Though she always kept a passion for the arts, Teri Garr didn’t begin her career in the entertainment industry as an actor.

“I started out as a dancer,” said Garr during an interview with the Daily Press. “That’s all I wanted. I danced in television and the movies. Then I started to want to be in the front, and the people in front were the people who spoke. So I started doing lines...”

In the interview, Garr likened her transition into acting as a metamorphosis. “I’ve had such a strange career,” said the performer.

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Though she didn’t become an actor in the most traditional manner, she certainly proved her on-screen talent in movies like Oh, God! (1977) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).

Perhaps one of Garr’s most iconic roles was that of Inga in the 1974 film Young Frankenstein.

However, Garr admitted that the film’s success hindered her career momentarily.

“I played a Buxom German blonde, and it was fun, doing a sort of cartoon character,” said the actor. “But then everyone expected me to be that way.”

Though a capable comedic actor, Garr was primarily interested in roles that required hard work and were worthy of her talent.

“I still haven’t finished with acting yet,” said Garr. “I like it a lot still. But there aren’t a lot of parts, and so many of them are for housewives and other characters who are subservient to men.”