Dustin Hoffman remembers Teri Garr after 'Tootsie' co-star's death

Dustin Hoffman is mourning the loss of his late “Tootsie” co-star Teri Garr.

“Teri was brilliant and unique in everything she did and had a heart of gold,” Hoffman, 87, said in a statement to The Post on Tuesday. “Working with her was one of the big highlights. There was no one like her.”

Garr died Tuesday morning in Los Angeles after a long battle with multiple sclerosis, her publicist Heidi Schaeffer confirmed.

Garr played Hoffman's friend and sometimes love interest Sandy Lester in the 1982 film Tootsie. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her work.

“I was proud. Not only did the Academy know I existed, they thought I was good!” Garr wrote about the Oscar nomination in her 2005 memoir, “Speedbumps: Flooring it Through Hollywood.”

Garr was hesitant to take on the role of “second banana” after having just starred in the film “One From The Heart,” as she revealed to AV Club in 2008. But director Sydney Pollack persuaded her to take the job.

“He said, ‘We’ll make it fun. It’s going to be really good and we’ll take any ideas you have,” she recalls. “So I immediately started writing things about her – about Sandy Lester – and he let me. And I really liked that.”

Garr also said Hoffman was in her corner when it came to making suggestions to Pollack.

“Dustin had hit [Sydney] into submission, so he said, 'If you have an idea, tell Sydney,'” Garr recalled. “So I said, 'Put the camera over there and I'll rush out of the bathroom and say, 'What's wrong with you people?' I've been sitting in there screaming for half an hour! Does no one care?' That was a good part of the film, wasn't it? And that’s what I came up with.”

In addition to the Pollack classic, the comedy legend was also known for his role in Mel Brooks' 1974 comedy Young Frankenstein. But her resume went far beyond these two iconic performances.

After cutting her teeth on television in shows like Star Trek, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Garr followed up her star career in Young Frankenstein with roles in Francis Ford Coppola's thriller “The Conversation” and Steven Spielberg's sci-fi film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

The actress continued working until 2011, when she starred in the television film How To Marry a Billionaire.

In 2002, Garr announced that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

“I really don't think there's any reason to say anything about it,” she told CNN's Larry King at the time. “I think the good news is that there are a lot of good medications out there.”

Garr suffered a brain aneurysm in 2006 that left her in a coma for a week, although she was able to return to acting after her recovery.

Garr is survived by her daughter Molly O'Neil, 30, and grandson Tyryn, 6.