Los Angeles — Teri Garr, the eccentric comic performer who climbed from background dancer in Elvis Presley films to co-star in such hits as “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie,” died. She was 79.

Garr died on Tuesday from multiple sclerosis, “surrounded by family and friends,” according to publicist Heidi Schaeffer. Garr has fought various health issues in recent years, including an aneurysm repair surgery in January 2007.

Admirers praised her on social media, with writer-director Paul Feig describing her as “truly one of my comedy heroes.” I could not have loved her more,” and screenwriter Cinco Paul saying: “Never the star, yet always shining. “She improved everything she was in.”

Throughout her long career, the performer, sometimes known as Terri, Terry, or Terry Ann, appeared destined for show business from an early age.

Teri Garr, The Offbeat Comic Actor Of ‘Young Frankenstein’ And ‘Tootsie,’ Has Died

Her father was Eddie Garr, a well-known vaudeville comic, and her mother was Phyllis Lind, one of the original high-kicking Rockettes at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Their daughter began dancing classes at the age of six and, by the age of fourteen, was performing with the San Francisco and Los Angeles ballet companies.

She was 16 years old when she joined the road crew of “West Side Story” in Los Angeles, and she began starring in small roles in films as early as 1963.

In an interview from 1988, she described how she landed the role in “West Side Story.” After being rejected at her initial audition, she returned the following day dressed differently and was accepted.

From then, Garr found constant work dancing in movies, appearing in the chorus of nine Elvis Presley films, including “Viva Las Vegas,” “Roustabout,” and “Clambake.”

She has also appeared on various television shows, including “Star Trek,” “Dr. Kildare,” and “Batman,” and was a featured dancer on the rock ‘n’ roll music show “Shindig,” the rock concert performance “T.A.M.I.,” and a cast member of “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.”

Her breakthrough role was as Gene Hackman’s girlfriend in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 thriller “The Conversation.” This led to an interview with Mel Brooks, who offered her the role of Gene Wilder’s German lab assistant in 1974’s “Young Frankenstein” if she could speak with a German accent.

“Cher had this German woman, Renata, making wigs, so I got the accent from her,” Garr once told me.

The film established her as a great comic performer, with New Yorker film writer Pauline Kael calling her “the funniest neurotic dizzy dame on screen.”

Her big smile and off-center appeal helped her land roles in “Oh, God!” with George Burns and John Denver, “Mr. Mom” (as Michael Keaton’s wife), and “Tootsie,” in which she played the girlfriend who loses Dustin Hoffman to Jessica Lange and discovers he has dressed up as a woman to revive his career. (She also lost the Oscar for supporting actress to Lange at the Academy Awards that year.)

Garr, best known for comedy, demonstrated her ability to handle drama in films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Black Stallion, and The Escape Artist.

“I would like to play ‘Norma Rae’ and ‘Sophie’s Choice,’ but I never got the chance,” she once commented, admitting that she had gotten typecast as a humorous performer.

She had a gift for spontaneous humor, frequently playing David Letterman’s foil during early guest appearances on NBC’s “Late Night With David Letterman”.

Her appearances grew so frequent, and the pair’s good-natured bickering so convincing that rumors of romantic involvement circulated for a while. Years later, Letterman acknowledged those early appearances with helping the program become a success.

During those years, Garr began to experience “a little beeping or ticking” in her right leg. It started in 1983 and expanded to her right arm as well, but she thought she could deal with it. By 1999, the symptoms had gotten so bad that she saw a doctor. The diagnosis is multiple sclerosis.

For three years, Garr kept her sickness a secret.

“I was afraid that I wouldn’t get work,” she said in a 2003 interview. “People hear MS and think, ‘Oh, my God, the person has two days to live.'”

After going public, she became a spokesman for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, giving funny remarks at events around the United States and Canada.

“You have to find your center and roll with the punches because that’s a hard thing to do: to have people pity you,” she said in 2005. “Just trying to explain to people that I’m OK is tiresome.”

She also continued to act, appearing on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Greetings From Tucson,” and “Life With Bonnie,” among other shows. She also had a brief cameo on “Friends” in the 1990s as Lisa Kudrow’s mother. Garr married contractor John O’Neill in 1993. Before their divorce in 1996, they adopted a daughter, Molly.

Teri Garr, The Offbeat Comic Actor Of ‘Young Frankenstein’ And ‘Tootsie,’ Has Died

In her 2005 book Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood, Garr explains why she chose not to discuss her age.

“My mother taught me that Hollywood personalities never reveal their true ages. “She never revealed her own or my father’s,” she wrote.

She claimed she was born in Los Angeles. However, most reference books identify Lakewood, Ohio. As her father’s profession faded, Teri and her two older brothers moved in with relatives in the Midwest and East.

Teri graduated from North Hollywood High School and studied speech and acting at California State University, Northridge for two years.

In 1988, Garr recounted what her father warned his children about making a career in Hollywood.

“Don’t be in this business,” he advised them. “This is the lowest. It’s humiliating for folks.”

Garr is survived by her daughter Molly O’Neil and grandson Tyryn.

