Teri Garr, nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for her role in the 1982 hit film "Tootsie," died Tuesday in Los Angeles, her publicist said.

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.

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

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

According to The New York Times, Garr was "a favorite guest of David Letterman and Johnny Carson and a three-time host of “Saturday Night Live.”

Somes of her most important characters were played in films like "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Young Frankenstein", “Mr. Mom”, and “Oh, God!,” among others.

With information of © Agence France-Presse