Mimsy Farmer

{{Infobox person

| name = Mimsy Farmer

| image = Mimsy Farmer 1975.jpg

| caption = Farmer in 1975

| birth_name = Merle Farmer

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|02|28}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

| occupation = Actress, sculptor

| spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage|Vincenzo Cerami|1970|1986|end=divorced}}{{Citation needed |date=April 2022}}
{{marriage|Francis Poirier
|1989}}{{Cite web |title=The Strange Case of Mimsy Farmer|url=https://www.austinfilm.org/2017/02/the-strange-case-of-mimsy-farmer/|date=April 21, 2024|access-date=September 29, 2024 |website=Austin Film Society}}

}}

| children = 1{{Citation needed |date=April 2022}}

| website = {{url|http://www.mimsyfarmer.com/}}

| yearsactive = 1961–1991

}}

Merle "Mimsy" Farmer (born February 28, 1945){{cite book|title=Cinema: Year by Year, 1894-2000|last1=Karney|first1=Robin|last2=Lucas|first2=Sharon|year=2000|page=348|edition=3rd|isbn= 978-0-789-46118-6|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|location=London}} is an American former actress, artist and sculptor. She began her career appearing in several Hollywood studio films, such as Spencer's Mountain (1963) and Bus Riley's Back in Town (1965), followed by roles in the exploitation films Devil's Angels and Riot on Sunset Strip (both 1967).

Farmer went on to establish herself as an international performer, starring in numerous European films, including the dramas More (1969) and Strogoff (1970), as well as multiple Italian giallo films: Dario Argento's Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971), The Perfume of the Lady in Black (1974), Autopsy (1975), and Lucio Fulci's The Black Cat (1981).

Early years

Farmer was born Merle Farmer on February 28, 1945, in Chicago, Illinois. Her father was a news reporter for the Chicago Tribune and a writer for radio.{{cite news|last1=Thomas|first1=Bob|title=Mimsy Farmer Starts Thomas To Wondering|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8550576/corsicana_daily_sun/|work=Corsicana Daily Sun|agency=Associated Press|date=August 17, 1962|page=3|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = January 24, 2017}} Her mother was French. Her nickname, which she later took as her stage name, is derived from a line in Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky: "All mimsy were the borogoves".Warner Bros. Publicity quoted in Reid, John CinemaScope One: Stupendous in 'Scope (p. 75), 2004.

When she was four years old, her family relocated to Los Angeles, California, where she was raised.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114388881/|work=New York Daily News|title=Meet Mimsy Farmer|page=625|date=July 7, 1963|via=Newspapers.com|last=McCarthy|first=Marilou}} Farmer graduated from Hollywood High School in 1962.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114388847/|date=August 5, 1962|page=27|title=Mimsy Farmer Has Come a Long Way|work=Muskogee Daily Phoenix and Times-Democrat|agency=United Press International|via=Newspapers.com}} Her early experience as an entertainer came in her role of handling rabbits for a magician who performed at children's birthday parties.{{cite news|title=Mimsy Farmer Has First Role in a Picture|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8550319/kingsport_news/|work=Kingsport News|agency=United Press International|date=August 3, 1962|location=Tennessee, Kingsport|page=6|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = January 24, 2017}} As a teenager, Farmer also worked as a concession cashier and theater usherette at the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles.{{cite news|date=April 16, 1966|page=9|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114388925/|title=Mimsy Farmer Begins Comeback at 20|via=Newspapers.com|work=Oroville Mercury-Register}}

Acting career

File:Quattro mosche di velluto grigio (1971) Mimsy Farmer 02.jpg (1971)]]

File:Mimsy Farmer 1974.png (1974)]]

In 1962 and 1963, respectively, Farmer guest-starred as Laurie in "The Swingin' Set" and as Joanne Wells in "Boys and Girls" on the sitcom The Donna Reed Show.

She made two guest appearances on Perry Mason in 1964, including the role of defendant Kathy Anders in "The Case of the Tragic Trophy" and as Sande Lukins in "The Case of the Careless Kidnapper". She appeared on My Three Sons, Honey West, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Outer Limits (March 2, 1964, episode "Second Chance") and The F.B.I.

In 1966, she appeared as Lorrie Thatcher in the episode "The Calico Kid" and as Antonia in the episode "A Prince of a Ranger" on Laredo.

In 1963, she played a supporting role in Spencer's Mountain. During her film career in the United States, she mostly portrayed party-girl types in films such as Hot Rods to Hell (1967), Riot on Sunset Strip (1967), and The Wild Racers (1968). In the late 1960s, she moved to Italy.[http://www.lostinthegrooves.com/node/3165 "Mimsy Farmer, Danger Girl"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421212535/http://www.lostinthegrooves.com/node/3165 |date=2010-04-21 }}, lostinthegrooves.com; accessed June 13, 2017.

