{"id":6196,"date":"2023-12-05T04:48:59","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T03:48:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/?p=6196"},"modified":"2023-12-05T04:48:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T03:48:59","slug":"zach-galifianakis-paid-old-homeless-womans-rent-for-years-spent-time-with-her-as-she-had-no-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/?p=6196","title":{"rendered":"Zach Galifianakis Paid Old Homeless Woman\u2019s Rent for Years &#038; Spent Time with Her as She Had No Family"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Zach Galifianakis has become a household name and one of the most beloved comedians in Hollywood. However, he had much humbler beginnings and lived a much different life to the one he currently does. Still, one woman has been a constant in his world.<\/p>\n<p>Galifianakis moved to LA when he was beginning his career in comedy. He had plans to be a star, but as with all other stars, he had to start small and work his way up to his big break. The comedian did this by working odd jobs and doing stand-up gigs.<\/p>\n<p>The gigs he frequented were in the back of burger joints where he could show off his talent before landing any significant roles, such as that of Alan, his character in the \u201cThe Hangover\u201d franchise. While meeting Hollywood directors was important, Galifianakis made other important friends along the way.While his gigs changed his life for the better, the woman that kept him company during those years was someone he met in the most unlikely place. It turned out that the pair would become a formidable team in years to come.<\/p>\n<p>Meeting Mimi<br \/>\nIt was 1994 when Galifianakis met a woman that would significantly impact his life in the years to come. When she met Galifianakis, Marie \u201cMimi\u201d Haist was volunteering in a laundromat, surviving off tips left by customers.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FQueenMimiFilm%2Fphotos%2Fa.184986608271305%2F1150622898374333%2F%3Ftype%3D3&#038;show_text=true&#038;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"589\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The \u201cThe Hangover\u201d star frequented Fox Laundry \u2014 where Haist was volunteering \u2014 because he lived right around the corner from the laundromat. While their first meeting was over 20 years ago, the pair maintained a strong bond.<\/p>\n<p>Although Haist had been married earlier in her life, when she met Galifianakis, she had been alone for quite some time. After she got divorced, she lived on the streets and began looking for a place to work or sleep. She found both of those things in one place.Haist began working at the laundromat, where her boss allowed her to live for almost 20 years. Haist revealed that she would sleep between the washing and drying machines so customers couldn\u2019t see her.<\/p>\n<p>After Haist and Galifianakis met and struck up a friendship, Galifianakis found out that Haist was living at the laundromat and told her that he would find her a place to live comfortably. Although Galifianakis was not yet successful, he found and paid for an apartment for Haist.Later, Galifianakis introduced Haist to Rene\u00e9 Zellwegger, who helped Haist furnish her apartment. While Haist was unaware of who Galifianakis was, she immediately recognized Zellwegger and was excited to meet her.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Queen Mimi Official Trailer 1 (2016) - Documentary HD\" width=\"820\" height=\"461\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yi5AbNE630E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While Galifianakis has made an impact on Haist\u2019s life, she had somebody else to thank as well. Haist extended her gratitude toward Zellwegger and Galifianakis for all they had done by saying:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI really appreciate Zach and Ren\u00e9e for [everything they\u2019ve done], I have a place to live now and my own bed. I now get my social security, so it helps me pay [for food] and my phone bill.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Red Carpet Treatment<br \/>\nMeeting Haist impacted Galifianakis, but Haist\u2019s life was forever changed after she met the budding star. By the time Galifianakis had his breakthrough role in \u201cThe Hangover\u201d in 2009, the pair had built a strong bond.This bond brought new opportunities for Haist to experience the finer things in life. Whenever Galifianakis had a film premiere or other Hollywood events that he didn\u2019t have anyone to take to, he would ask Haist to be his date.<\/p>\n<p>Even though Galifianakis has been in the public eye for such a long time, he still has not become used to Hollywood events, but says Haist handles them well. Galifianakis said that he enjoyed taking Haist on the red carpet, sharing:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI like to see her in that atmosphere. Somehow she fits in in a very strange way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FQueenMimiFilm%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02hbqPzQngqfbUn3R5ULotNwo46XWCwCW2nrvx3zfQPZP2DjGsYj6gxsZZCBvKdsfZl&#038;show_text=true&#038;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"466\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Haist explained her thoughts on the red carpet treatment she has experienced since meeting Galifianakis, saying, \u201cIf he\u2019s in town, he takes me \u2026 I dress up nice, and a friend helps me with my makeup. It\u2019s fun, not something I\u2019ve ever dreamed I\u2019d experience. The limo takes me home afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While it is fun for Haist to be at the events, she is not the only one who is happy to be there. Galifianakis said that although he doesn\u2019t enjoy red carpets, Haist makes it better, saying that he feels better when Haist is with him on the red carpet.Being in the glow of Galifianakis\u2019 spotlight cast some of the glow onto Haist as well. In 2016, a documentary was made about Haist called \u201cQueen Mimi.\u201d Yaniv Rokah, director of the documentary, said that he was intrigued by Haist\u2019s story and wanted to make a movie about it.He spoke about the process of meeting Haist and deciding to find out what her life was about by saying:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to know who is she, why is she there, what is the story?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Once the film premiered, Haist became recognizable to the customers in the laundromat, who told her that she was a star. However, Haist went about her business as usual, with only a few breaks from the ordinary when she was on the red carpet with Galifianakis.Even after becoming a well-known name in and around Hollywood, she still cleaned the dryers at the laundromat because she believed that nobody else could do the job as well as she could.<\/p>\n<p>Despite having a difficult life, Haist never considered herself to be homeless. She said that she never allowed herself to become mixed up with the wrong crowd and didn\u2019t allow herself to become depressed about anything.<\/p>\n<p>Haist revealed that when her friends came to see her, they would tell her that she was famous, although she did not think this was the case and she was just living her life. Unfortunately, Haist passed away in late 2021, but her memory lives on in her documentary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zach Galifianakis has become a household name and one of the most beloved comedians in Hollywood. However, he had much humbler beginnings and lived a much different life to the one he currently does. Still, one woman has been a constant in his world. Galifianakis moved to LA when he was beginning his career in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6196"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6197,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6196\/revisions\/6197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}