21 Star Trek Actors Who Died In 2024

Teri Garr appeared in the second season finale of The Original Series - Assignment: Earth. The episode was conceived by Gene Roddenberry as a backdoor pilot which, if it had been picked up, would have followed Robert Lansing's Gary Seven and Garr's Roberta Lincoln in various adventures. Despite the episode failing to generate a series, Garr admitted that the script offered her plenty of lines.

She was quoted in Starlog #173 as saying she preferred not to discuss Star Trek, opting to avoid the topic where possible. William Ware Theiss, the costume designer for Trek at the time she appeared, recalled that Gene Roddenberry actively tried to keep making her skirt shorter, so as to reveal more. If this is true, then can anyone blame her for not having the fondest memories of the episode?

Star Trek certainly did nothing to harm Garr's career. She appeared in Young Frankenstein, The Conversation, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, and Tootsie, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award For Best Supporting Actress.

Her peers remember her as a comedic legend, as she was quick-witted and well-able to handle banter with co-stars and interviewers. As early as 1982, she began experiencing the onset of Multiple Sclerosis, a condition she managed privately for almost two decades afterwards. She publically announced she was suffering from the disease in 2002, opting to use her position and influence to help others. She was an activist, campaigning against nuclear weapons testing, and on behalf of The Trevor Project. 

She was 79 years old when she died.