{{short description|American vandweller}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Charlene Swankie | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = | image_upright = | landscape = | alt = | caption = | pronunciation = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|77|2022|3|23}} | birth_place = | baptised = | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | body_discovered = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | burial_place = | burial_coordinates = | monuments = | other_names = Swankie | siglum = | citizenship = United States | education = | alma_mater = {{flatlist| *[[Indiana University]] *[[Ball State University]] }} | occupation = | years_active = | era = | employer = | organization = | agent = | known_for = Appearing in ''[[Nomadland]]'' (2020) as herself | notable_works = | style = | television = | height = | title = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | mother = | father = | relatives = | family = | callsign = | awards = | website = | signature = | signature_type = | signature_size = | signature_alt = | footnotes = }} '''Charlene Swankie''' (born 1944/1945)<ref name="Craig">{{Cite web |last=Craig |first=Gary |date=23 March 2022 |title='Nomadland' Breakout Star Pays It Forward Thanks to Connection with Geneseo Professor |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/2022/03/23/nomadland-star-charlene-swankie-sends-film-earnings-south-sudan/7075468001/ |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=Democrat and Chronicle |language=en-US}}</ref> is an American [[vandweller]]. She appeared as a fictionalised version of herself ("Swankie") in the 2020 American drama film ''[[Nomadland]]''.
== Personal life == Swankie attended [[Arsenal Technical High School]] in [[Indianapolis]],<ref name="Craig"/> graduating in 1962.<ref name="Star">{{Cite web |last=Geneseo |first=Associated Press |date=7 April 2022 |title='Nomadland' Star Makes Surprise $10,000 Donation for School |url=https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/rochester/news/2022/04/07/-nomadland--star-makes-surprise--10-000-donation-for-school |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=spectrumlocalnews.com |language=en}}</ref> In 1970 she became a single parent of two young boys, and lived on minimal child support.<ref name="Craig"/> Later she attended [[Indiana University]], where she studied Park and Recreation Administration/Natural Resource Management, and graduated 1980. She then completed a master's degree in archaeology at [[Ball State University]], and graduated in 1993.<ref name="Once">{{Cite web |last=Jaipuriar |first=Rashika |date=26 April 2021 |title='Once-in-a-lifetime Experience': Indianapolis Native Part of Oscar-winning 'Nomadland' Team |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/entertainment/movies/2021/04/26/nomadland-oscars-charlene-swankie-indianapolis-indiana/7386745002/ |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=The Indianapolis Star |language=en-US}}</ref>
Much later, in 2009, faced with financial problems, Swankie [[Van-dwelling|moved into her van]] and purposefully began her life as a nomad at the age of 64, taking on occasional seasonal work. She says the lifestyle involves "downsizing, owning nothing but what [people] have with them and leaving an exceedingly small carbon footprint".<ref name="Rottenberg">{{Cite web |last=Rottenberg |first=Josh |date=2021-02-25 |title=What's Authentic and What's Acting For the Real-life Nomads of 'Nomadland'? |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-02-25/nomadland-hulu-real-life-nomads |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>
She enjoys [[kayaking]], and has kayaked all [[fifty states]] of the USA.<ref name="Once"/> As of 2021 she had no plans to return to a "normal life", and believed that as a result of living as a nomad, she was much healthier than she had been as a younger woman.<ref name="Rottenberg"/>
