Teri Garr has died at the age of 79

Heidi Schaeffer, the actress' publicist, has confirmed to PEOPLE that Teri was "surrounded by family and friends" when she passed away.

The movie star was actually born into a showbusiness family, with her mother working in costume production, while her dad was a vaudeville performer.

Teri actually trained as a dancer, with an emphasis on ballet, before she began to focus her efforts on acting.

The 'Mr. Mom' star studied at the Actors Studio and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City.

Teri's first successes in the entertainment industry leaned heavily on her dancing skills, She actually starred in a series of TV variety shows as a dancer, while she also appeared opposite Elvis Presley in a number of movies, including 'Viva Las Vegas' in 1964.

Despite this, Teri's first speaking role didn't arrive until 1968, when she appeared in the The Monkees film 'Head', which was produced by Jack Nicholson and Bob Rafelson.

Teri then became a regular feature on 'The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour' in the early 1970s. Then, 1974 proved to be a landmark year in her career, when she starred in Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Conversation' and Mel Brooks' 'Young Frankenstein'.

Meanwhile, Teri was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in the 1982 comedy movie 'Tootsie'.

The acclaimed actress also appeared in a number of well-known TV shows during the course of her career, including 'M*A*S*H', 'The Odd Couple', 'Maude', 'Barnaby Jones', and 'Friends'.

However, Teri's career began to slow down in the late 90s and in 2002, the actress announced that she'd been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which had been affecting her ability to perform for a number of years.

Teri is survived by her daughter Molly, and her grandson Tyryn.