WASHINGTON — Teri Garr, an Oscar-nominated actress best known for her work in movies including Young Frankenstein, Mom and Tootsie, has died at 79, US media report.

Garr died in Los Angeles on Tuesday after a 20-year battle with multiple sclerosis "surrounded by family and friends", her publicist Heidi Schaeffer said in a statement.

She first talked publicly about the chronic autoimmune disease in 2002 to raise awareness for others living with it.

The comedy actor faced other health problems and underwent an operation to repair an aneurysm in 2007, BBC's US news partner CBS reports.

Garr got her start as a background dancer in Elvis Presley movies.

Her mother, also a former dancer, put her in dance classes at the age of six.

Her first gig was joining the road company for West Side Story in Los Angeles.

She then began dancing in movies before starring in television shows like Batman and Dr. Kildare.

Garr's big break came in 1974 when she played a supporting role in the thriller, The Conversation.

She was then cast as Gene Wilder's lab assistant in the horror comedy Young Frankenstein where she spoke with a German accent. This was a career breakthrough for Garr.

She established herself as a comedy actor and began making frequent appearances on Late Night with David Letterman.

Beyond comedy, Garr also played dramatic roles in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Black Stallion. She also appeared in television shows such as Star Trek and That Girl. — BBC