Olympia Dukakis, the gifted performer of stage and screen who won an Academy Award for her brilliant turn in the romantic-comedy, "Moonstruck", has passed away on May 1st at the age of eighty-nine. No official cause of death has been released but she had been seriously ill over the last few months.
The actress began her career on the stage, appearing as an understudy in the play, "The Aspern Papers" in 1962 before moving on to a featured role in the Off-Broadway play, "Man Equals Man", which she would win an Obie Award in 1963. During this time, Dukakis would make very small, often uncredited, appearances in feature films. She would gain more significant parts over time in movies, notably in "John and Mary" (1969), "Made for Each Other" (1971), "The Wanderers" (1979) and "The Idolmaker" (1980). Then she was cast in the film that would completely change her career.
As Rose Castorini, the steely yet loving matriarch of an Italian-American family in "Moonstruck" (directed by Norman Jewison and written by John Patrick Shanley), she made a major impression. Dukakis' charming performance was critically praised in this 1987 box-office hit and she would go on to win many awards including a Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
This would lead her to star in the films, "Mr. Holland's Opus", "Dad", "Mighty Aphrodite", "The Cemetery Club", the three "Look Who's Talking" movies and a part of the impressive ensemble in the beloved 1989 comedy, "Steel Magnolias" which also featured Julia Roberts, Daryl Hannah, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine and Dolly Parton.
On television, Dukakis made guest appearances on the series, "Frasier, "Law & Order: SVU", "Touched by an Angel" and the mini-series, "Sinatra" and "Joan of Arc". But she is probably best remembered for her work in the adaption of Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City" where she played Anna Madrigal and would appear in the sequels, "More Tales of The City" in 1998, "Further Tales of The City" in 2001 and 2019's "Tales of The City" for Netflix.
A documentary by Harry Mavromichalis, "Olympia", about Dukakis' life and career, was made in 2018 but was released theatrically just last year. She married fellow actor, Louis Zorich in 1962 and they were together until his death at ninety-three in 2018. They had three children together. And she was the first cousin of Michael Dukakis, a former Democratic candidate for President back in 1988.
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