Teri Garr

Then a couple days later, they said they want you to audition. I said, oh, this is fabulous. So I went and read, and they said they want you to fly to San Francisco to do a

Then a couple days later, they said they want you to audition. I said, oh, this is fabulous. So I went and read, and they said they want you to fly to San Francisco to do a

screen test and I thought this must be some part this would be like the lead in a Francis Coppola movie so anyway I went I flew to San Francisco did this audition and then flew back he had me sing when the red red robin comes bob bob bobbing along you know I have to say Francis Coppola was one of the big influences of my life because I think back on things that he had me do from the get-go and what they how they were part of the creative process and he really taught me what that was about in a way and

screen test and I thought this must be some part this would be like the lead in a Francis Coppola movie so anyway I went I flew to San Francisco did this audition and then flew back he had me sing when the red red robin comes bob bob bobbing along you know I have to say Francis Coppola was one of the big influences of my life because I think back on things that he had me do from the get-go and what they how they were part of the creative process and he really taught me what that was about in a way and

So anyway, I went to San Francisco and auditioned. And then I came back and, well, that's that. I've done a screen test for Francis Coppola. I'm putting this on my resume. I never thought I would get the part. So then I got the part. And they said, you have to be here tomorrow for the cast reading up in San Francisco, which I couldn't do because I was working on Sonny and Cher.

So anyway, I went to San Francisco and auditioned. And then I came back and, well, that's that. I've done a screen test for Francis Coppola. I'm putting this on my resume. I never thought I would get the part. So then I got the part. And they said, you have to be here tomorrow for the cast reading up in San Francisco, which I couldn't do because I was working on Sonny and Cher.

So that's how much I had planned on getting this job. But I lied to them on the Sonny and Cher show and said I was sick. I couldn't be there. And flew up to San Francisco and read the entire script and realized that there was only one scene in the entire movie. But still, I wasn't going to turn it down. I was very excited to have been in it.

So that's how much I had planned on getting this job. But I lied to them on the Sonny and Cher show and said I was sick. I couldn't be there. And flew up to San Francisco and read the entire script and realized that there was only one scene in the entire movie. But still, I wasn't going to turn it down. I was very excited to have been in it.

And I think it was really great to have that be the first kind of recognizable part in a film was in the conversation, even though the next movie to come out that I was in was Young Frankenstein where it was all funny and all that and it was a bigger hit movie. it still kind of created a balance there that this girl can act and act and be funny.

And I think it was really great to have that be the first kind of recognizable part in a film was in the conversation, even though the next movie to come out that I was in was Young Frankenstein where it was all funny and all that and it was a bigger hit movie. it still kind of created a balance there that this girl can act and act and be funny.

Well, I don't know. I mean, I think it had something to do with he wanted to see that character, if she could be like ingenuous and naive and just jump in and do something cute and sweet. I mean, looking back on it now, I see that. It was his fantasy.

Well, I don't know. I mean, I think it had something to do with he wanted to see that character, if she could be like ingenuous and naive and just jump in and do something cute and sweet. I mean, looking back on it now, I see that. It was his fantasy.

He always wanted to have a girl that was just in a room that would just be there for him, that didn't know anything about him, but that was happy and positive and not bitching about being locked in a room.

He always wanted to have a girl that was just in a room that would just be there for him, that didn't know anything about him, but that was happy and positive and not bitching about being locked in a room.

No. You think it's Coppola's fantasy?

No. You think it's Coppola's fantasy?

Well, that whole movie was his fantasy. It was more about his Catholic confessional thing of listening to what people were saying and very interesting, revealing movie about the man who wrote it, who was Francis Covill. But, yeah, that was what that was about.

Well, that whole movie was his fantasy. It was more about his Catholic confessional thing of listening to what people were saying and very interesting, revealing movie about the man who wrote it, who was Francis Covill. But, yeah, that was what that was about.

Well, I do suspect that, but I could be wrong. But I think it's one of the reasons I wrote about it in the book is because I want other people that have MS to think maybe there's something like this happened to them. But there's a theory out there that MS is a virus that's in you, but like everyone gets chickenpox or some kind of virus, it stays and lays dormant.

Well, I do suspect that, but I could be wrong. But I think it's one of the reasons I wrote about it in the book is because I want other people that have MS to think maybe there's something like this happened to them. But there's a theory out there that MS is a virus that's in you, but like everyone gets chickenpox or some kind of virus, it stays and lays dormant.

But some kind of trauma or some kind of Something will exacerbate it. So I do remember dropping a broken champagne bottle, which is thick glass, on the top of my foot, and it broke. It severed the tendon in my foot, and I felt like it went boing-oing-oing in my head or something like that. And when I look back on that, I think, I wonder if that was the thing that started the MS. It activated it.

But some kind of trauma or some kind of Something will exacerbate it. So I do remember dropping a broken champagne bottle, which is thick glass, on the top of my foot, and it broke. It severed the tendon in my foot, and I felt like it went boing-oing-oing in my head or something like that. And when I look back on that, I think, I wonder if that was the thing that started the MS. It activated it.

You know, I could be dead wrong. But I did write that in my book because I thought that maybe was when I first started experiencing little, you know, things that weren't right. And I couldn't control my body as well as I could. I mean, here I was a dancer and a good one. And I just couldn't make myself do it. I thought, what's going on? Am I lazy and am I getting tired?

You know, I could be dead wrong. But I did write that in my book because I thought that maybe was when I first started experiencing little, you know, things that weren't right. And I couldn't control my body as well as I could. I mean, here I was a dancer and a good one. And I just couldn't make myself do it. I thought, what's going on? Am I lazy and am I getting tired?

And I think that's when it started to happen. And the champagne bottle that you dropped, that was in a scene from One from the Heart, right? Right. I was supposed to be carrying groceries in and then I dropped it and it broke on my foot. Right.

And I think that's when it started to happen. And the champagne bottle that you dropped, that was in a scene from One from the Heart, right? Right. I was supposed to be carrying groceries in and then I dropped it and it broke on my foot. Right.

Well, I don't. The symptoms, I always have this ego that I'm fine and I'm a perfect physical specimen. Anything that did happen to me, I sort of ignored it. Oh, this is normal. Everybody gets this. But I know that one of the first things that happened to me was years ago, I'd feel like this buzzing in my foot, buzzing, like a cell phone or something.

Well, I don't. The symptoms, I always have this ego that I'm fine and I'm a perfect physical specimen. Anything that did happen to me, I sort of ignored it. Oh, this is normal. Everybody gets this. But I know that one of the first things that happened to me was years ago, I'd feel like this buzzing in my foot, buzzing, like a cell phone or something.

And then I thought, well, it couldn't be a cell phone because we didn't have cell phones back then. I mean, we had cell phones, but they were the size of canoes, so it wasn't that. But I didn't know what it was. And then it would go away. And then I had where I would run. I was a big jogger, and I would run in Central Park, and I would trip on something. I thought, what rock? What did I trip?

And then I thought, well, it couldn't be a cell phone because we didn't have cell phones back then. I mean, we had cell phones, but they were the size of canoes, so it wasn't that. But I didn't know what it was. And then it would go away. And then I had where I would run. I was a big jogger, and I would run in Central Park, and I would trip on something. I thought, what rock? What did I trip?

I almost just went flying leap. And then that would go away, so there would be this tingling and – Maybe a stabbing pain in my arm, which is another thing. When you heat up your body by exercising and running, it seemed to exacerbate these pains and it would make me be weaker.

I almost just went flying leap. And then that would go away, so there would be this tingling and – Maybe a stabbing pain in my arm, which is another thing. When you heat up your body by exercising and running, it seemed to exacerbate these pains and it would make me be weaker.

And then when I felt this stabbing pain in my arm in Central Park, I thought, well, maybe it is a knife because I'm in Central Park. But it wasn't. But they would get those symptoms, and then they would go away. So by the time I got myself to a doctor and said, now, check this out, it would be gone because MS is relapsing and remitting.

And then when I felt this stabbing pain in my arm in Central Park, I thought, well, maybe it is a knife because I'm in Central Park. But it wasn't. But they would get those symptoms, and then they would go away. So by the time I got myself to a doctor and said, now, check this out, it would be gone because MS is relapsing and remitting.

