Mindy Sterling

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Mindy Sterling
Born	July 11, 1953 (1953-07-11) (age 54) Paterson, New Jersey
Years active	1973 – present

Mindy Lee Sterling (born July 11, 1953) is an American actress. Although she had worked in 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 the Austin Powers series of comedy films.

1 Biography
- 1.1 Career
- 1.2 Personal life
2 Filmography
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Career

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). She has appeared on iCarly as Francine Briggs.

[edit] Personal life

Sterling was born in Paterson, New Jersey and raised in Miami, Florida, the daughter of Dick Sterling, a stand-up comedian and singer. Her mother was a dancer.^[1] 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.

[edit] Filmography

2008 plays a patient on Scrubs
2007 Voices Ms. Endive on the Cartoon Network show, Chowder
2007 Plays the role of Ms. Briggs on iCarly
2007 Plays Nolan's principal, Dr. Voss in Shredderman Rules
2007 Played a minor role in Reno 911!: Miami
2006 Voiced Pix McGee and later Eli Pandarus' assistant Mrs. Grumplestock on American Dragon Jake Long
2006 Played a Nun volleyball coach at Maddie's School in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (Episode 50: Volley Dad)
2006 Voiced the female Ox in Ice Age: The Meltdown
2005 Played Judge Foodie in That's So Raven (Episode 72:Food for Thought)
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 was 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