Olympia Dukakis, the veteran stage and screen actor whose flair for maternal roles helped her win an Oscar as CherB次元官网网址檚 mother in the romantic comedy B次元官网网址淢oonstruck,B次元官网网址� has died. She was 89.
Dukakis died Saturday morning in her home in New York City, according to Allison Levy, her agent at Innovative Artists. A cause of death was not immediately released, but her family said in a statement that she had been in failing health for months.
Dukakis won her Oscar through a surprising chain of circumstances, beginning with author Nora EphronB次元官网网址檚 recommendation that she play Meryl StreepB次元官网网址檚 mother in the film version of EphronB次元官网网址檚 book B次元官网网址淗eartburn.B次元官网网址� Dukakis got the role, but her scenes were cut from the film. To make it up to her, director Mike Nichols cast her in his hit play B次元官网网址淪ocial Security.B次元官网网址� Director Norman Jewison saw her in that role and cast her in B次元官网网址淢oonstruck.B次元官网网址�
Dukakis won the Oscar for best supporting actress and Cher took home the trophy for best actress.
She referred to her 1988 win as B次元官网网址渢he year of the DukakiiB次元官网网址� because it was also the year Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, her cousin, was the Democratic PartyB次元官网网址檚 presidential nominee. At the ceremony, she held her Oscar high over her head and called out: B次元官网网址淥K, Michael, letB次元官网网址檚 go!B次元官网网址�
In 1989, her Oscar statuette was stolen from DukakisB次元官网网址� New Jersey home.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e not pretentious,B次元官网网址� her husband, actor Louis Zorich, said at the time. B次元官网网址淲e kept the Oscar in the kitchen.B次元官网网址�
Dukakis, who was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, had yearned to be an actor from an early age and had hoped to study drama in college. Her Greek immigrant parents insisted she pursue a more practical education, so she studied physical therapy at Boston University on a scholarship from the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.
After earning her bachelorB次元官网网址檚 degree, she worked at an understaffed hospital in Marmet, West Virginia, and at the Hospital for Contagious Diseases in Boston.
But the lure of the theatre eventually led her to study drama at Boston University.
It was a shocking change, she told an interviewer in 1988, noting that she had gone from the calm world of science to one where students routinely screamed at the teachers.
B次元官网网址淚 thought they were all nuts,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚t was wonderful.B次元官网网址�
Her first graduate school performance was a disaster, however, as she sat wordless on the stage.
After a teacher helped cure her stage fright, she began working in summer stock theatres. In 1960, she made her off-Broadway debut and two years later had a small part in B次元官网网址淭he Aspern PapersB次元官网网址� on Broadway.
After three years with a Boston regional theatre, Dukakis moved to New York and married Zorich.
During their first years of marriage, acting jobs were scarce, and Dukakis worked as a bartender, waitress and other jobs.
She and Zorich had three children B次元官网网址� Christina, Peter and Stefan. They decided it was too hard to raise children in New York with limited income, so they moved the family to a century-old house in Montclair, a New Jersey suburb of New York.
Her Oscar victory kept the motherly film roles coming. She was Kirstie AlleyB次元官网网址檚 mom in B次元官网网址淟ook WhoB次元官网网址檚 TalkingB次元官网网址� and its sequel B次元官网网址淟ook WhoB次元官网网址檚 Talking Too,B次元官网网址� the sardonic widow in B次元官网网址淪teel MagnoliasB次元官网网址� and the overbearing wife of Jack Lemmon (and mother of Ted Danson) in B次元官网网址淒ad.B次元官网网址�
Her recent projects included the 2019 TV miniseries B次元官网网址淭ales of the CityB次元官网网址� and the upcoming film B次元官网网址淣ot to Forgot.B次元官网网址�
But the stage was her first love.
B次元官网网址淢y ambition wasnB次元官网网址檛 to win the Oscar,B次元官网网址� she commented after her B次元官网网址淢oonstruckB次元官网网址� win. B次元官网网址淚t was to play the great parts.B次元官网网址�
She accomplished that in such New York productions as Bertolt BrechtB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淢other Courage and Her Children,B次元官网网址� Eugene OB次元官网网址橬eillB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淟ong DayB次元官网网址檚 Journey into NightB次元官网网址� and Tennessee WilliamsB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭he Rose Tattoo.B次元官网网址�
In 2000, she was on Broadway in Martin ShermanB次元官网网址檚 one-actor play B次元官网网址淩ose,B次元官网网址� and received a Drama Desk Award nomination for the role of an 80-year-old survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII.
For two decades she ran the Whole Theater Company in Montclair, New Jersey, specializing in classic dramas.
Zorich died in January 2018 at age 93.
Dukakis is survived by her children Christina, Stefan and Peter; her brother Apollo Dukakis; and four grandchildren.
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