In the 1982 comedy classic Tootsie, Teri Garr plays Sandy Lester, a struggling actress and close friend of Dustin Hoffman’s Michael Dorsey. Between her chosen profession and her many bad choices in men, she has been conditioned to be life’s doormat. In an early scene, she vents that she was trapped in Michael’s bathroom for a half-hour during a party while no one noticed, then admits that, yes, everyone seems to be having a good time. Later, when Michael stands her up for a dinner date, she somehow winds up apologizing to him. The big soap opera role he gets while posing as a woman was something Sandy wanted, but when she shows up at the audition, the casting director takes one look at her and won’t even let her read.
On the one hand, it is hard to come away from watching Garr’s performance in that film — for which she received her one and only Oscar nomination(*)…