So the doctors would go, honey, honey, there's nothing wrong with you. You're fine. You might feel crazy, a little hypochondria. And I'm just sitting there like, well, maybe they're right. I guess I'm a hypochondriac, but I never had been a hypochondriac. In fact, I would like to stay away from doctors as much as I can and not – I would go at the last minute.

So the doctors would go, honey, honey, there's nothing wrong with you. You're fine. You might feel crazy, a little hypochondria. And I'm just sitting there like, well, maybe they're right. I guess I'm a hypochondriac, but I never had been a hypochondriac. In fact, I would like to stay away from doctors as much as I can and not – I would go at the last minute.

As the minuteness of the parts formed a great hindrance to my speed, I resolved, therefore, to make the creature of a gigantic stature. Of course. That would simplify everything.

As the minuteness of the parts formed a great hindrance to my speed, I resolved, therefore, to make the creature of a gigantic stature. Of course. That would simplify everything.

So by the time I'd get my butt to the doctor and he'd say, nothing wrong with you, I'd go, oh, I've wasted so much time. I could be in class right now or something reading. So not good.

So by the time I'd get my butt to the doctor and he'd say, nothing wrong with you, I'd go, oh, I've wasted so much time. I could be in class right now or something reading. So not good.

Oh, I think it was absolutely a wonderful thing to have been a dancer, to have that discipline and just to be able to roll with the punches and all the jobs that I did. And like I said, my mother teaching me that when they were a Rockettes, they had to learn the accordion in one day and all that. It was something that I thought – it's why I call the book Speed Bumps.

Oh, I think it was absolutely a wonderful thing to have been a dancer, to have that discipline and just to be able to roll with the punches and all the jobs that I did. And like I said, my mother teaching me that when they were a Rockettes, they had to learn the accordion in one day and all that. It was something that I thought – it's why I call the book Speed Bumps.

It was just something that made me slow down and go, MS diagnosis? Okay, let's keep going. How my life had progressed I think was a great lesson in how to deal with an illness or a diagnosis. Because when you start out in Hollywood or in New York or wherever, show business, it's 99% get out of here, rejection. And you have to develop the height of a rhinoceros.

It was just something that made me slow down and go, MS diagnosis? Okay, let's keep going. How my life had progressed I think was a great lesson in how to deal with an illness or a diagnosis. Because when you start out in Hollywood or in New York or wherever, show business, it's 99% get out of here, rejection. And you have to develop the height of a rhinoceros.

But you still have to have the spirit of a butterfly inside in order to do your art. Yeah. And that really came in handy because I went, well, I can handle this. I'll handle this MS. I don't know what it is. I'll deal with it. I'll find out a way to do it. And I'm going to go on with my life. And that's what I did.

But you still have to have the spirit of a butterfly inside in order to do your art. Yeah. And that really came in handy because I went, well, I can handle this. I'll handle this MS. I don't know what it is. I'll deal with it. I'll find out a way to do it. And I'm going to go on with my life. And that's what I did.

Yeah. Well, that's a nice thing to say. But I've never been bitter and I've never had a – I don't really have any negative – I had little things along the way. For example, I went to a doctor who said, now, you're walking weakly on your right side. I could put a brace on your leg. And so he said, try the brace. I tried the brace. I walked up. This is fabulous. I'm walking around the office.

Yeah. Well, that's a nice thing to say. But I've never been bitter and I've never had a – I don't really have any negative – I had little things along the way. For example, I went to a doctor who said, now, you're walking weakly on your right side. I could put a brace on your leg. And so he said, try the brace. I tried the brace. I walked up. This is fabulous. I'm walking around the office.

This is wonderful. And then I looked. I said, I have to wear this all the time? He goes, yeah. I said, wait, you don't understand. I'm Terry Carr. I'm known for my fabulous legs. Now I've got to wear a brace on my leg. And he just said, well, it's a small price to pay. And it was instantly, I went, it sure is. I mean, I would be able to put it in perspective.

This is wonderful. And then I looked. I said, I have to wear this all the time? He goes, yeah. I said, wait, you don't understand. I'm Terry Carr. I'm known for my fabulous legs. Now I've got to wear a brace on my leg. And he just said, well, it's a small price to pay. And it was instantly, I went, it sure is. I mean, I would be able to put it in perspective.

that I have to wear long pants or long skirts forever now, but I can walk around better. So it was one of those things where I was able to say, what's better, showing off my stupid legs or walking better? So I walk better. Do you still wear the brace? Oh, yeah. Cut it out right now. How would you describe your walking now? Oh, it's not good. I mean, it's got, I've gotten weaker. It comes and goes.

that I have to wear long pants or long skirts forever now, but I can walk around better. So it was one of those things where I was able to say, what's better, showing off my stupid legs or walking better? So I walk better. Do you still wear the brace? Oh, yeah. Cut it out right now. How would you describe your walking now? Oh, it's not good. I mean, it's got, I've gotten weaker. It comes and goes.

But, um, It's, you know, more than how am I walking is, it's my fatigue level. You know, I get really tired. For me to walk around the block is like someone climbing Mount Everest. And I think people who don't have MS don't understand that. So it takes a lot of energy. But I walk a little slower.

But, um, It's, you know, more than how am I walking is, it's my fatigue level. You know, I get really tired. For me to walk around the block is like someone climbing Mount Everest. And I think people who don't have MS don't understand that. So it takes a lot of energy. But I walk a little slower.

But, you know, I walk across airports and I do a lot of traveling and people start walking fast and going ahead of me. I go... I'm getting there. I'm slow but sure. And I try to keep a sense of humor about it and a good attitude. I mean, not to say I make fun of myself, but I try to make it easier on other people because I always think it's harder on them than it is on me. I'm fine with it.

But, you know, I walk across airports and I do a lot of traveling and people start walking fast and going ahead of me. I go... I'm getting there. I'm slow but sure. And I try to keep a sense of humor about it and a good attitude. I mean, not to say I make fun of myself, but I try to make it easier on other people because I always think it's harder on them than it is on me. I'm fine with it.

I'm happy to be alive. But they must think, oh, you poor thing, you're suffering. And I'm not.

I'm happy to be alive. But they must think, oh, you poor thing, you're suffering. And I'm not.

Are you still acting now? Oh, yes. I just am on... Law and Order. I play a defense attorney named Minerva Graham Bishop. Good name, huh? And that's a great job. I'm a defense lawyer on that show. I've done one. I'm going to do another one and perhaps more. And does the MS get in the way of your performing? No. How could it get in the way? I get in my way. I feel like I'm a little bit rusty. But

Are you still acting now? Oh, yes. I just am on... Law and Order. I play a defense attorney named Minerva Graham Bishop. Good name, huh? And that's a great job. I'm a defense lawyer on that show. I've done one. I'm going to do another one and perhaps more. And does the MS get in the way of your performing? No. How could it get in the way? I get in my way. I feel like I'm a little bit rusty. But

No, it hasn't. You know, on the Law & Order show, there's a cinematographer who's quite brilliant, and he has MS. And so he had a little scooter, motorized scooter around the set. He said, do you want to borrow one of mine? I said, sure. And that was great.

No, it hasn't. You know, on the Law & Order show, there's a cinematographer who's quite brilliant, and he has MS. And so he had a little scooter, motorized scooter around the set. He said, do you want to borrow one of mine? I said, sure. And that was great.

See, that's one of the reasons I go around talking about living with MS and talking about MS is that there's so many myths about it and that people can go on with their lives and they can do good work. And I think the myth is, no, they're dead. They're out. They're gone. They're in a wheelchair. In fact, I was going to call my book, Does This Wheelchair Make Me Look Fat?,

See, that's one of the reasons I go around talking about living with MS and talking about MS is that there's so many myths about it and that people can go on with their lives and they can do good work. And I think the myth is, no, they're dead. They're out. They're gone. They're in a wheelchair. In fact, I was going to call my book, Does This Wheelchair Make Me Look Fat?,

I was afraid if I put wheelchair out there, it's going to be another big, you know, checkmark against me. So I'm trying to, you know, I try to keep it on the upper positive level that those of us with MS can still go on and still function. And I want the rest of the world to believe it. And I also want the people that have MS to believe it because I think they're victims of the bad publicity too.