File:Corpo d'amore (1972) - 1.jpg

Farmer's breakthrough came in Europe when she played a starring role in More (1969), a drama about drug addiction. In 1971, Farmer won a special David di Donatello film award for acting for her performance in The Road to Salina (1970). In Italy, she appeared in several Italian gialli and horror films such as Four Flies on Grey Velvet by Dario Argento, The Black Cat by Lucio Fulci and The Perfume of the Lady in Black by Francesco Barilli.[http://mondoholocausto.blogspot.com Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)], mondoholocausto.blogspot.com; accessed June 13, 2017.[http://mooninthegutter.blogspot.com/2008/07/triburte-to-mimsy-farmer-in-argentos.html Moon in the Gutter: A Tribute to Mimsy Farmer in Argento's Four Flies on Grey Velvet (July 2008)], mooninthegutter.blogspot.com; accessed June 13, 2017. In France, she was Alain Delon's co-star in Two Men in Town (1973) and played starring roles in crime dramas The Suspects (1974) and The Track (1975).

Artwork

Since 1992, she has worked as a sculptor for theatre and opera in France and Italy, and for films such as Oceans, Troy, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Marie Antoinette, Five Children and It, The Golden Compass, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Wrath of the Titans, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Beauty and the Beast.{{Cite news |date=2018-08-15 |title=Mimsy Farmer, changement de décor |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/series-d-ete-2018-long-format/article/2018/08/15/mimsy-farmer-changement-de-decor_5342519_5325928.html |access-date=2025-05-21 |language=fr}}

She also creates personal sculptures and paintings.

Personal life

Farmer was married to screenwriter Vincenzo Cerami from 1970 to 1986. They had a daughter, actress Aisha Cerami. She later remarried to set designer Francis Poirier.

Filmography

= Film =

class="wikitable"

! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year

! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Title

! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role

! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes

1961

|Gidget Goes Hawaiian

|Girl in Lobby

|Uncredited

1963

|Spencer's Mountain

|Claris Coleman

1965

|Bus Riley's Back in Town

|Paula

rowspan="3" |1967

|Hot Rods to Hell

|Gloria

Riot on Sunset Strip

|Andrea Dollier

Devil's Angels

|Marianne

1968

|The Wild Racers

|Katherine Pearson

1969

|More

|Estelle

rowspan="2" |1970

|Strogoff

|Nadia

Road to Salina

|Billie

1971

|Four Flies on Grey Velvet

|Nina Tobias

rowspan="2" |1972

|The Master and Margaret

|Margarita

Corpo d'amore

|The Woman

rowspan="4" |1973

|La vita in gioco

|Anna

One Way

|Milena

Two Men in Town

|Lucie

Les mille et une mains

|Nadine

rowspan="3" |1974

|The Perfume of the Lady in Black

|Silvia Hacherman

Allonsanfàn

|Francesca

The Suspects

|Candice Strasberg

rowspan="2" |1975

|Autopsy

|Simona Sana

The Track

|Helen Wells

1977

|Antonio Gramsci: The Days of Prison

|Giulia

rowspan="2" |1978

|L'amant de poche

|Helen Miller

Bye Bye Monkey

|Feminist Actress

1979

|The Concorde Affair

|Jean Beneyton

rowspan="2" |1980

|Operation Leopard

|Annie Devrindt

Même les mômes ont du vague à l'âme

|Charlotte

1981

|The Black Cat

|Jill Travers

1982

|The Girl from Trieste

|Valeria

rowspan="3" |1983

|Quartetto Basileus

|Miss Permamint

The Death of Mario Ricci

|Cathy Burns

Un foro nel parabrezza

|Daniza

rowspan="2" |1984

|The World of Don Camillo

|Jo Magro

Code Name: Wild Geese

|Kathy Robson

rowspan="3" |1986

|La ragazza dei lillà

|Leonora

Body Count

|Julia Ritchie

Evil Senses

|Nicol

1987

|Poisons

|Anne

1988

|Il segreto dell'uomo solitario

= Television =

class="wikitable"

! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year

! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Title

! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role

! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes

1962

|My Three Sons

|Janee Holmes

|Episode: "Steve gets an "A""

rowspan="2" |1964

| rowspan="2" |Perry Mason

|Sande Lukins

|Episode: "The Case of the Careless Kidnapper"

Kathy Anders

|Episode: "The Case of the Tragic Trophy"

1989

|Ceux de la soif

|Comtesse Von Kleber

| rowspan="2" |TV movie

1991

|Safari

|Ingrid

Awards and nominations

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="width:75%;"
scope="col" style="width:30%;" \| Award ! scope="col" style="width:4%;" \| Year ! scope="col" style="width:10%;" \| Category ! scope="col" style="width:10%;" \| Work ! scope="col" style="width:6%;" \| Result ! scope="col" style="width:6%;" \| {{Abbr\|Ref.\|Reference(s)}}
Laurel Awards \| align="center" \| 1963 \| Top Female New Personality \| {{N/A}} \| {{partial\|6th place}} \| align="center" \|
David di Donatello \| align="center" \| 1971 \| Special David \|Road to Salina \| {{Won}} \| align="center" \|

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="width:75%;"

scope="col" style="width:30%;" | Award

! scope="col" style="width:4%;" | Year

! scope="col" style="width:10%;" | Category

! scope="col" style="width:10%;" | Work

! scope="col" style="width:6%;" | Result

! scope="col" style="width:6%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}}

Laurel Awards

| align="center" | 1963

| Top Female New Personality

| {{N/A}}

| {{partial|6th place}}