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.
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:
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