I was afraid if I put wheelchair out there, it's going to be another big, you know, checkmark against me. So I'm trying to, you know, I try to keep it on the upper positive level that those of us with MS can still go on and still function. And I want the rest of the world to believe it. And I also want the people that have MS to believe it because I think they're victims of the bad publicity too.

That goes without saying.

That goes without saying.

You know, that they go, oh, I have MS. I better throw in the towel and go to my room and watch TV or something. And that's no, no, no. You have to go on with your life.

You know, that they go, oh, I have MS. I better throw in the towel and go to my room and watch TV or something. And that's no, no, no. You have to go on with your life.

And then she also was like a wardrobe person for several TV shows? Yes. Yeah, I think a lot of dancers go into wardrobe afterwards. I don't know why that happens, but it's true. And she became a costumer in L.A., and my father died when I was 11, and he was in vaudeville, and they met in a Broadway show, my parents.

And then she also was like a wardrobe person for several TV shows? Yes. Yeah, I think a lot of dancers go into wardrobe afterwards. I don't know why that happens, but it's true. And she became a costumer in L.A., and my father died when I was 11, and he was in vaudeville, and they met in a Broadway show, my parents.

And then he came out to Hollywood to be in movies, and that didn't pan out, and he became very ill. And he passed away. So my mother had to support three kids, you know, by her wits. So she went and got a job in the studios as a costumer. In fact, she was a costumer on Young Frankenstein before I even got the job. And she told, don't tell anyone I'm your mother. What is this about? It's so weird.

And then he came out to Hollywood to be in movies, and that didn't pan out, and he became very ill. And he passed away. So my mother had to support three kids, you know, by her wits. So she went and got a job in the studios as a costumer. In fact, she was a costumer on Young Frankenstein before I even got the job. And she told, don't tell anyone I'm your mother. What is this about? It's so weird.

Anyway, I learned... Why didn't she want anyone to know? I do not know to this day.

Anyway, I learned... Why didn't she want anyone to know? I do not know to this day.

I don't know. But finally, I told Mel. I said, you know that lady over there? That's my mom. He was so great. Because he's just a great guy. And he, well, bring her over here. And he was wonderful. I just don't know what her motive was. But she was a great, interesting woman. You know, she... Her parents came from Austria. They settled in Ohio.

I don't know. But finally, I told Mel. I said, you know that lady over there? That's my mom. He was so great. Because he's just a great guy. And he, well, bring her over here. And he was wonderful. I just don't know what her motive was. But she was a great, interesting woman. You know, she... Her parents came from Austria. They settled in Ohio.

And my grandfather said, girls, go to secretary school. And that's what they do. And you'd shut up and do that. And my oldest aunt did that. And my mother and my other younger aunt said, no, no, we're not doing that. They hitchhiked to New York when they were like 14 and 16 or something like that. My mother became a rockette.

And my grandfather said, girls, go to secretary school. And that's what they do. And you'd shut up and do that. And my oldest aunt did that. And my mother and my other younger aunt said, no, no, we're not doing that. They hitchhiked to New York when they were like 14 and 16 or something like that. My mother became a rockette.

No, maybe they must have been a little bit older than that because they were out of high school. And my aunt was a brilliant artist and a concert pianist and all this stuff. So they had some aesthetic that they were not going to do what my grandfather said. So to me, it was always the early feminist, we're doing this, we're going off to New York to take care of ourselves.

No, maybe they must have been a little bit older than that because they were out of high school. And my aunt was a brilliant artist and a concert pianist and all this stuff. So they had some aesthetic that they were not going to do what my grandfather said. So to me, it was always the early feminist, we're doing this, we're going off to New York to take care of ourselves.

And unfortunately, she married my dad at the end of that. But Learning from it was that you do what you want to do and you independently take care of yourself and don't depend on a man. That was the idea that I got when I was a kid.

And unfortunately, she married my dad at the end of that. But Learning from it was that you do what you want to do and you independently take care of yourself and don't depend on a man. That was the idea that I got when I was a kid.

Well, it did seem like a bad life. It seemed like not a fair life or a fickle business. I think it's true. I I just recently was reading the review of Elia Kazan's book, and he said the same thing. He got older. He said, tell anybody that wants to be a director not to do it because they throw you away. Well, then Mr. Kazan is for everybody.

Well, it did seem like a bad life. It seemed like not a fair life or a fickle business. I think it's true. I I just recently was reading the review of Elia Kazan's book, and he said the same thing. He got older. He said, tell anybody that wants to be a director not to do it because they throw you away. Well, then Mr. Kazan is for everybody.

Everybody's got the same thing, that you have a peak and then it fades away. So that goes with life, I guess. But I didn't think that the show business looked –

Everybody's got the same thing, that you have a peak and then it fades away. So that goes with life, I guess. But I didn't think that the show business looked –

that fair but I also somehow got it in my head that I was going to beat it and that I was going to get in there and do do it too and I was very influenced by my mother when she worked at the studios and I was young then and I would go visit her and take the bus down and hang out with her and it was so exciting to be at a tv studio where there was costumes and sets and people rushing around and music and orchestras I well I want to be part of this I just want to be part of this and then

that fair but I also somehow got it in my head that I was going to beat it and that I was going to get in there and do do it too and I was very influenced by my mother when she worked at the studios and I was young then and I would go visit her and take the bus down and hang out with her and it was so exciting to be at a tv studio where there was costumes and sets and people rushing around and music and orchestras I well I want to be part of this I just want to be part of this and then

because my parents were in vaudeville a lot of their friends came out to hollywood everybody wanted to be in the business and they didn't it didn't happen so they opened dancing schools so i got to have free dancing lessons in all these places where my parents who had worked with a dance team in philly and a dog act in boston out of this and they were all out there either mater d's or opening orange julius stands or something like that a very interesting eclectic way that the uh the fringe of show business kind of settled in in la

because my parents were in vaudeville a lot of their friends came out to hollywood everybody wanted to be in the business and they didn't it didn't happen so they opened dancing schools so i got to have free dancing lessons in all these places where my parents who had worked with a dance team in philly and a dog act in boston out of this and they were all out there either mater d's or opening orange julius stands or something like that a very interesting eclectic way that the uh the fringe of show business kind of settled in in la

And I was in that world. But it was always out there, the show business thing. And he goes, well, it's there for you. You can try it. You can try. And I said, well, I think I will. I think I'll try. My two older brothers didn't want to do it. Your father was a comic.

And I was in that world. But it was always out there, the show business thing. And he goes, well, it's there for you. You can try it. You can try. And I said, well, I think I will. I think I'll try. My two older brothers didn't want to do it. Your father was a comic.

Well, I don't remember that too much. It's a very interesting thing about writing a book about your life. I seem to find a big, huge gap about, well, who was my father? He died when I was 11, and most of the time when I was alive, until he died, he was ill. So I couldn't really talk to him too much, and I had to be quiet because Dad is sick. What was his sickness? Well, he had heart trouble.

Well, I don't remember that too much. It's a very interesting thing about writing a book about your life. I seem to find a big, huge gap about, well, who was my father? He died when I was 11, and most of the time when I was alive, until he died, he was ill. So I couldn't really talk to him too much, and I had to be quiet because Dad is sick. What was his sickness? Well, he had heart trouble.

When I was born, he was in – I don't know if this – He was in a USO show in the South Pacific, and he fell out of a Jeep and broke his back. And ever since then, he was not well. And they brought him back to Long Beach in a cast that was from the top of his chin to his knees. It was just a horrible—they didn't know how to treat a broken back.

When I was born, he was in – I don't know if this – He was in a USO show in the South Pacific, and he fell out of a Jeep and broke his back. And ever since then, he was not well. And they brought him back to Long Beach in a cast that was from the top of his chin to his knees. It was just a horrible—they didn't know how to treat a broken back.

