Frau Farbissina | |
---|---|
Austin Powers character | |
First appearance | Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) |
Last appearance | Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) |
Created by | Mike Myers |
Portrayed by | Mindy Sterling |
In-universe information | |
Gender | Female |
Occupation | Attack and defense specialist, Founder of the militant wing of The Salvation Army, Henchwoman |
Significant others | Dr. Evil Una Brau |
Children | Scott Evil |
Nationality | German |
Frau Greta Farbissina is a fictional character played by Mindy Sterling in the Austin Powers film series. [1] [2] Farbissina is a German attack and defense specialist and the founder of "the militant wing of the Salvation Army". She is also Dr. Evil's henchwoman and tries to help in his schemes to terrorize and take over the world. She has a heavy German accent and is well known for a running gag in which she shouts her orders needlessly loud and screeching, often startling Dr. Evil. For her performances, Sterling was nominated for Favorite Supporting Actress in a Comedy at the BMI Film & TV Awards. [3]
Frau Farbissina's look and demeanour are parodies of several female villains from early James Bond films, namely From Russia with Love 's Rosa Klebb (played by Lotte Lenya), On Her Majesty's Secret Service 's Irma Bunt (played by Ilse Steppat), and particularly the character of Frau Hoffner (played by Anna Quayle) in the 1967 Bond spoof Casino Royale . [4] In Mike Myers' book Canada, he states that Frau Farbissina was a mixture of Rosa Klebb and Lotta Hitschmanova, who appeared in commercials for the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada on late-night television. [5]
Farbissina asserts that she would eventually like to get out of the criminal mastermind business and open a boarding school for girls. This is another reference to Quayle's "Frau Hoffner" role in Casino Royale in which Hoffner heads an international spy school in East Berlin known as the "Mata Hari School of Dancing", where she boards and trains young women to be agents for both sides of the Cold War.[ citation needed ]
Her surname derives from the Yiddish word פאַרביסןfarbissen (verbissen in German), meaning "embittered"; a farbissiner is an angry, bitter, vocal (male) person, while farbissina is the corresponding female form. [ citation needed ]
She has a heavy German accent; in the German dubbed versions of the films, she speaks with an Upper Saxon dialect, suggesting coming from East Germany. In Comedy Central's Canned Ham: The Doctor Evil Story, a half-hour-long preview special of The Spy Who Shagged Me, Dr. Evil states that he met Farbissina "at gymnasia in Baden-Baden at a street corner next to the McDonald's." [6]
Out of all his henchmen and assistants, Farbissina is perhaps closest to Dr. Evil. In praising Dr. Evil, Farbissina commented, "Dr. Evil is a man of great intelligence - able to step on a bug and say 'too bad!'" [7]
When the first Austin Powers movie made its Network television premiere on TBS Superstation in June 2000, Sterling appeared in character as Frau during the bumpers going into and leading out of commercial breaks where she told trivia about the movie and also presented many deleted scenes from the film.[ citation needed ]
Farbissina participates in helping Dr. Evil hijack a nuclear warhead and hold the world hostage. It is revealed that Farbissina used a sample of Evil's semen just a couple of years after Dr. Evil's cryostasis to artificially create his son, Scott Evil (played by Seth Green), now a Generation X young adult. Scott is resentful of his father, but close to Farbissina, the only one who cares about his wellbeing. In the first film, Dr. Evil is about to press a button that would kill Scott for his insolence by burning him alive, but Farbissina swats his hand away, then winks at Scott. [8]
The second film jumps from the 1990s to the 1960s due to time travel. Inexplicably, Frau Farbissina looks exactly the same in the 1960s as she did in the 1990s, which was used for comedic effect in the film.
In the present, she states that she is homosexual and is in a relationship with Una Brau, a woman she met on a LPGA tour. However, when Dr. Evil goes back in time, after imbibing some of Austin Powers' mojo, he has sex with Frau. This leads to an uncomfortable morning-after encounter (even though Dr. Evil told her things wouldn't "get weird") and Farbissina swearing she will never love another man. It is also revealed that Scott was not the result of artificial creation from Dr. Evil's frozen sperm, but rather was naturally conceived as a result of the sexual encounter. In the closing credits, Farbissina and Scott Evil go on The Jerry Springer Show , in which she reveals herself to be Scott's mother and that Scott wasn't artificially created. She also reveals she never told him because she didn't want him to be hurt; he forgives her and they embrace. [9]
Frau Farbissina is still helping Dr. Evil with his evil schemes. Farbissina and Dr. Evil also kiss while he is in prison; although the two enjoy it (despite her having been established as a lesbian in the previous movie), the purpose was to transfer a key to Dr. Evil so that he could escape. Once her son Scott begins to become evil, she shows that she is very proud.
