Teri Garr - biography

“Once, I played Cher’s dog on TV.”

“I’ve always had this American-pie face that would get work in the commercials.  I’d say things like, ‘Hi, Marge, how’s your laundry?’ and ‘Hi, I’m a real nice Georgia peach.’ Sometimes, this work is one step above being a cocktail waitress.”

“Any movie I’ve ever made, the minute you walk on the set they tell you who’s the person to buy it from.”

“I recently saw the movie about Ray Charles, and there’s a scene where he falls down and the mother doesn’t help him.  She says, I don’t want anyone to treat you like a cripple.  I’ve fallen down before, and Molly will say, get up and just go.”

“I have an enormous fondness for delicious food.  It’s very comforting.”

“I have worked enough and I am happy to be touring the country speaking about living with MS to give people inspiration and motivation to help themselves.”

“Oddly enough, MS has made my life so much better than it was before.  I now appreciate what I have and I am not running around like a rat in a maze.”

“Take a step back, evaluate what is important, and enjoy life.”

“I have heard all kinds of stories about telling employers about MS and I really don’t know what the answer is.  I am a private person, but I have found support by talking to fellow MSrs in the community.”

“I think eventually they’re going to find out that MS is like 10 different things.  I have a neurological disease something like MS, and it’s MS, so let’s take medicine for it.”

“I think there are a lot of myths about MS, and it may have affected my career.”

“I understand how hard it is to talk to people about MS.  You don’t want pity or random advice.”

“I’m wondering if they haven’t reported all the people with MS, because if all of the cases were reported, the government would have to step in and give more financial aid to us.”

“If you get a diagnosis, get on a therapy, keep a good attitude and keep your sense of humor.”

“MS doesn’t define who I am.”

“My doctor said, for want of a better word, now that we’ve got medicines out here that can help, let’s put you on one of them and say we’re treating MS.”

“Seventy-five percent of MS sufferers are women.”

“Someday they may cure MS, that idiot thing.  It gets in there and they can’t get it out.”

“There were symptoms that I saw, and though I went to many doctors and had many tests, no one diagnosed MS.”

“With this disease it is so easy to throw in the towel, and that is the worst thing we can do.”

“You can be diagnosed and treated early.  And there is hope for the future.”

“You can keep it to yourself, but you could also call a support team like the team at MS LifeLines.  They are there to support the MS community and give good advice.”

“I’ve always been this insane.  Isn’t that interesting?”

“I do Pilates a lot.  I don’t do a lot of cardiovascular stuff.”

“I go to my physical therapist to keep fighting it and one of them told me if you don’t use it, you lose it, but I know we’re on television so I won’t say what I would often say.”

“I have a disease, but I also have a lot of other things.”

“I have been off the motorcycles for about 20 years now, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still do it.”

“I plan to live to be 120!”

“I refused David Letterman’s proposal of marriage for obvious reasons, but thanks for asking.”

“I take one of the interferon therapies, Rebif.”

“In addition to having a good partnership with a good doctor, you have to do some of the work yourself.  Go online, read about it, and find out what you can tolerate.”

“There are things that you can do today that, years ago, there was nothing.  The community today needs to know that with MRI and the current medications the view is good.”

“There’s always going to be somebody worse off than me.”

“You have to find out what’s right for you, so it’s trial and error.  You are going to be all right if you accept realistic goals for yourself.”

“You have to lift your head up out of the mud and just do it.”

Teri Garr has appeared in the following films:
Fun in Acapulco (1963)
Pajama Party (1964)
Roustabout (1964)
What a Way to Go! (1964)
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home (1965)
Red Line 7000 (1965)
The Cool Ones (1967)
The Moonshine War (1970)
Summertree (1971)
The Conversation (1974)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Oh, God! (1977)
The Black Stallion (1979)
Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video (1979)
Witches’ Brew (1980)
Honky Tonk Freeway (1981)
One from the Heart (1982)
The Escape Artist (1982)
Tootsie (1982)
The Black Stallion Returns (1983)
The Sting II (1983)
Mr. Mom (1983)
Firstborn (1984)
After Hours (1985)
Full Moon in Blue Water (1988)
Let It Ride (1989)
Out Cold (1989)
Waiting for the Light (1990)
Short Time (1990)
Mom and Dad Save the World (1992)
Dumb & Dumber (1994)
Save the Rabbits (1994)
Michael (1996)
A Simple Wish (1997)
Changing Habits (1997)
The Definite Maybe (1997)
Dick (1999)
The Sky Is Falling (2001)
Life Without Dick (2002)
Kabluey (2007)