On the advice of a numerologist, Terry Garr changed her name to “Teri,” a name containing no repeating letters. She was told this would lead to a successful career.
Teri appeared as an uncredited go-go dancer in a number of youth-oriented film and television productions, including Shindig!, Hullabaloo, Shivaree, as well as a musical special starring Nancy Sinatra and Pajama Party, an entry in the beach party genre co-starring Annette Funicello and Tommy Kirk. Teri also appeared in six Elvis Presley films – again, all uncredited. She had a single line in the Monkees’ experimental film Head, written by her friend and acting classmate Jack Nicholson. Later the same year she was featured in the “Assignment Earth” episode of Star Trek, which served as a pilot for a series that was never picked up. She was cast as a repertoire player on The Ken Berry WOW! Show, a summer replacement series. That role led to a long-running stint on The Sonny & Cher Show. A supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola’s acclaimed The Conversation was the turning point for Teri’s career.
Maybe that numerologist was on to something.
Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Teri retired from acting in 2011. She passed away in 2024 at the age of 79.