Nancy Paine Stoll (born August 25, 1947), known professionally as Mink Stole, is an American actress from

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. She began her career working for director

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his Cinema of Transgression, transgressive cult films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), ''Pink Flamin ...

, and has appeared in all of his feature films to date (a distinction shared only with

Mary Vivian Pearce Mary Vivian Pearce (born November 9, 1947) is an American actress. She has worked primarily in the films of John Waters. Life and career Pearce is a childhood best friend of Waters and has appeared as an actress in all of his films. Because o ...

). Her extensive work with Waters has made her one of the

Dreamlanders Dreamlanders are the cast and crew of regulars whom John Waters has used in his films. The term comes from the name of Waters' production company, Dreamland Productions. Many of the original Dreamlanders were friends of Waters from his native Bal ...

, Waters'

ensemble Ensemble may refer to: Art * Architectural ensemble * ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album * Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary * Ensemble cast (drama, comedy) * Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the chorus * ''En ...

of regular cast and crew members.

Biography

She was born into a large Roman Catholic family, and has nine siblings, including children's-book author Ellen Stoll Walsh and sculptor George Stoll. Her father, Joseph A. Stoll, died in 1955, and her mother, Nell, remarried twice, resulting in an extensive step-family. Stole has performed in most of the films by close friend

. Her film career began as a party guest in Waters' film '' Roman Candles''. Since then, she has appeared in all of his feature films up to and including 2004's ''

A Dirty Shame ''A Dirty Shame'' is a 2004 American satirical sex comedy film written and directed by John Waters and starring Tracey Ullman, Johnny Knoxville, Selma Blair, Chris Isaak, Suzanne Shepherd and Mink Stole. ''A Dirty Shame'' is currently the last ...

''. The only Waters films in which she does not appear are the early short films '' Hag in a Black Leather Jacket'', ''

Eat Your Makeup ''Eat Your Makeup'' is a 1968 short film directed by John Waters, starring Marina Melin, Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary, Howard Gruber, and Maelcum Soul. It was John Waters' first film production to be shot on 16mm film; his prior f ...

'', and ''

The Diane Linkletter Story ''The Diane Linkletter Story'' is a 1970 16mm short film by American filmmaker John Waters starring Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, and David Lochary. Overview This improvised film is based on the 1969 suicide of TV personality Art Linkletter's daug ...

''. She has appeared in a number of films and television shows, and wrote a column for the ''

Baltimore City Paper ''Baltimore City Paper'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland, founded in 1977 by Russ Smith and Alan Hirsch. The most recent owner was the Baltimore Sun Media Group, which purchased the paper in 2014 from Ti ...

'' titled "Think Mink" until mid-April 2006. She is the lead singer of Mink Stole and Her Wonderful Band, of which musicians

Kristian Hoffman Kristian Hoffman is an American musician. Biography and career Kristian Hoffman came into public consciousness as the best friend of Lance Loud in the PBS series ''An American Family.'' His sister is the writer Nina Kiriki Hoffman. During the ...

, George Baby Woods, and Brian Grillo have been members. The Baltimore incarnation of Mink Stole and Her Wonderful Band (2009–present) includes Scott Wallace Brown (piano, organ), Walker Teret (upright bass, guitar), Skizz Cyzyk (drums), and John Irvine (trumpet). In 1999, Stole appeared in the satirical lesbian film '' But I'm A Cheerleader'' alongside

Natasha Lyonne Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein ( ; born April 4, 1979) is an American actress, director, writer, and producer. She is known for playing Nicky Nichols on the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she r ...

in the role of Megan's mother. In April 2009, Stole connected with cult director

Steve Balderson Stephen Clark Balderson (born January 19, 1975) is an American film director. Early life Balderson was born in Manhattan, Kansas and raised in nearby Wamego, Kansas until the age of twelve, when his family moved to Manhattan. Balderson attended ...

for '' Stuck!'', an homage to film noir women in prison dramas. Co-starring

Karen Black Karen Blanche Black (née Ziegler; July 1, 1939 – August 8, 2013) was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence for her work in various studio and independent films in the 1970s, frequently portrayi ...

Pleasant Gehman Pleasant Gehman is an American author, writer, poet, actress, dancer and musician from Los Angeles. Career In the 1980s, she was the singer for the punk rock band Screamin' Sirens. Her articles on rock 'n' roll, American pop culture, sex, ...

and

Jane Wiedlin Jane Marie Genevieve Wiedlin (born May 20, 1958) is an American musician and singer, best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of the new wave music, new wave band The The Go-Go's, Go-Go's. She has also had a successful ...

, ''Stuck!'' was filmed in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

. Stole played Esther, a religious inmate sentenced to death. She once again co-starred with Natasha Lyonne in

Joshua Grannell Peaches Christ (stage name for Joshua Grannell) is an American underground drag performer, emcee, filmmaker, and actor. Peaches currently resides in San Francisco where her Backlash Production Company and Midnight Mass movie series are based. Gra ...

's ''All About Evil''. Mink Stole Midnight Mass

She received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Boston Underground Film Festival in Cambridge following the East Coast Premiere of ''Stuck!'' on March 27, 2010. In 2011 she successfully completed a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

fundraising project to finance her first CD, titled ''Do Re MiNK''. The CD was released on May 23, 2013.

Personal life

Mink Stole lives in Baltimore, and also has a second home in the Los Angeles area. She performs weddings as an ordained minister of the

Universal Life Church The Universal Life Church (ULC) is a non-denominational religious organization founded in 1962 by Kirby J. Hensley,James R. Lewis, The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions' (2001), p. 769-70.U.S. Department of the Army, ''Religious R ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* *
The Evening Class: Mink Stole
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stole, Mink American film actresses American television actresses American women singers Living people Actresses from Baltimore Musicians from Baltimore Singers from Maryland Former Roman Catholics Universal Life Church 1947 births 21st-century American women