Mindy Sterling

Actress Mindy Sterling remembers what happened when she told her father, comedian Dick Sterling, that she wanted to become a performer. "At the age of 13 my dad decided to get me private acting lessons to do Shakespeare," the Florida-raised Sterling recalls. "He said, 'If you learn Shakespeare, you'll be a great actor.' And I was hideous - when you're 13 years old, Shakespeare is NOT how you want to spend your free time! Needless to say, to this day I hate doing Shakespeare."

But this initial trauma was not enough to keep Sterling from her dream, and her ambition and talent have turned into a promising career as a comic actress. Best remembered for her role as "Frau," one of Dr. Evil's sidekicks in the hilarious blockbuster "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery," and in the sequel "The Spy Who Shagged Me," Sterling was featured in the New Line comedy "Drop Dead Gorgeous," a behind-the-scenes mockumentary about a beauty contest in small-town Minnesota.

The daughter of a nightclub comic and a dancer, Sterling admits that performing has "always been in her blood," and began her career as an amateur appearing in local dinner theater and community theater productions. She chose to move to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career, specifically hoping to hone her comic talents. After working with a number of improvisational groups in Hollywood, she finally hooked up with the seminal group The Groundlings. Nearly fifteen years later, she is still one of the group's most active and popular members.

"I was in the same class with Jon Lovitz and Kathy Griffin," says Sterling, who finds "improv" is one of the more satisfying and challenging forms of performance. "It's very freeing, it's incredibly stimulating because you get to play God with a suggestion that's given to you. You get to create the character, the blocking, the story and develop that one suggestion into something so incredibly terrific - or horrible." Sterling still takes the stage whenever she can.

In addition to the weekly Groundlings Theatre productions, Sterling also became one of the troupe's instructors. Among her prized pupils are "Friends" star Lisa Kudrow and current "Saturday Night Live" cast member Chris Kattan. "Teaching has brought a lot of confidence to my work, and it's such a reward when you see someone doing great stuff. You only hope that you have taught them something and added something to their success."

She has guest-starred on numerous sitcoms, and was a regular on the FX show "Instant Comedy" with the Groundlings, which showcased her improv chops.