Mindy Sterling
Mindy Sterling (born July 11, 1953 in Paterson, New Jersey) is an American actress. Although she had worked in the industry for over 25 years, she only began to truly garner attention after playing Frau Farbissina, the diminutive and domineering Germanic cohort of Dr. Evil (Mike Myers), in 1997's Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and its blockbuster sequels Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002).
Career
The daughter of entertainers (her father was a singer and comedian and her mother a dancer), Sterling got her start in a local theater in Miami, following Shakespearean acting training that began at age 13. After an early 1970s move to Los Angeles to launch her professional career (because the weather was she landed a role on Stu Rosen's syndicated children's program Dusty's Treehouse, 1973), Sterling worked with Rosen before joining the renowned L.A.-based comedy troupe The Groundlings. Here the actress honed her skills with the improv-intensive group, playing alongside future notables like Jon Lovitz and Kathy Griffin. Soon Sterling became a teacher at Groundlings, and among her students were the future stars Keanu Reeves, Lisa Kudrow, and Saturday Night Live regulars Cheri Oteri and Chris Kattan. It was at The Groundlings that she first met up with Myers, when the then SNL member did some guest work with the troupe. Impressed with her abilities, Myers invited Sterling to audition for the first Austin Powers film. Following the summer success of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Sterling appeared in Drop Dead Gorgeous (also 1999). She costarred as Iris Clark, the pageant-running sidekick of Kirstie Alley's former teen queen turned stage mom. Next she donned prosthetics to play one of the townspeople in Ron Howard's live-action adaptation of the Dr. Seuss holiday classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000).
Filmography
- 2007 Played a minor role in Reno 911!: Miami
- 2006 Voiced the female Ox in Ice Age: The Meltdown
- 2002 Co-starred with Mike Myers in Austin Powers in Goldmember
- 2000 Appeared in Ron Howard's live action adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, starring Jim Carrey; Verne Troyer also in the cast
- 1999 Reteamed with Green for the teen horror comedy Idle Hands
- 1999 Reprised role of Frau Farbissina, with a more central and provocative role, in the summer hit sequel Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me; initial collaboration with actor Verne Troyer who played Mini-Me
- 1999 Featured as Kirstie Alley's sidekick and the coordinator of a local teen beauty pageant in Michael Patrick Jann's satire Drop Dead Gorgeous
- 1997 Had featured role as Frau Farbissina, Dr Evil's calculating associate, in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery; also first collaboration with actor Seth Green, who played Dr Evil's son Scott
- 1981 Had a bit part in The Devil and Max Devlin
- 1973 Landed a recurring role on the syndicated children's series Dusty's Treehouse (date approximate)
Personal life
Blonde, with an open smile and a relatively soft-spoken demeanor, she is quite unlike the screeching, sour-faced Farbissina, allowing her to live everyday life virtually unnoticed despite the massive popularity of the Austin Powers films. She has been married to Brian Gadson, they together have one child.
Trivia
- In 1973, Moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career (date approximate)
- 2004, Appeared at the film, EUROTRIP as the confession lady
- 1967, Enrolled by her father in private acting classes, training in Shakespeare at age 13 (date approximate)
- 1956, Moved from Paterson, New Jersey to Miami, Florida at age two (date approximate)
- Since 1984, she has been a member of The Groundlings improv troupe.
- Once did a commercial for TBS during a lineup of James Bond films, where she spoke softly, raising her voice only a bit then laughing politely, in reference to her Austin Powers character. "Only on the SUPER-station!"
- Lent her voice as Countess von Verminstrasser the Delouser in the Invader Zim episode "LICE."