SOURCE | AP

Marie-Philippe Bouchard, head of radio news at CBC News Canada, is excited to be “charting the path forward” as a public broadcaster in Canada. The company is still dealing with the fallout from the scandal surrounding executive bonuses given out in the wake of layoffs caused by outgoing CEO Catherine Tait.

Bouchard will start her five-year tenure as head of CBC/Radio-Canada on January 3, 2025, making history as the first francophone woman to hold the position, according to Heritage Canada, which announced the appointment on Tuesday.

Across the globe, Bouchard described “public service media” as “a precious public asset.”

According to Bouchard’s media statement, keeping up with the rapid pace of society’s changes necessitates that our public broadcaster establish trust to continue being relevant to all Canadians.

The Minister of Heritage, Pascale St-Onge, praised Bouchard, calling him “a talented, strong public broadcasting leader with a proven record of transformation.”

Before becoming president and chief executive officer of TV5 Quebec Canada, Bouchard held several managerial posts at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in digital services, music, strategy, planning, and regulatory relations.

Catherine Tait and CBC News Canada

Bouchard took over for Catherine Tait, president of the CBC since 2018, and a figure under pressure for executive compensation and the larger difficulties of rebuilding public faith in the network. Tait oversaw CBC News Canada.

Tait justified the over $18 million in performance-based compensation to staff during Monday’s meeting of the Commons Heritage committee, even though the government had to lay off 141 workers and fill 205 open jobs due to a budget deficit.

According to Catherine Tait, Parliamentary Heritage Committee members have tried to “vilify” and “discredit” her and the public broadcaster through her appearances.

When she resigned in January, she refused to accept Conservative demands that she forego a financial departure package that included bonuses.

St-Onge appointed Bouchard to a committee last May to update CBC/Radio-Canada’s mission. The broadcaster employs over 7,000 individuals representing “a multitude of backgrounds and cultures,” as stated in the organization’s most recent annual report. So far, we do not know what that review found.

As online platforms continue to grow in importance, CBC News Canada is one of several broadcasters that has seen a decline in ad revenue and a subsequent reduction in audience size.

According to its annual report for 2023–2024, the company predicts that its traditional radio and television audiences will “continue to erode as younger Canadians embrace digital technologies.”

According to St. Onge, Bouchard will “provide a steady hand” for the CBC during “a critical time of modernization.”

Source: CBC News Canada

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Canada Immigration News reports Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the Canadian government will reduce the number of new permanent residents by 21% by next year.

This is one of several significant modifications to immigration targets that Trudeau has announced to halt the country’s population increase.

During his press conference on Thursday, Trudeau announced to reporters that Canada will be reducing its immigration intake over the next three years. As a result, the country’s population will not increase for the following two years.

The United States government is changing its mind about its original goal of maintaining unchanged immigration targets for 2026. The Immigration Levels Plan for the Years 2025–2027 states that in 2025, Canada would cut the quota for new permanent immigrants from 500,000 to 395,000.

During the event, Miller stated that the current temporary residents will account for 40% of all new permanent residents next year.

The federal government has projected that this figure will drop even more, reaching 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027. Although the epidemic necessitated additional workers for Canada, Trudeau acknowledged that the labor market had transformed.

The federal government has stated that it will still aim to welcome 485,000 new permanent residents in 2024 and 500,000 new residents in 2025, as stated in last year’s plans. Last year’s projections indicated that by 2026, the figure would have “stabilized” at 500,000.

Also outlined in Thursday’s plan are the levels of temporary residents; the goal is to keep the number of these people to fewer than 5% of the overall population. According to Canada’s objectives, there will be a decrease from 445,901 temporary residents in 2025 to 445,662 in 2026.

Contrarily, there will be a “modest increase” of 17,439 to 463,101 temporary residents in 2026.

Miller elaborated that the issuance of study permits in Canada decreased by 43% this year. He predicted that, due to reduced immigration, Canada’s housing demand might have dropped by 670,000 units by the end of 2027.

“So, by that time, we won’t need to construct an extra 670,000 housing units,” he stated.

According to Miller, the primary target of the permanent residency program will be “those who are already here.”

“We welcome many, but not all can come here,” he stated.

Miller stated that the need for newcomers to our economy is obvious, but we are also aware of the challenges our nation is facing and need to adjust our policies appropriately.

Canada Immigration News continues…

His goal is that everyone can access good jobs, housing, and support systems, and he promised that these reforms would make immigration work for the nation. We will keep safeguarding our system and appropriately increasing our population; we have heard the Canadian people.

Reducing immigration levels has been an ongoing trend, and this is the most recent example. The federal government initially established goals for temporary residents in March.

Miller had previously stated that the goal is to guarantee a “sustainable” increase in the influx of temporary immigrants into Canada.

According to Miller, 2.5 million people were temporarily living in Canada in 2023, making up about 6.2% of the total population. The government aims to reduce that to 5% during the next three years.

Reducing the number of permanent residents will make it harder for the most vulnerable migrant workers to gain residency, according to migrant rights groups.

According to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, the Liberal government’s “flip-flop” showed a “massive admission of failure” regarding immigration policy.

According to Poilievre, it is unrealistic to expect Justin Trudeau to fulfill his hasty, irrational, and impulsive pledges to undo his previous actions. “He dismantled the world’s finest immigration system, one that enjoyed the support of both liberals and conservatives for half a century.”

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