Biography
Charlene Swankie, known as Swankie, is an American vandweller and actress. She appeared as a fictionalised version of herself in the film Nomadland (2021).
Born in 1944 or 1945, she graduated from Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis in 1962. She later studied at Indiana University Bloomington and earned a master's degree in archaeology from Ball State University. In 2009, facing financial difficulties, she began living as a nomad in her van at the age of 64.
Swankie also appears in the book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder, on which the film is based. She donated part of her earnings from the film to support school construction in South Sudan.
