Teri Garr is one of the big screen's all-time
funniest ladies, starring in such classics as "Young
Frankenstein" and "Tootsie." Teri still loves
to laugh, even though she's living with multiple sclerosis.
She talked to "Extra" about her battle with the
debilitating disease and the work she's doing to fund a cure.
"Hope is what keeps me going," Teri
told us when we caught up with her at QVC's Cure by the Shore
event. She's not looking for sympathy and she uses her sense
of humor to help others deal with the disease: "It never
hurts to laugh at things."
Other stars, like Annette Funicello, Montel Williams and Richard
Pryor, also have MS, and now Pryor's daughter, Rain, thinks
she may have it, too. "I'm having symptoms, but so far
a lot of the tests show up negative," she told us.
Hollywood fundraiser Nancy Davis also has the disease and is
pregnant with twins. She says Teri's positive attitude is strong
medicine for others: "She's done so much to open that door
to make people with MS not feel that they are an outsider, an
outcast."
Teri may walk with a limp now, but she's working on a new movie,
is a single mom to a young daughter, and has dedicated her life
to finding a cure. "I always used to say that if I'd only
help one person I'd be so happy," she said. "But it
turns out I'm helping a lot."
