Teri Garr, star of “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie,” has died at age 79

Teri Garr, the Oscar-nominated comedian best known for her spirited performances in classics like “Young Frankenstein,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Tootsie,” is in on Tuesday, according to her publicist and friend Heidi Los Angeles, Schäffer died.

She was 79 years old. The cause of death was complications from multiple sclerosis, said Schaeffer.

Garr spoke openly about her experience with MS, a health ordeal that she chronicled in the 2005 autobiography “Speedbumps: Flooring it Through Hollywood.”

In a film career spanning more than 40 years, Garr endeared herself to audiences with her quirky on-screen persona and quick wit. She was a familiar face on sitcoms and late-night talk shows, including NBC's “The Tonight Show” during the Johnny Carson era.

Garr, who trained as a ballet dancer, launched her Hollywood career as an uncredited go-go dancer in six musicals starring Elvis Presley.

In the early 1970s, Garr moved into more extensive acting roles and worked with some of the leading filmmakers of the decade.

The year 1974 was pivotal: Garr had a supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation and played Gene Wilder's German-accented assistant Inga in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, a black-and-white parody of Hollywood horror films.

Garr's fame continued to rise after Steven Spielberg cast her as Richard Dreyfuss' wife in the sci-fi hit Close Encounters. Garr's character watches in disbelief as her husband becomes increasingly fixated on UFOs.

Sydney Pollack's Tootsie earned Garr an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She played a neurotic acting student whose heart is broken by Dustin Hoffman's character, a struggling artist who disguises himself as a woman to get a role in a soap opera.

Garr has also worked with Martin Scorsese (“After Hours”) and Robert Altman (“Prêt-à-Porter”); Coppola made her the focus of the 1982 surrealist musical “One from the Heart,” a box office disaster that received positive reviews from contemporary critics.

Younger viewers will likely appreciate Garr's role alongside Michael Keaton in “Mr. Mom” as well as her recurring role on the NBC sitcom “Friends” as Lisa Kudrow’s estranged mother.

Teri Ann Garr was born in Ohio on December 11, 1944; Her father was a vaudeville performer and her mother was a dancer. The family eventually settled in the Los Angeles area, where Garr's father died of a heart attack when he was young. Garr learned the art of ballet before moving to New York City to try her hand at acting.

Her first speaking role came in 1968 in “Head,” a zany satirical musical starring the Monkees and written by Jack Nicholson.

Garr's early film work included appearances in the 1960s incarnation of “Batman,” an episode of the original “Star Trek” series, and the variety show “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.”

“I was always looking for the next job,” Garr wrote in her autobiography.

Garr's persistence paid off and she remained productive throughout her film career. Pauline Kael, the New Yorker's legendary film critic, once praised Garr as “perhaps the funniest, most neurotic ditzy on the screen.”

Garr made her multiple sclerosis diagnosis public on national television in October 2002. She later became a major advocate for MS awareness, traveling around the country speaking to doctors and patients about her experiences.

“I think everyone is scared and scared when they hear something like that,” Garr told CNN in 2002. “That's because there's so much – you know, there's not a lot of information about it. And a lot of people don't do it.” I don't know that it's not that bad. I mean, I'm moving on with my life.

In late 2006, Garr suffered a brain aneurysm that affected her speech and motor skills.

She retired from acting in 2011, but her legacy continued to shape the comedy world and inspire younger female comedians.

“The person I always think about is Teri Garr,” Tina Fey was once quoted as saying. “There was a time when Teri Garr was in everything. She was charming but also very real. Her body was real, her teeth were real and you thought she could be your friend.”