Mindy Lee Sterling (born July 11, 1953) is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress who has amassed multiple

live action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games o ...

and

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

credits across film and television. Her accolades include nominations for two

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

. In film, Sterling played Frau Farbissina in the ''

Austin Powers ''Austin Powers'' is a series of American satirical spy comedy films created by Mike Myers, who stars as the British spy Austin Powers as well as his arch-nemesis, Dr. Evil. The series consists of '' International Man of Mystery'' (1997), ' ...

'' series (1997–2002) and appeared in '' Drop Dead Gorgeous'' (1999), '' How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000), '' All About Nina'' (2018), and '' Bobcat Moretti'' (2023). On television, she played Francine Briggs on the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

series ''

iCarly ''iCarly'' is an American teen sitcom created by Dan Schneider, which originally aired on Nickelodeon from September 8, 2007, to November 23, 2012. The series tells the story of Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove), a teenager who creates and hosts ...

'' (2007–2012), Mitzi Kinsky on the ABC series ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...

'' (2010–2011), Susan Skidmore on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

series '' A.N.T. Farm'' (2011–2013), Bobbie on the

Vimeo Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...

series '' Con Man'' (2015–2017), and Linda Schwartz on the ABC series '' The Goldbergs'' (2017–2023). Sterling provided the voice of Miss Endive on the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

series ''

Chowder Chowder is a thick soup prepared with milk or cream, a roux, and seafood or vegetables. Oyster crackers or saltines may accompany chowders as a side item, and cracker pieces may be dropped atop the dish. Clam chowder from New England ...

'' (2007–2010), Lin Beifong on the Nickelodeon series ''

The Legend of Korra ''The Legend of Korra'' (abbreviated as ''TLOK'' and also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Korra'' or more rarely simply as ''Korra'') is an American animated Fantasy television, fantasy action drama television series created by Michael Dante ...

'' (2012–2014), and Morgana in the Nickelodeon version of ''

Winx Club ''Winx Club'' is an animated television series co-produced by Rainbow S.p.A., Rainbow and, later, Nickelodeon. It was created and directed by Italian animator Iginio Straffi. It premiered on 28January 2004, becoming a ratings success in Ita ...

'' (2012). She has also done voice-over work for '' Alpha and Omega'' (2010), ''

Monsters University ''Monsters University'' is a 2013 American animated Coming-of-age film, coming-of-age comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. A prequel to ''Monsters, Inc.'' (2001), it was directed by Dan Scanlon (in his fea ...

'' (2013), '' Despicable Me 3'' (2017), and '' The Grinch'' (2018).

Early life

Sterling was born into a Jewish family in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Shecky Greene and Sammy Shore, and her mother Florence Adele "Bookie" Sterling (née Pushkin) was a dancer. She has one brother, Mark Sterling. Sterling grew up in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. As a child, she was terribly shy so she took drama in high school to "get out of my insecurity and my shell". She was in several plays throughout high school. She graduated from Miami Norland Senior High School in 1972 and earned a degree in acting at

Miami Dade College Miami Dade College (MDC) is a public university, public college located in Miami, Miami, Florida, United States. Established in 1959, MDC operates eight campuses and numerous outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade Count ...

Career

Around 1973, Sterling landed a recurring role on the syndicated children's series '' Dusty's Treehouse''. She later joined the L.A.-based comedy troupe The Groundlings in the 1980s. From 1990 to 1991, she was one of the comedians in the satirical show ''On the Television''. Despite having starred in numerous films in the 1980s and 1990s, it was her character Frau Farbissina, the diminutive and domineering Germanic cohort of Dr. Evil (

Mike Myers Michael John Myers, (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. His accolades include seven MTV Movie & TV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood W ...

) in '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997), that brought Sterling high praise for her work in films. In 1999, she starred in the sequel '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'', and also appeared in '' Drop Dead Gorgeous''. and later reprised the character Frau Farbissina in ''

Austin Powers in Goldmember ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' is a 2002 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the third and final installment in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and stars Mike Myers in four different roles: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldme ...

'' (2002) for the third and final time. Sterling played one of the townspeople in the 2000 live-action adaptation of '' How the Grinch Stole Christmas'', and also provided additional voices in the 2018 CGI version, '' The Grinch''. Also in 2000, Sterling appeared as a celebrity guest on ''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'', later stylized as ''H2: Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show originally aired as a ...

