Lisa Kudrow Remembers Late “Friends” Mom Teri Garr as a 'Comedic Acting Genius' Who Had a 'Huge Influence on Me' (Exclusive)

Lisa Kudrow Remembers Late “Friends” Mom Teri Garr as a 'Comedic Acting Genius' Who Had a 'Huge Influence on Me' (Exclusive) https://ift.tt/87K0OCn

Garr made her debut on 'Friends' as Phoebe Abbott, the estranged birth mother to Kudrow's Phoebe Buffay, in season 3 episode 25

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Lisa Kudrow (left) and Teri Garr

Lisa Kudrow is paying tribute to her TV Mom, Teri Garr.

Shortly after the news of Garr's death broke on Oct. 29, the Friends alum, 61, remembered the actress in a heartfelt statement to PEOPLE.

"Teri Garr was a comedic acting genius who was and is a huge influence on me and I know I’m not alone in that," she said. "I feel so lucky and grateful I got to work with Teri Garr."

Related: Remembering Teri Garr's Memorable Arc on Friends as Phoebe Buffay's Mom, Following Actress' Death at 79

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Lisa Kudrow and Teri Garr on 'Friends'

Garr made her debut on Friends as Phoebe Abbott, the estranged birth mother to Kudrow's Phoebe Buffay and Ursula Buffay, in season 3 episode 25. She appeared in three episodes of the hit NBC sitcom.

Garr first appeared in the season 3 finale in 1997, titled "The One at the Beach," which saw Phoebe break away from the friend group's trip to connect with a woman who knew her parents. Phoebe later discovered that the woman, Phoebe Abbott (Garr), wasn't just a friend of her parents, but was her biological mother. Upon the realization, the two also noticed they share the same quirky mannerisms.

Garr's final two episodes came in season 4, with "The One with the Jellyfish" and "The One with Phoebe's Uterus," both airing in 1998.

"The One with the Jellyfish" (the season 4 premiere) picked back up with Phoebe in shock after learning the identity of her mother and telling her she never wanted to see her again. It was short-lived, however, as Abbott tracked down Phoebe at Central Perk and the two officially reconciled.

In "The One with Phoebe's Uterus," Abbott helped Phoebe when she was considering whether or not to be her brother Frank (Giovanni Ribisi) and sister-in-law Alice's (Debra Jo Rupp) surrogate. In order to do this, Abbott gave Phoebe a puppy to take care for three days as a way to see how she would feel upon having to give it up. But things took a turn when Phoebe ended up wanting to keep the puppy, which was revealed to be Abbott's pet.

Related: Teri Garr, Tootsie and Young Frankenstein Star, Dies at 79

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Lisa Kudrow (left) and Teri Garr in 'Friends'

Garr, most famous for her comedic work in movies like 1974's Young Frankenstein and 1982's Tootsie, died on Tuesday, Oct. 29, from multiple sclerosis.

Her publicist Heidi Schaeffer told PEOPLE that Garr died "surrounded by family and friends."

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The late actress first revealed in 2002 that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the late 90s. She first began noticing symptoms while filming One From the Heart and Tootsie.

She later released a memoir, Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood, in 2006, where she opened up about her illness. “MS is a sneaky disease,” she wrote in an excerpt published by PEOPLE. “Like some of my boyfriends, it has a tendency to show up at the most awkward times and then disappear entirely. It would take over 20 years for doctors to figure out what was wrong. Sometimes they mentioned MS, but all the tests came back clear. Then the symptoms would fade away and I'd forget about it, sort of.”

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Teri Garr

Related: Paying Tribute to the Celebrities Who Have Died in 2024

Throughout her career, Garr was known for her comedic roles in movies like Tootsie and Young Frankenstein, and appeared on TV shows like McCloud, M*A*S*H, The Bob Newhart Show, The Odd Couple, Maude and Barnaby Jones. She also hosted Saturday Night Live three times, in 1980, 1983 and 1985, and had roles in Casper Meets Wendy, the Designing Women spinoff series Women of the House, Dick and Ghost World.

Garr became a national ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and national chair for the Society's Women Against MS program. She limited the number of projects she appeared in and retired from acting in 2011.

“Slowing down is so not in my nature, but I have to,” she told Brain & Life Magazine in 2005. “Stress and anxiety and all those high-tension things are not good for MS.” 

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