Lisa Kudrow remembers late 'Friends' mom Teri Garr as 'a comedic acting genius'

Lisa Kudrow remembers her late TV mother Teri Garr.

The 61-year-old “Friends” actress paid tribute to Garr shortly after the Oscar-nominated comedy legend died on Tuesday.

“Teri Garr was a comedic acting genius who had and continues to have a huge influence on me, and I know I am not alone,” Kudrow said in a statement to People. “I am so happy and grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Teri Garr.”

Garr first appeared on Friends in 1997, playing Phoebe Abbott, the estranged biological mother of Kudrow's character Phoebe Buffay, and Phoebe's twin sister Ursula Buffay (also played by Kudrow).

In the season three finale episode, “The One at the Beach,” Phoebe took a break from the friend group's beach vacation to track down a woman who she believed knew her birth parents. As it turns out, the woman (Garr) was actually Phoebe's birth mother.

Garr played Abbott in two additional episodes of Friends: “The One with the Jellyfish” and “The One with Phoebe's Uterus,” both of which aired in 1998 during the show's fourth season.

Garr's death was confirmed by her publicist Heidi Schaeffer, who told The Post the star died Tuesday morning in Los Angeles after a long battle with multiple sclerosis. Garr was reportedly surrounded by family and friends. She was 79.

Kudrow joined many others who paid tribute to the late actress, including her “Tootsie” co-star Dustin Hoffman. In an exclusive statement to The Post, Hoffman, 87, said, “Teri was brilliant and unique in everything she did and had a heart of gold.”

He added: “Working with her was one of the big highlights. There was no one like her.”

Known for her comedic skills, Garr received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of neurotic, chronically unemployed actress Sandy Lester in the 1982 Sydney Pollack film.

The late star began her acting career on television with roles on shows such as Star Trek, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and The New Dick Van Dyke Show. Her big break came in 1974 when she won a role in Mel Brooks' horror parody Young Frankenstein.

Garr followed that performance with roles in two films, the Francis Ford Coppola thriller The Conversation and the Steven Spielberg sci-fi film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, before starring in Tootsie. She continued to work in film and television until 2011.

In 2002, the actress revealed that she had been diagnosed with MS. “I really don’t think there’s any reason to say anything about it,” Garr said at the time during an interview with CNN’s Larry King. “I think the good news is that there are a lot of good medications out there.”

In 2006, she suffered a brain aneurysm, but recovered and was able to return to acting before retiring in 2011.

Garr is survived by her daughter Molly O'Neil, 30, and grandson Tyryn, 6.