Sir Austin Danger Powers is a fictional character from the Austin Powers series of films, and is created and portrayed by Mike Myers. He is the protagonist of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002).
Michael John Myers 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 Walk of Fame. In 2017, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada for "his extensive and acclaimed body of comedic work as an actor, writer, and producer."
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, Goldmember, and Fat Bastard. Myers and Michael McCullers co-wrote the screenplay, which also features Beyoncé Knowles in her theatrical film debut, as well as Seth Green, Michael York, Robert Wagner, Mindy Sterling, Verne Troyer, and Michael Caine.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is a 1997 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the first installment in the Austin Powers series. It stars franchise co-producer and writer Mike Myers, playing the roles of Austin Powers and his arch enemy Dr. Evil. Supporting roles are played by Elizabeth Hurley, Robert Wagner, Seth Green, and Michael York. The film is a parody of the James Bond films and other popular culture from the 1960s, centering on a flamboyant, promiscuous secret agent and a criminal mastermind arch-nemesis, who go into and come out of cryostasis at the same time as each other as their conflict spans decades.
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is a 1999 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the second installment in the Austin Powers film series, after International Man of Mystery. It stars franchise co-producer and writer Mike Myers as Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, and Fat Bastard. The film also stars Heather Graham, Michael York, Robert Wagner, Seth Green, Mindy Sterling, Rob Lowe, and Elizabeth Hurley. The film's title is a play on the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). The film centers on Dr. Evil returning again from cryostasis to strike at Powers from the past, using a time machine to remove Powers's charisma ("mojo") and deprive him of whatever qualities made him an effective secret agent so he can no longer interfere with Evil's plans.
Mini-Me is a fictional character from the Austin Powers film franchise, portrayed by Verne Troyer. He debuts in the second film in the trilogy, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, and appears again in the third film, Austin Powers in Goldmember.
Colonel Rosa Klebb is a fictional character, the main antagonist in the James Bond 1957 novel and 1963 film From Russia with Love, in which she is played by Lotte Lenya. She was a Soviet counter-intelligence operative until being discharged and joining SPECTRE.
George Stanley Clinton, Jr. is an American composer, songwriter, arranger, and session musician.
Anne Veronica Maria Quayle, known professionally as Anna Quayle, was an English actress. In 1963, she received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in the original production of Stop the World – I Want to Get Off (1961).
Ming Tea is a faux retro-mod band consisting of Mike Myers, Susanna Hoffs, Matthew Sweet, Stuart Johnson, and Christopher Ward. The band was formed by Myers after he appeared on Saturday Night Live in the 1990s, and appeared in the Austin Powers film series, with the members performing under pseudonyms.
Mindy Lee Sterling is an American television, film and voice actress. She portrayed Frau Farbissina in the Austin Powers film series and starred in the web series Con Man, the latter of which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. She has had recurring roles as Miss Francine Briggs on the Nickelodeon series iCarly, Principal Susan Skidmore on the Disney Channel series A.N.T. Farm, and Linda Schwartz on the ABC series The Goldbergs.
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), The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Goldmember (2002), all of which were directed by Jay Roach, and co-produced and released by New Line Cinema.
Fat Bastard is a fictional character appearing in the second and third films of the Austin Powers series: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember. A morbidly obese henchman hailing from Clydebank, Scotland, Fat Bastard serves Dr. Evil in his quest to destroy Austin Powers. The character is portrayed by Mike Myers.
The Love Guru is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Marco Schnabel in his directorial debut, written and produced by Mike Myers, and starring Myers, Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake, Romany Malco, Meagan Good, Verne Troyer, John Oliver, Omid Djalili, and Ben Kingsley. The film was a financial failure, grossing $40 million on a budget of $62 million, and was panned by both critics and audiences. It also won 3 Razzie Awards including Worst Picture, and effectively derailed Myers' career.
Gudo Hoegel is a German actor who specializes in dubbing.
Suzanne Todd is an American film and television producer, and the owner of the film production company Team Todd.
Douglas “Dougie” Powers, commonly known as Dr. Evil, is a fictional character portrayed by Mike Myers in the Austin Powers film series. He is the main antagonist and Austin Powers' nemesis. He is a parody of James Bond villains, primarily Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Dr. Evil routinely hatches schemes to terrorize and take over the world, and is usually accompanied by "Number Two", his second-in-command who fronts his evil corporation Virtucon Industries, his personal assistant Frau Farbissina, and his sidekick Mini-Me, a dwarf clone of himself.
Richard Horatio Kavanian is a German actor, comedian, author and voice actor. He is famous for his cooperation with Michael Herbig, which led to many popular movie comedies and parodies, e.g. Manitou's Shoe.