But something happened then, I think, that diminished his life. And he started having heart trouble and he started having all kinds of things. And he was always ill. He did character acting in movies. He did a movie with Marilyn Monroe. And I remember wanting to see that when I was a kid. And he kind of made a living, but he was always ill.

But something happened then, I think, that diminished his life. And he started having heart trouble and he started having all kinds of things. And he was always ill. He did character acting in movies. He did a movie with Marilyn Monroe. And I remember wanting to see that when I was a kid. And he kind of made a living, but he was always ill.

So I don't think I had much of a relationship with my father. And therefore, I don't know who men are. I think it's something like that. I don't know. Yeah.

So I don't think I had much of a relationship with my father. And therefore, I don't know who men are. I think it's something like that. I don't know. Yeah.

You know, I really do, and I never thought about it until I wrote this book. I always thought, just like everybody else, well, there's just not enough good men out there. But then I see people with relationships and able to have them, and I think, well, no, I think it's something else.

You know, I really do, and I never thought about it until I wrote this book. I always thought, just like everybody else, well, there's just not enough good men out there. But then I see people with relationships and able to have them, and I think, well, no, I think it's something else.

I think it's your relationship to your parents that make you have relationships with other people or something like that. But it's been a confusing mess, believe me, that end of it. But I go on. Even though I'm much older now, I still think there's hope of finding someone interesting. So you're not part of a couple right now? Not part of a couple, no.

I think it's your relationship to your parents that make you have relationships with other people or something like that. But it's been a confusing mess, believe me, that end of it. But I go on. Even though I'm much older now, I still think there's hope of finding someone interesting. So you're not part of a couple right now? Not part of a couple, no.

That's true. You know, most of the mothers that I play in movies, starting from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Right. Suburban mothers. I patterned them after my sister-in-law, because my brother married his high school sweetheart, and my other brother married, they both stayed married all this time.

That's true. You know, most of the mothers that I play in movies, starting from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Right. Suburban mothers. I patterned them after my sister-in-law, because my brother married his high school sweetheart, and my other brother married, they both stayed married all this time.

But my one sister-in-law is very Martha Stewart, and my brother's a surgeon, and so she's a doctor's wife, and she knows about gardening and centerpieces and stuff like that. Something that I completely never grew up knowing. And when I got those parts, I would think I have no role model because the role model I have is more like the Texaco man or something.

But my one sister-in-law is very Martha Stewart, and my brother's a surgeon, and so she's a doctor's wife, and she knows about gardening and centerpieces and stuff like that. Something that I completely never grew up knowing. And when I got those parts, I would think I have no role model because the role model I have is more like the Texaco man or something.

So I went and, you know, would look at what my sister-in-law did and copy her. Terry Garth, thank you very, very much for talking with us. Well, Terry Gross, thank you for having me.

So I went and, you know, would look at what my sister-in-law did and copy her. Terry Garth, thank you very, very much for talking with us. Well, Terry Gross, thank you for having me.

Everyone asked me, what went on between you and Dave? I said, totally sexual.

Everyone asked me, what went on between you and Dave? I said, totally sexual.

You want to put me on the spot?

You want to put me on the spot?

Fabulous films, Viva Las Vegas, Roustabout, Kiss and Cousins, all the good ones.

Fabulous films, Viva Las Vegas, Roustabout, Kiss and Cousins, all the good ones.

No, no, no.

No, no, no.

I'm gonna tell you the truth, Sandy. I'm in love with another woman.

I'm gonna tell you the truth, Sandy. I'm in love with another woman.

Well, I think it didn't ring true because what the character was was supposed to be this independent woman. Of course, she was in the middle of trying to be connected to a man and truly connected to her career. So she was a little bit on the fence there. But I think initially if someone said, I'm not in love with you, I'm in love with someone else, you go, so what?

Well, I think it didn't ring true because what the character was was supposed to be this independent woman. Of course, she was in the middle of trying to be connected to a man and truly connected to her career. So she was a little bit on the fence there. But I think initially if someone said, I'm not in love with you, I'm in love with someone else, you go, so what?

That's got nothing to do with me. And I suggested to – Sidney Pollack, that I write something about it. I had done a lot of research about the feminist movement at that time. So I was reading all the books at the time that were – Betty Friedan and Sherry Haidt had a book and all these – and I was reading all these books and some of them actually made me laugh so much.

That's got nothing to do with me. And I suggested to – Sidney Pollack, that I write something about it. I had done a lot of research about the feminist movement at that time. So I was reading all the books at the time that were – Betty Friedan and Sherry Haidt had a book and all these – and I was reading all these books and some of them actually made me laugh so much.

But I said, well, if you let me do one take where I just can spew out all this stuff that I've been reading, I think it will work. And so you wrote all the stuff about it. I did, and I did see that one line that said, I'm responsible for my own orgasm. And I remember when I read that. That was in Sherry Hyde's book. I went, what does that mean?

But I said, well, if you let me do one take where I just can spew out all this stuff that I've been reading, I think it will work. And so you wrote all the stuff about it. I did, and I did see that one line that said, I'm responsible for my own orgasm. And I remember when I read that. That was in Sherry Hyde's book. I went, what does that mean?

I didn't even know what it meant, but I thought, well, I'm throwing it anyway because it's funny. It's funny and it's very of its time. Yes, of its time is right.

I didn't even know what it meant, but I thought, well, I'm throwing it anyway because it's funny. It's funny and it's very of its time. Yes, of its time is right.

You know, some of these things are credits, some of them are debits, and that was filler.

You know, some of these things are credits, some of them are debits, and that was filler.

Yeah, among others. Yeah. At that time, he was doing about at least four movies a year, bad ones in Hollywood. But I had worked in West Side Story with the original cast of Jerry Robbins. So I was a really good, legit dancer. And one of the guys in the show became a choreographer for Viva Las Vegas. He said, you guys want to come down to this audition? So we went, well, sure, let's do that.

Yeah, among others. Yeah. At that time, he was doing about at least four movies a year, bad ones in Hollywood. But I had worked in West Side Story with the original cast of Jerry Robbins. So I was a really good, legit dancer. And one of the guys in the show became a choreographer for Viva Las Vegas. He said, you guys want to come down to this audition? So we went, well, sure, let's do that.

So then once in those days, once you got into the union or the Central casting, they just called you again and again and again. So I started going to all the auditions. I mean, I danced in Elvis Presley movies, but I also danced in Shirley MacLaine movies, What a Way to Go, and John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, a big movie. And a lot of other little movies that they just called me for.

So then once in those days, once you got into the union or the Central casting, they just called you again and again and again. So I started going to all the auditions. I mean, I danced in Elvis Presley movies, but I also danced in Shirley MacLaine movies, What a Way to Go, and John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, a big movie. And a lot of other little movies that they just called me for.

So that's how that started. I'd be like one step ahead of being a cocktail waitress. Why?

So that's how that started. I'd be like one step ahead of being a cocktail waitress. Why?

Actually, it was great fun to dance in the Elvis movies.

Actually, it was great fun to dance in the Elvis movies.

Oh, man, they were all pretty bad. I guess in that Clambake thing, there was something about digging for clams. Oh, man, they were all bad. But, you know, it was so funny because I grew up with my mother telling me stories about being a rockette. She goes, we had to do everything. We had to learn to play the violin one week and the drums the next week.

Oh, man, they were all pretty bad. I guess in that Clambake thing, there was something about digging for clams. Oh, man, they were all bad. But, you know, it was so funny because I grew up with my mother telling me stories about being a rockette. She goes, we had to do everything. We had to learn to play the violin one week and the drums the next week.

So she was always telling me how they were so versatile. So that one... We did these silly clam bake and whatever they were with Elvis. I thought, well, I'm in the same boat with my mom. Your mom was one of the original Rockettes. Yes, she was. The original Rockettes. They were called the Roxettes or something when she first went in there. I know the history of the Rockettes. Believe me.

So she was always telling me how they were so versatile. So that one... We did these silly clam bake and whatever they were with Elvis. I thought, well, I'm in the same boat with my mom. Your mom was one of the original Rockettes. Yes, she was. The original Rockettes. They were called the Roxettes or something when she first went in there. I know the history of the Rockettes. Believe me.