''; she returned to the show in 2002. Between 2002 and 2004, Sterling made guest appearances on the

Donny Osmond Donald Clark Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host and former teen idol. He gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gold albums. In the ...

version of the game show ''

Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

''. In 2004, she was the casting director on the episode "Joey and the Big Audition" of ''

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

''. In 2005, she played Judge Foodie on the Disney show ''

That's So Raven ''That's So Raven'' is an American television fantasy teen sitcom that was created by Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman, and aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between January 2003 and November 2007. The series centers on Raven Baxter ( ...

'' and a volleyball coach on ''

The Suite Life of Zack & Cody ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' is an American teen sitcom created by Danny Kallis and Jim Geoghan. The series aired on Disney Channel from March 18, 2005, to September 1, 2008. The series was nominated twice for the Primetime Emmy Award for ...

'' in 2006. In 2008, Sterling played

Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor. He made his film debut with a leading role in '' The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakout role as Jason "J.D." Dean, a sociopath ...

's secretary Arlene Scott in the show '' My Own Worst Enemy''. From 2007 to 2010, Sterling voiced Miss Endive, the main antagonist to Mung Daal in ''

''. She voiced the character Lin Beifong, the second Police Chief of Republic City and daughter of original chief Toph Beifong, in ''

''. She also had a recurring voice role as Morgana on the

version of ''

'' in 2012. Her many other voice-over credits include guest roles on ''

The Wild Thornberrys ''The Wild Thornberrys'' is an American animated series, animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, Steve Pepoon, David Silverman, and Stephen Sustarsic for Nickelodeon. The series portrays the zany hijinks of a family o ...

'', ''

Invader Zim ''Invader Zim'' is an American animated science fiction horror comedy television series created by comic book writer and cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the titular character Zim (voiced by Richard Steven Ho ...

'', '' Ice Age: The Meltdown'', '' American Dragon: Jake Long'', '' Higglytown Heroes'', ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animation, adult stop motion, stop-motion animated sketch comedy television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The twelve-minute ...

'', '' Mars Needs Moms'', ''

The Looney Tunes Show ''The Looney Tunes Show'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation, and aired on Cartoon Network for two seasons from May 3, 2011, to November 2, 2013. The series featured characters from the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Me ...

'', ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is an American superhero animated series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation with DC Comics in season 3 and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Universe, and ...

'', '' Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil'' and '' Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated''. Sterling has achieved success in teen sitcoms, playing Ms. Francine Briggs on ''

'', and in '' A.N.T. Farm'' as Principal Susan Skidmore. On April 25, 2013, before the finale of the second season of ''A.N.T. Farm'', Sterling announced she would not be appearing on the show's third season due to family obligations. She announced in June 2012 that she may return in the fourth season, with guest appearances in season three. In 2010, she had a recurring role as bitter neighbour Mitzi Kinsky in ''

''. In 2012, she appeared in a book trailer for a parody of ''The Hunger Games'' entitled '' The Hunger Pains''. In 2013, she starred as Janice Nugent in the comedy series ''

Legit Legit, a slang abbreviation of the word '' legitimate'', may refer to: * Legit (professional wrestling) * ''Legit'' (2006 TV series), a Scottish sitcom * ''Legit'' (2013 TV series), created by comedian Jim Jefferies * Legit.ng, a Nigerian digi ...

''. In 2018, she appeared in Netflix's ''

A Series of Unfortunate Events ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' is a series of thirteen Children's literature, children's novels written by American author Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket. The books follow the turbulent lives of orphaned siblings List of A ...

''. From 2017 to 2023, she appeared on the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' as Linda Schwartz, the mother of Geoff Schwartz. In 2024, Sterling guest starred on the series premiere of '' St. Denis Medical''.

Personal life

Sterling has a son from her previous marriage to Brian Gadson. In 1998, Sterling was diagnosed with breast cancer after a routine

mammogram Mammography (also called mastography; DICOM modality: MG) is the process of using low-energy X-rays (usually around 30 kVp) to examine the human breast for diagnosis and screening. The goal of mammography is the early detection of breast cancer ...

. After a

lumpectomy Lumpectomy (sometimes known as a tylectomy, partial mastectomy, breast segmental resection or breast wide local excision) is a surgical removal of a discrete portion or "lump" of breast tissue, usually in the treatment of a malignant tumor or bre ...

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

, radiation treatment and

tamoxifen Tamoxifen, sold under the brand name Nolvadex among others, is a selective estrogen receptor modulator used to prevent breast cancer in women and men. It is also being studied for other types of cancer. It has been used for Albright syndrome ...

, she has remained cancer-free.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sterling, Mindy 1953 births Living people Actresses from Paterson, New Jersey American film actresses American television actresses American voice actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Jewish American actresses 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews