Zach Galifianakis took his formerly homeless friend Mimi to "The Hangover III" premiere. YouTube/PopCandiesTV When Zach Galifianakis was just a struggling actor/comedian twenty years ago in Los Angeles, he made an unlikely friend at a laundromat.
Now-87-year-old Elizabeth "Mimi" Haist volunteered — and lived — at Fox Laundry in Santa Monica, surviving off tips from customers for 18 years.
One of those customers was Galifianakis, who, after the success of the original "Hangover" in 2009 stopped visiting the laundromat regularly, but always checked in on his old friend Mimi.
When the 43-year-old actor learned that Mimi had become homeless, he found her a one-bed, one-bath apartment in Santa Monica and started paying for her rent and utilities. Mimi worked and slept in a Santa Monica laundromat before Galifianakis bought her an apartment nearby. Kickstarter/QueenMimi Galifianakis' actress-friend Renee Zellweger helped Mimi decorate the apartment and often brings her groceries to make sure the elderly woman always has food in her fridge.
But Galifianakis does more than just foot Mimi's bills, he often takes her to his film premieres.
On Tuesday, the actor escorted his 87-year-old friend down the red carpet at "The Hangover III" premiere.
"If he's in town, he takes me," Mimi told the NY Daily News. "Otherwise he lets me take a friend. I dress up nice and a friend helps me with my makeup. It's fun, not something I've ever dreamed I'd experience. The limo takes me home afterwards."
Mimi has become so popular, in fact, that filmmaker Yaniv Rokah has started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a documentary about the former laundromat tenant.
The campaign has a goal of $18,000 but has already raised nearly $25,000.
Get to know Mimi by watching the documentary trailer below:
Cowpulp on June 7th, 2018 at 00:40 UTC »
He owns a place in NC where I used to live. One day I saw him in the grocery store shopping and he was just piddling around like the rest of us. He’s a super down to earth dude. My teacher in middle school had a house down the road, she said he came over one day and introduced himself to her and her husband, later that night they had a little bbq at Zach’s farm. Apparently he spends a lot of time on his farm when he’s not busy with filming.
braxistExtremist on June 6th, 2018 at 23:24 UTC »
This is a very cool story. I noticed the article is from 2013, so I started digging around to see what's been happening with her.
A documentary - Queen Mimi - was made about her in 2015.
And it seems Mimi was still alive and kicking in May of 2017.
Edit: it is awesome that Galifianakis, Renee Zellweger, and Yaniv Rokah (the guy behind the documentary) still take such good care of this vibrant elderly lady.
TooShiftyForYou on June 6th, 2018 at 23:22 UTC »
On Tuesday, the actor escorted his 87-year-old friend down the red carpet at "The Hangover III" premiere.
"If he's in town, he takes me," Mimi told the NY Daily News. "Otherwise he lets me take a friend. I dress up nice and a friend helps me with my makeup. It's fun, not something I've ever dreamed I'd experience. The limo takes me home afterwards."
Such a kind gesture by Mr. Galifianakis. They also made a documentary about Queen Mimi.