Oscar-Winning Actress Olympia Dukakis Dies At 89
On Saturday, Oscar-winning actress Olympia Dukakis, best known for her iconic roles in Moonstruck, Steel Magnolias, and Tales of the City, died under hospice care at her home in Manhattan. She was 89.
Dukakis’ brother Apollo broke the news of her death in a Facebook post.
“My beloved sister, Olympia Dukakis, passed away this morning in New York City. After many months of failing health, she is finally at peace and with her Louis,” he wrote, referring to her late husband and Broadway veteran, Louis Zorich.
Her agent, Allison Levy, also confirmed her death.
Born in Lowell, Massachusetts to Greek, immigrant parents, Dukakis paved her own way through Hollywood while also making time to engage in political activism and theatre work. The actress appeared in more than 130 off-Broadway productions as well as Broadway plays including The Aspern Papers, Abraham Cochrane, and her one-woman play Rose.
On the silver screen, Dukakis will always be remembered for her portrayal of Rose Castorini, the nosy, but sensitive, Italian mother in the 1987 film Moonstruck, stealing many scenes from Cher, who played her daughter. Dukakis won best supporting actress, while Cher took home the best actress award for their performances in the film at the 1988 Academy Awards.
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Later roles include Rosie in Look Who’s Talking, Principal Helen Jacobs in Mr. Holland’s Opus, and Clairee Belcher in Steel Magnolias, in which she encourages a grieving M’Lynn Eatenton, played by Sally Field, to slap Shirley MacLaine’s character, saying, “Knock her lights out, M’Lynn!”
More recently, a documentary about Dukakis’ career, Olympia, was released in 2020, and she had been cast as Marlene Dietrich in an upcoming Dionne Warwick biopic.
Olympia Dukakis Was an Amazing,Academy Award Winning Actress.Olympia Played My Mom In Moonstruck,& Even Though Her Part was
That Of a Suffering Wife, We????ALL The Time.She Would Tell Me How MUCH She Loved Louis,Her”Handsome Talented,Husband”.I Talked To Her 3Wks Ago. Rip Dear One pic.twitter.com/RcCZaeKFmz— Cher (@cher) May 1, 2021
On television, Dukakis can be seen playing transgender landlady Anna Madrigal in the 1993 miniseries Tales of the City, and she reprised the role in the sequels, More Tales of the City in 1998 and Further Tales of the City in 2001. A fourth version, Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, was streamed on Netflix in 2019, and Dukakis appeared in the role again. This would be her last television role.
Beyond performing, Dukakis was a drama teacher at New York University for more than 15 years, and she co-founded The Whole Theatre Company in Montclair, New Jersey, running it with her husband from 1971-1990. Zorich passed in 2018 at the age of 93.
Dukakis and Zorich are survived by their children—Christina, Peter, and Stefan.
Photos Courtesy of Social Media
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