Well, a little bit. I mean, you know, I'm sure there's been so much written about Elvis, but he was out there like, you know, a fish out of water. And he's in Hollywood making movies. And I also think he had a kind of a morbid fascination with his Colonel Parker and whatever he told him to do. You go to Hollywood, you make these movies. So there he was.

Well, a little bit. I mean, you know, I'm sure there's been so much written about Elvis, but he was out there like, you know, a fish out of water. And he's in Hollywood making movies. And I also think he had a kind of a morbid fascination with his Colonel Parker and whatever he told him to do. You go to Hollywood, you make these movies. So there he was.

And he brought all his boys with him and they'd hang out on the set. And he said, you girls want to come to a party at Elvis's tonight? I went, Well, yeah, okay. So we go to Elvis's, but he should have actually said, do you want to come and watch Elvis watch TV or something? That's more like what it was. But I was fascinated by the whole thing. I was fascinated by him.

And he brought all his boys with him and they'd hang out on the set. And he said, you girls want to come to a party at Elvis's tonight? I went, Well, yeah, okay. So we go to Elvis's, but he should have actually said, do you want to come and watch Elvis watch TV or something? That's more like what it was. But I was fascinated by the whole thing. I was fascinated by him.

He was such a talented, you know, charismatic guy. And I looked at him. I thought, you know, he should be in front of an audience, not on the soundstage. He's just kind of wasting it. But anyway, I got to be kind of friends with him. You know, he was very funny. And I don't think people will talk about that. He really had a great sense of humor, very funny, and laughed all the time.

He was such a talented, you know, charismatic guy. And I looked at him. I thought, you know, he should be in front of an audience, not on the soundstage. He's just kind of wasting it. But anyway, I got to be kind of friends with him. You know, he was very funny. And I don't think people will talk about that. He really had a great sense of humor, very funny, and laughed all the time.

Yes.

Yes.

No, they were called pods.

No, they were called pods.

67 or 68. Well, they were called things like the Watusi and the swim and the something like that. We also did mostly that same guy choreographed Viva Las Vegas, choreographed Shindig for a while. So we did some real dancing on that. Some numbers. We called them. I don't know.

67 or 68. Well, they were called things like the Watusi and the swim and the something like that. We also did mostly that same guy choreographed Viva Las Vegas, choreographed Shindig for a while. So we did some real dancing on that. Some numbers. We called them. I don't know.

Well, you know, the minute I got into West Side Story and I had one line, even though I danced and I really wanted to be a ballerina and ABT and everything, I had this one line and I got a reaction from this one line. I thought, I want to be an actor. I want to be an actress. You know, I want to be in the front. I don't want to be in the back.

Well, you know, the minute I got into West Side Story and I had one line, even though I danced and I really wanted to be a ballerina and ABT and everything, I had this one line and I got a reaction from this one line. I thought, I want to be an actor. I want to be an actress. You know, I want to be in the front. I don't want to be in the back.

So that's, I think when I got this thing about being on Shindig or Chivalry was another one I was on. Well, I really can't be on these permanently. I'm busy. I'm going on. I mean, I had it in my head then that I was going to move on and out of the chorus line. So please don't tie me down to a series. I'm sorry. I can't do this.

So that's, I think when I got this thing about being on Shindig or Chivalry was another one I was on. Well, I really can't be on these permanently. I'm busy. I'm going on. I mean, I had it in my head then that I was going to move on and out of the chorus line. So please don't tie me down to a series. I'm sorry. I can't do this.

Yes. I was very lucky to be able to do all these TV commercials at some point. And I think that was a big learning experience too because in a way, you know, selling some product is acting. So I was studying acting. I was trying to do plays. I was taking dancing jobs. But I was also doing all these commercials and going on all these commercial auditions. And there must have been

Yes. I was very lucky to be able to do all these TV commercials at some point. And I think that was a big learning experience too because in a way, you know, selling some product is acting. So I was studying acting. I was trying to do plays. I was taking dancing jobs. But I was also doing all these commercials and going on all these commercial auditions. And there must have been

You know, you could go on six or seven auditions a day. So that's a great learning experience. I don't think people can do that these days. But, yeah, I did a lot of that. And then I started making a pretty good living just doing commercials. I said I could phase out these dancing jobs. But I never did. Not totally. I mean, it took me about 10 years. Okay.

You know, you could go on six or seven auditions a day. So that's a great learning experience. I don't think people can do that these days. But, yeah, I did a lot of that. And then I started making a pretty good living just doing commercials. I said I could phase out these dancing jobs. But I never did. Not totally. I mean, it took me about 10 years. Okay.

Yes, always. I remember once I did a commercial for Metrical. Do you remember what Metrical was? Yes, it was a diet fluid. The diet fluid that you ate for lunch. So I was doing this commercial. I was supposed to be in the teacher's lounge with Penny Marshall, who was one of the other teachers. And I drank so much Metrical that I was getting ready to puke.

Yes, always. I remember once I did a commercial for Metrical. Do you remember what Metrical was? Yes, it was a diet fluid. The diet fluid that you ate for lunch. So I was doing this commercial. I was supposed to be in the teacher's lounge with Penny Marshall, who was one of the other teachers. And I drank so much Metrical that I was getting ready to puke.

And I heard them say, all right, get the bucket. And Penny and I both looked at each other and went, what do they mean, get the bucket? I said, get the bucket.

And I heard them say, all right, get the bucket. And Penny and I both looked at each other and went, what do they mean, get the bucket? I said, get the bucket.

so they i would drink some of the metrical they would pan the camera off of me then i would spit the metrical into this bucket then they would pan back to me and i go delicious well i want to tell you it was very difficult to do without laughing because you'd hear this noise and then fabulous it's so delicious anyway we i had a good time doing many commercials they're funny they kind of do them by the seat of their pants but then in commercials everything has to be done legally correctly and i learned a lot about advertising and

so they i would drink some of the metrical they would pan the camera off of me then i would spit the metrical into this bucket then they would pan back to me and i go delicious well i want to tell you it was very difficult to do without laughing because you'd hear this noise and then fabulous it's so delicious anyway we i had a good time doing many commercials they're funny they kind of do them by the seat of their pants but then in commercials everything has to be done legally correctly and i learned a lot about advertising and

Well, there was rumors going around town that there was a big movie being cast, and there was lots of girls going up for this audition, and I got my agent to get me in on it. You know, 500 girls. When I went there, Mel Brooks said, we're casting for the part of the fiancé, the financier, he called it. But I want Madeline Kahn to do it. I just want you to know.

Well, there was rumors going around town that there was a big movie being cast, and there was lots of girls going up for this audition, and I got my agent to get me in on it. You know, 500 girls. When I went there, Mel Brooks said, we're casting for the part of the fiancé, the financier, he called it. But I want Madeline Kahn to do it. I just want you to know.

But she doesn't want to do it because she doesn't want to do a comedy, but I'm auditioning all these girls. So I went in, and I got a call back and call back, and I was very excited that I even got a call back.

But she doesn't want to do it because she doesn't want to do a comedy, but I'm auditioning all these girls. So I went in, and I got a call back and call back, and I was very excited that I even got a call back.

finally one day I got a call back and he said Madeline has decided to do this part but if you can come back tomorrow I'll give you a chance to audition for the part of Inga the lab assistant but you have to have a German accent And it was like 24 hours to get a German accent together. And I did. Because I copied Cher's wig maker who had a German accent.

finally one day I got a call back and he said Madeline has decided to do this part but if you can come back tomorrow I'll give you a chance to audition for the part of Inga the lab assistant but you have to have a German accent And it was like 24 hours to get a German accent together. And I did. Because I copied Cher's wig maker who had a German accent.

You were working on the Sonny and Cher show at the time. Yes, I was working on the Sonny and Cher show at the time.

You were working on the Sonny and Cher show at the time. Yes, I was working on the Sonny and Cher show at the time.

Well, I don't think you can learn comic timing. I think I must have innately grown up with my mother and father from Vaudeville and stuff and lots of jokes around the house. I had been working on Sonny and Cher Show as a dancer and also in these horrible comedy sketches. And I sort of had learned comic timing then. Also, I was an incredible fan of Mel Brooks, the 2,000-year-old man.

