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Zach Galifianakis is a man of many surprises, and the latest twist to his winding tale is that in addition to being hilarious and having done stand-up with Ken Jeong in the 90s, he's a big softie at heart.
According to the New York Daily News, after Galifianakis made it big, he found out that a woman who used to volunteer at his laundromat in L.A. had fallen into homelessness -- so he put her up in an apartment, and still pays her rent and bills to this day.
The woman is 87-year-old Elizabeth “Mimi” Haist:
Haist first met Galifianakis in 1994, when the then-unknown comic was a newcomer to Los Angeles trying to get his big break. He moved into an apartment around the corner and was soon a regular visitor to Fox Laundry, where she volunteered — surviving off tips from customers... Two years ago, the funnyman discovered that Haist — who was married earlier in life but has been on her own for the past 30 years — was homeless. He swooped in and found her a one-bed, one-bath apartment and started covering her rent and utilities.
[Haist] is the subject of a film being made by Israeli actor and director Yaniv Rokah. Now entering post-production thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, “Queen Mimi” tells the story of how this feisty octogenarian, who was once a San Fernando Valley housewife, ended up living on the streets of Los Angeles for almost a decade before taking up permanent residence at Fox Laundry 18 years ago.
Fox Laundry is located in Santa Monica.
According to the Daily News, Galifianakis will bring Haist to the premiere of "Hangover Part III" as his date.
