Volkswacht Bodensee - 'Tootsie' star Teri Garr dies aged 79

Garr, 79, passed away after a decades-long battle with multiple sclerosis, Heidi Schaeffer told AFP.

A comedic actress and singer, Garr also co-starred in "Young Frankenstein" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic auto-immune inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, its symptoms characterized by muscle weakness and blurred vision.

The disease afflicts about twice as many women as men -- typically between the ages of 20 and 40.

Garr revealed she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2002, after having suffered symptoms for the previous two decades.

She was a "fierce advocate for MS awareness," said Schaeffer.

Garr "passed away peacefully, surrounded by family and friends," the publicist added.

H.Kuenzler--VB