Well, I don't think you can learn comic timing. I think I must have innately grown up with my mother and father from Vaudeville and stuff and lots of jokes around the house. I had been working on Sonny and Cher Show as a dancer and also in these horrible comedy sketches. And I sort of had learned comic timing then. Also, I was an incredible fan of Mel Brooks, the 2,000-year-old man.

I had listened to those records hundreds of times as a kid and memorized them and did them over and over again. So I sort of knew his rhythm. But he is one of God's gifts to this planet. Mel Brooks is just the funniest man in the world. He is really funny. What did he call you, a shiksa goddess? Shiksa goddess, my long-waisted shiksa goddess. And then he called Peter Boyle and I, come here, treif.

I had listened to those records hundreds of times as a kid and memorized them and did them over and over again. So I sort of knew his rhythm. But he is one of God's gifts to this planet. Mel Brooks is just the funniest man in the world. He is really funny. What did he call you, a shiksa goddess? Shiksa goddess, my long-waisted shiksa goddess. And then he called Peter Boyle and I, come here, treif.

We were both treif. I don't know what it means exactly. And then at one point— Not kosher. I said, well, Mel, you're so wonderful. I wish I was Jewish. You're Jewish. You are Jewish by injection. I don't know what he meant, but okay.

We were both treif. I don't know what it means exactly. And then at one point— Not kosher. I said, well, Mel, you're so wonderful. I wish I was Jewish. You're Jewish. You are Jewish by injection. I don't know what he meant, but okay.

I'd like you to meet my assistants, Inga and Igor. How do you do?

I'd like you to meet my assistants, Inga and Igor. How do you do?

This is my financier, Elizabeth.

This is my financier, Elizabeth.

Financie.

Financie.

But I... What? Uh, Igor, would you give me a hand with the bags? Certainly. You take the blonde and I'll take the one in the tavern. Oh.

But I... What? Uh, Igor, would you give me a hand with the bags? Certainly. You take the blonde and I'll take the one in the tavern. Oh.

If we're starting a movie career. I was absolutely in shock. I told you I was doing commercials at the time. So one of the commercial casting directors was casting his film for and she said, do you want to go up for this part? And I said, of course, I'd go up for everything. So I went and met with Coppola, and I thought that would be the end of it. I said, wow, you guys, I met Francis Coppola.

If we're starting a movie career. I was absolutely in shock. I told you I was doing commercials at the time. So one of the commercial casting directors was casting his film for and she said, do you want to go up for this part? And I said, of course, I'd go up for everything. So I went and met with Coppola, and I thought that would be the end of it. I said, wow, you guys, I met Francis Coppola.

Then a couple days later, they said they want you to audition. I said, oh, this is fabulous. So I went and read, and they said they want you to fly to San Francisco to do a

screen test and I thought this must be some part this would be like the lead in a Francis Coppola movie so anyway I went I flew to San Francisco did this audition and then flew back he had me sing when the red red robin comes bob bob bobbing along you know I have to say Francis Coppola was one of the big influences of my life because I think back on things that he had me do from the get-go and what they how they were part of the creative process and he really taught me what that was about in a way and

So anyway, I went to San Francisco and auditioned. And then I came back and, well, that's that. I've done a screen test for Francis Coppola. I'm putting this on my resume. I never thought I would get the part. So then I got the part. And they said, you have to be here tomorrow for the cast reading up in San Francisco, which I couldn't do because I was working on Sonny and Cher.

So that's how much I had planned on getting this job. But I lied to them on the Sonny and Cher show and said I was sick. I couldn't be there. And flew up to San Francisco and read the entire script and realized that there was only one scene in the entire movie. But still, I wasn't going to turn it down. I was very excited to have been in it.

And I think it was really great to have that be the first kind of recognizable part in a film was in the conversation, even though the next movie to come out that I was in was Young Frankenstein where it was all funny and all that and it was a bigger hit movie. it still kind of created a balance there that this girl can act and act and be funny.

Well, I don't know. I mean, I think it had something to do with he wanted to see that character, if she could be like ingenuous and naive and just jump in and do something cute and sweet. I mean, looking back on it now, I see that. It was his fantasy.

He always wanted to have a girl that was just in a room that would just be there for him, that didn't know anything about him, but that was happy and positive and not bitching about being locked in a room.

No. You think it's Coppola's fantasy?

Well, that whole movie was his fantasy. It was more about his Catholic confessional thing of listening to what people were saying and very interesting, revealing movie about the man who wrote it, who was Francis Covill. But, yeah, that was what that was about.

Well, I do suspect that, but I could be wrong. But I think it's one of the reasons I wrote about it in the book is because I want other people that have MS to think maybe there's something like this happened to them. But there's a theory out there that MS is a virus that's in you, but like everyone gets chickenpox or some kind of virus, it stays and lays dormant.

But some kind of trauma or some kind of Something will exacerbate it. So I do remember dropping a broken champagne bottle, which is thick glass, on the top of my foot, and it broke. It severed the tendon in my foot, and I felt like it went boing-oing-oing in my head or something like that. And when I look back on that, I think, I wonder if that was the thing that started the MS. It activated it.

You know, I could be dead wrong. But I did write that in my book because I thought that maybe was when I first started experiencing little, you know, things that weren't right. And I couldn't control my body as well as I could. I mean, here I was a dancer and a good one. And I just couldn't make myself do it. I thought, what's going on? Am I lazy and am I getting tired?

And I think that's when it started to happen. And the champagne bottle that you dropped, that was in a scene from One from the Heart, right? Right. I was supposed to be carrying groceries in and then I dropped it and it broke on my foot. Right.

Well, I don't. The symptoms, I always have this ego that I'm fine and I'm a perfect physical specimen. Anything that did happen to me, I sort of ignored it. Oh, this is normal. Everybody gets this. But I know that one of the first things that happened to me was years ago, I'd feel like this buzzing in my foot, buzzing, like a cell phone or something.

And then I thought, well, it couldn't be a cell phone because we didn't have cell phones back then. I mean, we had cell phones, but they were the size of canoes, so it wasn't that. But I didn't know what it was. And then it would go away. And then I had where I would run. I was a big jogger, and I would run in Central Park, and I would trip on something. I thought, what rock? What did I trip?

I almost just went flying leap. And then that would go away, so there would be this tingling and – Maybe a stabbing pain in my arm, which is another thing. When you heat up your body by exercising and running, it seemed to exacerbate these pains and it would make me be weaker.

And then when I felt this stabbing pain in my arm in Central Park, I thought, well, maybe it is a knife because I'm in Central Park. But it wasn't. But they would get those symptoms, and then they would go away. So by the time I got myself to a doctor and said, now, check this out, it would be gone because MS is relapsing and remitting.

So the doctors would go, honey, honey, there's nothing wrong with you. You're fine. You might feel crazy, a little hypochondria. And I'm just sitting there like, well, maybe they're right. I guess I'm a hypochondriac, but I never had been a hypochondriac. In fact, I would like to stay away from doctors as much as I can and not – I would go at the last minute.

As the minuteness of the parts formed a great hindrance to my speed, I resolved, therefore, to make the creature of a gigantic stature. Of course. That would simplify everything.

So by the time I'd get my butt to the doctor and he'd say, nothing wrong with you, I'd go, oh, I've wasted so much time. I could be in class right now or something reading. So not good.

Oh, I think it was absolutely a wonderful thing to have been a dancer, to have that discipline and just to be able to roll with the punches and all the jobs that I did. And like I said, my mother teaching me that when they were a Rockettes, they had to learn the accordion in one day and all that. It was something that I thought – it's why I call the book Speed Bumps.

It was just something that made me slow down and go, MS diagnosis? Okay, let's keep going. How my life had progressed I think was a great lesson in how to deal with an illness or a diagnosis. Because when you start out in Hollywood or in New York or wherever, show business, it's 99% get out of here, rejection. And you have to develop the height of a rhinoceros.

