIGHTER