Teri Garr, actress who combined flashy style with depth in Tootsie and Young Frankenstein – obituary

Teri Garr, the actress who has died aged 79, began her film career as a dancer in Elvis Presley musicals and went on to appear in stunning roles in films such as Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein (1974) and Sydney Pollack's Tootsie (1982). , for which she received an Oscar nomination.

Vibrant and blonde, Teri Garr developed a wild-eyed, crazy persona that was almost unhinged: a New Yorker critic described her as “perhaps the funniest, most neurotic ditzy lady on screen.” Despite being naturally funny, she somehow always managed to get in on the joke, but she was also able to bring emotional depth to her characters – a combination that made her unforgettably funny.

Her first major starring role was as Inga, the busty Teutonic lab assistant in “Young Frankenstein,” Mel Brooks' homage to 1930s horror films, opposite Gene Wilder's mad scientist and Marty Feldman as his bug-eyed servant Igor.

Her agent discouraged her from auditioning for the role because she was still relatively unknown. But her mother, who worked as a costume designer for the film, told her that Brooks had not yet found a suitable Inga.

“As I read the part, I realized it was all about the breasts, and I didn't want to let the lack of them affect my performance,” Teri Garr wrote in her memoir “Speedbumps” (2005, with Henriette Mantel). So when she went to the audition in a fluffy pink sweater, she stuffed stockings into her bra and won the role. “Nowadays, people pay more than $5,000 for a breast job,” she noted. “Mine cost less than $5 at Woolworths.”

“When I saw her, so beautiful, I asked Wilder if she could act,” remembers Mel Brooks. “'Who cares?' Gene replied.”