But you still have to have the spirit of a butterfly inside in order to do your art. Yeah. And that really came in handy because I went, well, I can handle this. I'll handle this MS. I don't know what it is. I'll deal with it. I'll find out a way to do it. And I'm going to go on with my life. And that's what I did.

Yeah. Well, that's a nice thing to say. But I've never been bitter and I've never had a – I don't really have any negative – I had little things along the way. For example, I went to a doctor who said, now, you're walking weakly on your right side. I could put a brace on your leg. And so he said, try the brace. I tried the brace. I walked up. This is fabulous. I'm walking around the office.

This is wonderful. And then I looked. I said, I have to wear this all the time? He goes, yeah. I said, wait, you don't understand. I'm Terry Carr. I'm known for my fabulous legs. Now I've got to wear a brace on my leg. And he just said, well, it's a small price to pay. And it was instantly, I went, it sure is. I mean, I would be able to put it in perspective.

that I have to wear long pants or long skirts forever now, but I can walk around better. So it was one of those things where I was able to say, what's better, showing off my stupid legs or walking better? So I walk better. Do you still wear the brace? Oh, yeah. Cut it out right now. How would you describe your walking now? Oh, it's not good. I mean, it's got, I've gotten weaker. It comes and goes.

But, um, It's, you know, more than how am I walking is, it's my fatigue level. You know, I get really tired. For me to walk around the block is like someone climbing Mount Everest. And I think people who don't have MS don't understand that. So it takes a lot of energy. But I walk a little slower.

But, you know, I walk across airports and I do a lot of traveling and people start walking fast and going ahead of me. I go... I'm getting there. I'm slow but sure. And I try to keep a sense of humor about it and a good attitude. I mean, not to say I make fun of myself, but I try to make it easier on other people because I always think it's harder on them than it is on me. I'm fine with it.

I'm happy to be alive. But they must think, oh, you poor thing, you're suffering. And I'm not.

Are you still acting now? Oh, yes. I just am on... Law and Order. I play a defense attorney named Minerva Graham Bishop. Good name, huh? And that's a great job. I'm a defense lawyer on that show. I've done one. I'm going to do another one and perhaps more. And does the MS get in the way of your performing? No. How could it get in the way? I get in my way. I feel like I'm a little bit rusty. But

No, it hasn't. You know, on the Law & Order show, there's a cinematographer who's quite brilliant, and he has MS. And so he had a little scooter, motorized scooter around the set. He said, do you want to borrow one of mine? I said, sure. And that was great.

See, that's one of the reasons I go around talking about living with MS and talking about MS is that there's so many myths about it and that people can go on with their lives and they can do good work. And I think the myth is, no, they're dead. They're out. They're gone. They're in a wheelchair. In fact, I was going to call my book, Does This Wheelchair Make Me Look Fat?,

I was afraid if I put wheelchair out there, it's going to be another big, you know, checkmark against me. So I'm trying to, you know, I try to keep it on the upper positive level that those of us with MS can still go on and still function. And I want the rest of the world to believe it. And I also want the people that have MS to believe it because I think they're victims of the bad publicity too.

That goes without saying.

You know, that they go, oh, I have MS. I better throw in the towel and go to my room and watch TV or something. And that's no, no, no. You have to go on with your life.

And then she also was like a wardrobe person for several TV shows? Yes. Yeah, I think a lot of dancers go into wardrobe afterwards. I don't know why that happens, but it's true. And she became a costumer in L.A., and my father died when I was 11, and he was in vaudeville, and they met in a Broadway show, my parents.

And then he came out to Hollywood to be in movies, and that didn't pan out, and he became very ill. And he passed away. So my mother had to support three kids, you know, by her wits. So she went and got a job in the studios as a costumer. In fact, she was a costumer on Young Frankenstein before I even got the job. And she told, don't tell anyone I'm your mother. What is this about? It's so weird.

Anyway, I learned... Why didn't she want anyone to know? I do not know to this day.

I don't know. But finally, I told Mel. I said, you know that lady over there? That's my mom. He was so great. Because he's just a great guy. And he, well, bring her over here. And he was wonderful. I just don't know what her motive was. But she was a great, interesting woman. You know, she... Her parents came from Austria. They settled in Ohio.

And my grandfather said, girls, go to secretary school. And that's what they do. And you'd shut up and do that. And my oldest aunt did that. And my mother and my other younger aunt said, no, no, we're not doing that. They hitchhiked to New York when they were like 14 and 16 or something like that. My mother became a rockette.

No, maybe they must have been a little bit older than that because they were out of high school. And my aunt was a brilliant artist and a concert pianist and all this stuff. So they had some aesthetic that they were not going to do what my grandfather said. So to me, it was always the early feminist, we're doing this, we're going off to New York to take care of ourselves.

And unfortunately, she married my dad at the end of that. But Learning from it was that you do what you want to do and you independently take care of yourself and don't depend on a man. That was the idea that I got when I was a kid.

Well, it did seem like a bad life. It seemed like not a fair life or a fickle business. I think it's true. I I just recently was reading the review of Elia Kazan's book, and he said the same thing. He got older. He said, tell anybody that wants to be a director not to do it because they throw you away. Well, then Mr. Kazan is for everybody.

Everybody's got the same thing, that you have a peak and then it fades away. So that goes with life, I guess. But I didn't think that the show business looked –

that fair but I also somehow got it in my head that I was going to beat it and that I was going to get in there and do do it too and I was very influenced by my mother when she worked at the studios and I was young then and I would go visit her and take the bus down and hang out with her and it was so exciting to be at a tv studio where there was costumes and sets and people rushing around and music and orchestras I well I want to be part of this I just want to be part of this and then

because my parents were in vaudeville a lot of their friends came out to hollywood everybody wanted to be in the business and they didn't it didn't happen so they opened dancing schools so i got to have free dancing lessons in all these places where my parents who had worked with a dance team in philly and a dog act in boston out of this and they were all out there either mater d's or opening orange julius stands or something like that a very interesting eclectic way that the uh the fringe of show business kind of settled in in la

And I was in that world. But it was always out there, the show business thing. And he goes, well, it's there for you. You can try it. You can try. And I said, well, I think I will. I think I'll try. My two older brothers didn't want to do it. Your father was a comic.

Well, I don't remember that too much. It's a very interesting thing about writing a book about your life. I seem to find a big, huge gap about, well, who was my father? He died when I was 11, and most of the time when I was alive, until he died, he was ill. So I couldn't really talk to him too much, and I had to be quiet because Dad is sick. What was his sickness? Well, he had heart trouble.

When I was born, he was in – I don't know if this – He was in a USO show in the South Pacific, and he fell out of a Jeep and broke his back. And ever since then, he was not well. And they brought him back to Long Beach in a cast that was from the top of his chin to his knees. It was just a horrible—they didn't know how to treat a broken back.

But something happened then, I think, that diminished his life. And he started having heart trouble and he started having all kinds of things. And he was always ill. He did character acting in movies. He did a movie with Marilyn Monroe. And I remember wanting to see that when I was a kid. And he kind of made a living, but he was always ill.

So I don't think I had much of a relationship with my father. And therefore, I don't know who men are. I think it's something like that. I don't know. Yeah.

You know, I really do, and I never thought about it until I wrote this book. I always thought, just like everybody else, well, there's just not enough good men out there. But then I see people with relationships and able to have them, and I think, well, no, I think it's something else.

I think it's your relationship to your parents that make you have relationships with other people or something like that. But it's been a confusing mess, believe me, that end of it. But I go on. Even though I'm much older now, I still think there's hope of finding someone interesting. So you're not part of a couple right now? Not part of a couple, no.

That's true. You know, most of the mothers that I play in movies, starting from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Right. Suburban mothers. I patterned them after my sister-in-law, because my brother married his high school sweetheart, and my other brother married, they both stayed married all this time.

But my one sister-in-law is very Martha Stewart, and my brother's a surgeon, and so she's a doctor's wife, and she knows about gardening and centerpieces and stuff like that. Something that I completely never grew up knowing. And when I got those parts, I would think I have no role model because the role model I have is more like the Texaco man or something.

So I went and, you know, would look at what my sister-in-law did and copy her. Terry Garth, thank you very, very much for talking with us. Well, Terry Gross, thank you for having me.