=== Appearance in ''Nomadland'' === Swankie appeared as a fictionalised version of herself ("Swankie")<ref name="Craig"/> in ''[[Nomadland]]'', a film written, produced and directed by [[Chloé Zhao]]. The film is based on a 2017 book, ''[[Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century]]'', written by journalist [[Jessica Bruder]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Combermale |first=Leslie |date=2020-10-22 |title=Nomadland – Review |url=https://awfj.org/blog/2020/10/22/nomadland-review-by-leslie-combemale/ |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=Alliance of Women Film Journalists |language=en-US}}</ref> in which Swankie also appears.<ref name="Goodykoontz">{{Cite web |last=Goodykoontz |first=Bill |date=16 March 2021 |title=Meet Swankie, the Arizona-based Breakout Star of the Oscar-winning Movie 'Nomadland' |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/movies/billgoodykoontz/2021/03/16/nomadland-swankie-from-quartzsite-arizona/4700648001/ |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=The Arizona Republic: azcentral.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Swankie's appearance in the film was celebrated, and the film received critical acclaim and achieved box office success, winning many awards including the [[Golden Lion]] at the [[Venice Film Festival]], People's Choice Award at [[Toronto International Film Festival]], three [[Academy Awards]]<ref name="Goodykoontz"/> for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] and [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] (the latter for [[Frances McDormand]] who plays the lead role of Fern, a displaced widow)<ref name="Tallerico">{{Cite web |last=Tallerico |first=Brian |date=19 February 2021 |title=Nomadland Movie Review and Film Summary |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/nomadland-movie-review-2020 |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=www.rogerebert.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Baker |first=Martha K |date=2021-02-16 |title=Nomadland – Review |url=https://awfj.org/blog/2021/02/16/nomadland-review-by-martha-k-baker/ |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=Alliance of Women Film Journalists |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wloszczyna |first=Susan |date=2020-09-18 |title=Nomadland – Review |url=https://awfj.org/blog/2020/09/18/nomadland-review-by-susan-wloszczyna/ |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=Alliance of Women Film Journalists |language=en-US}}</ref> two awards including [[Best Motion Picture – Drama]] at the [[Golden Globe Awards]], and four awards at both the [[British Academy Film Awards]] and the [[36th Independent Spirit Awards]].
Swankie had initially been skeptical about appearing as herself as a non-professional actor in the film.<ref name="Rottenberg" /> She portrayed a woman with terminal cancer<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cummings |first=Gaby |date=2024-01-19 |title='Nomadland' Shows How Main Character Syndrome is Holding You Back |url=https://www.michigandaily.com/arts/nomadland-shows-how-main-character-syndrome-is-holding-you-back/ |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=The Michigan Daily |language=en-US}}</ref> who is fiercely independent, and found it an emotional experience because her late husband had died from cancer,<ref name="Goodykoontz" /> and because she genuinely perceived herself as a loner, unaccustomed to asking others for help.<ref name="Rottenberg" /> Alongside Swankie, other real-life nomads also appeared as "non-actors",<ref name="Tallerico" /> playing fictionalised versions of themselves, including [[Bob Wells (vandweller)|Bob Wells]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Granger |first=Susan |date=2020-12-02 |title=Nomadland – Review |url=https://awfj.org/blog/2020/12/02/nomadland-review-by-susan-granger/ |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=Alliance of Women Film Journalists |language=en-US}}</ref> and [[Linda May]]. Both Swankie and May "deliver powerful monologues about finding hope". Director Zhao described Swankie as "sharp and energetic".<ref name="Jacobs">{{Cite web |last=Jacobs |first=Matthew |last2= |date=2021-03-12 |title=The Nomads Of 'Nomadland' On Their Newfound Stardom |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nomadland-charlene-swankie-linda-may_n_604a7337c5b65bed87d9273d |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}</ref>
After having been paid the same as any other actor would be,<ref name="Jacobs"/> Swankie donated $10,000 of her earnings from the film to a fund through the [[Bill Cook Foundation]], to help build schoolrooms in [[South Sudan]].<ref name="Craig"/><ref name="Star"/>
== References == <references />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swankie, Charlene}} [[Category:1940s births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:20th-century American women]] [[Category:21st-century American women]] [[Category:21st-century travelers]] [[Category:Actresses from Indianapolis]] [[Category:American nomads]] [[Category:Arsenal Technical High School alumni]] [[Category:Ball State University alumni]] [[Category:Indiana University alumni]] [[Category:Kayakers]]