'Hideous' henchwoman welcomes attention

By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor

Actress Mindy Sterling, who portrays Frau Farbissina in the "Austin Powers" movies, kicks back on Maui. Christie Wilson • The Honolulu Advertiser 5 Questions for Frau Farbissina Q. How did you hook up with Dr. Evil? A. There was a flier on my car advertising for an evil henchwoman, and I called the number. Q. What would people be surprised to learn about you? A. I can do high kicks. Q. If you weren't Dr. Evil's henchwoman, what would you be doing? A. Running a car wash, cleaning very, very expensive cars. And maybe a karaoke place. Q. Do you have any fashion or beauty tips? A. Severe is beautiful. Surprise them. Under your frumpy garments are all sorts of evil surprises. Q. Austin Powers or Dr. Evil? A. Dr. Evil by far. He's crazy and he needs me. Austin Powers is too predict-able; there's no mystery.

Maybe it's the evil henchwoman's latent S&M vibe, but more likely, she said, it's the scatological jokes that attract young fans.

Even in "disguise" as a tourist, casually dressed with short red hair and glasses, several boys approached Sterling for her autograph as she sat in the lobby of the Westin Maui resort, where she's vacationed with her family in recent years.

Sterling, 50, said she doesn't mind the attention.

"I waited a long time for that. Why would I let it go?"

Sterling is a longtime member of The Groundlings, an improvisational comedy troupe in Los Angeles that counts among its alumni several "Saturday Night Live" cast members. Former SNLer Julia Sweeney brought fellow SNL veteran Mike Myers to the group for a guest visit, and a few months later Sterling was lined up for the role of Frau Farbissina in the first "Austin Powers" movie, released in 1997.

Myers co-wrote the film and stars as Austin Powers and his freakish nemesis Dr. Evil.

"Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery," made on a modest $17 million budget, grossed $50 million and became even more popular after its video release. It was followed in 1999 by "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" and last year's "Austin Powers in Goldmember," which had a $70 million-plus opening weekend — a record for a comedy. It ended up grossing well over $200 million.

Sterling, who has had numerous TV roles and appeared in such movies as "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous," said it doesn't bother her knowing she will forever be linked with Frau Farbissina, named after the Yiddish word for sourpuss.

"To me it's very special, it's a blessing. It's something every actor would like to have, something to be identified with long after you're gone — as long as it doesn't trap or stereotype me, since I'm a character actor," she said. "It's opened a lot of doors for me."

The Frau has an austere fashion sense, favoring military-style ensembles and a tightly wrapped hairdo with a spit curl in the middle of her forehead. Aside from a one-night stand with Dr. Evil that resulted in a son named Scott Evil, she is best known for loudly barking out the last syllable of her orders, practically knocking anyone else in the room out of their seats.

"I played it as a hideous German woman would do. I have a loud mouth anyways," Sterling said.

There are rumors of a fourth "Austin Powers" movie, but Sterling said she hasn't been contacted to reprise her role. Any plans for another shagadelic outing are likely top secret.

Sounds like a case for an international man of mystery.