Everyone asked me, what went on between you and Dave? I said, totally sexual.

You want to put me on the spot?

Fabulous films, Viva Las Vegas, Roustabout, Kiss and Cousins, all the good ones.

No, no, no.

I'm gonna tell you the truth, Sandy. I'm in love with another woman.

Well, I think it didn't ring true because what the character was was supposed to be this independent woman. Of course, she was in the middle of trying to be connected to a man and truly connected to her career. So she was a little bit on the fence there. But I think initially if someone said, I'm not in love with you, I'm in love with someone else, you go, so what?

That's got nothing to do with me. And I suggested to – Sidney Pollack, that I write something about it. I had done a lot of research about the feminist movement at that time. So I was reading all the books at the time that were – Betty Friedan and Sherry Haidt had a book and all these – and I was reading all these books and some of them actually made me laugh so much.

But I said, well, if you let me do one take where I just can spew out all this stuff that I've been reading, I think it will work. And so you wrote all the stuff about it. I did, and I did see that one line that said, I'm responsible for my own orgasm. And I remember when I read that. That was in Sherry Hyde's book. I went, what does that mean?

I didn't even know what it meant, but I thought, well, I'm throwing it anyway because it's funny. It's funny and it's very of its time. Yes, of its time is right.

You know, some of these things are credits, some of them are debits, and that was filler.

Yeah, among others. Yeah. At that time, he was doing about at least four movies a year, bad ones in Hollywood. But I had worked in West Side Story with the original cast of Jerry Robbins. So I was a really good, legit dancer. And one of the guys in the show became a choreographer for Viva Las Vegas. He said, you guys want to come down to this audition? So we went, well, sure, let's do that.

So then once in those days, once you got into the union or the Central casting, they just called you again and again and again. So I started going to all the auditions. I mean, I danced in Elvis Presley movies, but I also danced in Shirley MacLaine movies, What a Way to Go, and John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, a big movie. And a lot of other little movies that they just called me for.

So that's how that started. I'd be like one step ahead of being a cocktail waitress. Why?

Actually, it was great fun to dance in the Elvis movies.

Oh, man, they were all pretty bad. I guess in that Clambake thing, there was something about digging for clams. Oh, man, they were all bad. But, you know, it was so funny because I grew up with my mother telling me stories about being a rockette. She goes, we had to do everything. We had to learn to play the violin one week and the drums the next week.

So she was always telling me how they were so versatile. So that one... We did these silly clam bake and whatever they were with Elvis. I thought, well, I'm in the same boat with my mom. Your mom was one of the original Rockettes. Yes, she was. The original Rockettes. They were called the Roxettes or something when she first went in there. I know the history of the Rockettes. Believe me.

Well, a little bit. I mean, you know, I'm sure there's been so much written about Elvis, but he was out there like, you know, a fish out of water. And he's in Hollywood making movies. And I also think he had a kind of a morbid fascination with his Colonel Parker and whatever he told him to do. You go to Hollywood, you make these movies. So there he was.

And he brought all his boys with him and they'd hang out on the set. And he said, you girls want to come to a party at Elvis's tonight? I went, Well, yeah, okay. So we go to Elvis's, but he should have actually said, do you want to come and watch Elvis watch TV or something? That's more like what it was. But I was fascinated by the whole thing. I was fascinated by him.

He was such a talented, you know, charismatic guy. And I looked at him. I thought, you know, he should be in front of an audience, not on the soundstage. He's just kind of wasting it. But anyway, I got to be kind of friends with him. You know, he was very funny. And I don't think people will talk about that. He really had a great sense of humor, very funny, and laughed all the time.

Yes.

No, they were called pods.

67 or 68. Well, they were called things like the Watusi and the swim and the something like that. We also did mostly that same guy choreographed Viva Las Vegas, choreographed Shindig for a while. So we did some real dancing on that. Some numbers. We called them. I don't know.

Well, you know, the minute I got into West Side Story and I had one line, even though I danced and I really wanted to be a ballerina and ABT and everything, I had this one line and I got a reaction from this one line. I thought, I want to be an actor. I want to be an actress. You know, I want to be in the front. I don't want to be in the back.

So that's, I think when I got this thing about being on Shindig or Chivalry was another one I was on. Well, I really can't be on these permanently. I'm busy. I'm going on. I mean, I had it in my head then that I was going to move on and out of the chorus line. So please don't tie me down to a series. I'm sorry. I can't do this.

Yes. I was very lucky to be able to do all these TV commercials at some point. And I think that was a big learning experience too because in a way, you know, selling some product is acting. So I was studying acting. I was trying to do plays. I was taking dancing jobs. But I was also doing all these commercials and going on all these commercial auditions. And there must have been

You know, you could go on six or seven auditions a day. So that's a great learning experience. I don't think people can do that these days. But, yeah, I did a lot of that. And then I started making a pretty good living just doing commercials. I said I could phase out these dancing jobs. But I never did. Not totally. I mean, it took me about 10 years. Okay.

Yes, always. I remember once I did a commercial for Metrical. Do you remember what Metrical was? Yes, it was a diet fluid. The diet fluid that you ate for lunch. So I was doing this commercial. I was supposed to be in the teacher's lounge with Penny Marshall, who was one of the other teachers. And I drank so much Metrical that I was getting ready to puke.

And I heard them say, all right, get the bucket. And Penny and I both looked at each other and went, what do they mean, get the bucket? I said, get the bucket.

so they i would drink some of the metrical they would pan the camera off of me then i would spit the metrical into this bucket then they would pan back to me and i go delicious well i want to tell you it was very difficult to do without laughing because you'd hear this noise and then fabulous it's so delicious anyway we i had a good time doing many commercials they're funny they kind of do them by the seat of their pants but then in commercials everything has to be done legally correctly and i learned a lot about advertising and

Well, there was rumors going around town that there was a big movie being cast, and there was lots of girls going up for this audition, and I got my agent to get me in on it. You know, 500 girls. When I went there, Mel Brooks said, we're casting for the part of the fiancé, the financier, he called it. But I want Madeline Kahn to do it. I just want you to know.

But she doesn't want to do it because she doesn't want to do a comedy, but I'm auditioning all these girls. So I went in, and I got a call back and call back, and I was very excited that I even got a call back.

finally one day I got a call back and he said Madeline has decided to do this part but if you can come back tomorrow I'll give you a chance to audition for the part of Inga the lab assistant but you have to have a German accent And it was like 24 hours to get a German accent together. And I did. Because I copied Cher's wig maker who had a German accent.

You were working on the Sonny and Cher show at the time. Yes, I was working on the Sonny and Cher show at the time.

Well, I don't think you can learn comic timing. I think I must have innately grown up with my mother and father from Vaudeville and stuff and lots of jokes around the house. I had been working on Sonny and Cher Show as a dancer and also in these horrible comedy sketches. And I sort of had learned comic timing then. Also, I was an incredible fan of Mel Brooks, the 2,000-year-old man.

I had listened to those records hundreds of times as a kid and memorized them and did them over and over again. So I sort of knew his rhythm. But he is one of God's gifts to this planet. Mel Brooks is just the funniest man in the world. He is really funny. What did he call you, a shiksa goddess? Shiksa goddess, my long-waisted shiksa goddess. And then he called Peter Boyle and I, come here, treif.

We were both treif. I don't know what it means exactly. And then at one point— Not kosher. I said, well, Mel, you're so wonderful. I wish I was Jewish. You're Jewish. You are Jewish by injection. I don't know what he meant, but okay.

I'd like you to meet my assistants, Inga and Igor. How do you do?

This is my financier, Elizabeth.

Financie.

But I... What? Uh, Igor, would you give me a hand with the bags? Certainly. You take the blonde and I'll take the one in the tavern. Oh.

If we're starting a movie career. I was absolutely in shock. I told you I was doing commercials at the time. So one of the commercial casting directors was casting his film for and she said, do you want to go up for this part? And I said, of course, I'd go up for everything. So I went and met with Coppola, and I thought that would be the end of it. I said, wow, you guys, I met Francis Coppola.