Teri Garr: Lisa Kudrow leads tributes to her ‘genius’ Friends mum

Lisa Kudrow has led the tributes to Oscar-nominated actress Teri Garr, who played her estranged birth mother in Friends.

Garr, who was also known for movies including Young Frankenstein, Tootsie and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, died at the age of 79 in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

In a statement, Kudrow said she was “a comedic acting genius who was and is a huge influence on me and I know I’m not alone in that”.

She added that she felt “so lucky and grateful” she got to work with her.

Young Frankenstein director and writer Mel Brooks also paid tribute to the actress, saying she was “so talented and so funny”.

“Her humour and lively spirit made the Young Frankenstein set a pleasure to work on. Her ‘German’ accent had us all in stitches!”

The 1974 horror comedy, in which she spoke with a German accent as Gene Wilder’s lab assistant, was a career breakthrough for Garr.

Her other films included 1983 comedy Mr Mom opposite Michael Keaton, who praised her work and called her a “wonderful woman, not just great to work with but great to be around”.

Garr was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 20 years ago and first publicly talked about the chronic autoimmune disease in 2002 to raise awareness for others living with it.

The actress faced other health problems and had an operation to repair an aneurysm in 2007, the BBC’s US news partner CBS reported.

Garr got her start as a background dancer in Elvis Presley movies.

Her mother, also a former dancer, put her in dance classes at the age of six.

Her first gig was joining the road company for West Side Story in Los Angeles.

She then began dancing in movies before starring in television shows like Batman and Dr Kildare.

Garr’s big break came in 1974 when she played a supporting role in the thriller The Conversation.

Garr later established herself as a comedy actress, earning an Oscar nomination for 1982’s Tootsie, and making frequent appearances on Late Night with David Letterman.

Garr also played dramatic roles in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Black Stallion, and appeared in television shows such as Star Trek and That Girl.