Teri Garr spent years desperately covering up crippling MS because she feared the reels would dry up when it came out

Quirky Toetsie And Young Frankenstein star Teri Garr took a sad secret to the grave when she died on October 29 at the age of 79 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

For years she was afraid to tell anyone she had the dreaded disease, fearing jobs in Hollywood would dry up.

The leggy blonde dancer and actress with an excellent sense of comedic timing began quietly struggling with the debilitating disease in the late 1990s before publicly confirming her diagnosis in 2002.

For much of her career, Garr experienced mild symptoms of the disease chronic diseaseincluding tingling parts, stumbling, fatigue and muscle weakness – but sources said what was eating away at her was the gossip.