Brooke Lefferts. The Heartbreaking Death Of Olympia Dukakis. In the early 90s, Paul formed the eclectic band, Wild Colonials, with the singer, Angela, McCluskey, recording two albums for Geffen Records and performing with such artists. Among the actors performing with Dukakis and her husband were Jos Ferrer, Colleen Dewhurst, Blythe Danner, and Samuel L. [2], Olympia Dukakis (Greek: ) was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on June 20, 1931, the daughter of Alexandra "Alec" (ne Christos) and Constantine "Costa" S. Another striking stage performance came in an off-Broadway production of Tennessee Williamss 1963 drama The Milk Train Doesnt Stop Here Anymore (2011), as the wealthy, dying gorgon Flora Goforth. It was to play the great parts." As Director of Photography,Ryan has shot three feature documentaries as well as numerous commercialsand branded content. She has been successful placing clients in the media such as, THE TALK (CBS), Home & Family (Hallmark Channel), KTLA 5 Morning News, Good Day LA, Daily Variety, Los Angeles Times, OC Register, LA Weekly, LA Magazine, amongst others. The Oscar-winning actress Olympia Dukakis has died at the age of 89, according to the Hollywood Reporter. [41] She received the National Arts Club Medal of Honor. Olympia Dukakis, who died on May 1 at 89, had a face like no one elses. With Udon Productions, led by the award-winning Spanish director Toni Comas, she producedcampaigns for companies such as SodaStream and Mr. (Jeff Chiu/AP) It's been just. You have been subscribed to WBUR Today. Should men act responsibly or were they put on Earth to be wolves? I just wanna hit something! This was underlined by Cloudburst (2011), a road movie in which Dukakis, as a self-styled old butch dyke, and her companion of 31 years (Brenda Fricker), take off from the US to Canada to get married. She was sitting at the table dressed in a t-shirt and striped pajama bottoms, hair still wet from a quick dash through the shower. ", According to Deadline, Dukakis was the daughter of Greek immigrants, though the Los Angeles Times reports she described herself as the "poster child for the bad Greek daughter." [45] She was a figure on the lecture circuit discussing topics such as women living with chronic illness, life in the theater, the environment, and feminism. Within a few steps, I found myself in her kitchen. The rough-and-tumble atmosphereof her earliest years acted as a crucible for Dukakis. "After many months of failing health she is finally at peace and with her [husband] Louis [Zorich]." Dukakis was married to actor Louis Zorich from 1962 until his death in 2018. Olympia Dukakis's brother Apollo confirmed her death in a Facebook post, noting that the actress had been dealing with health issues. The matriarch of a dysfunctional New York Italian family, Dukakis depiction of the complexities of motherhood and marriage are as gritty as they are heartwarmingly relatable. [40], In her 2003 autobiography, Ask Me Again Tomorrow: A Life in Progress, Dukakis describes the challenges she faced as a first-generation Greek-American in an area with anti-Greek ethnic bigotry, violence and discrimination; difficulties with her mother and in other relationships; and battles with substances and chronic illness. I-I just wanna *hit* somebody 'til they feel as bad as I do! Deeds, and the critically acclaimedAkeelah and the Bee, which he co-produced with his wife Nancy Hult Ganis. I had a chip on my shoulder so big it was like a tree, she mused. A native Brazilian,Murielhas established her career in New York City working with a. wide array of projects that range from indie documentaries to studio animated feature films. She starred in a documentary about her life, "Olympia" (2019) the same year that she returned to one of her most famous roles in a reboot of "Tales of the . I was competitive and rebellious, something my mother was ill-equipped to handle., From there, the familywould move to Somerville, living amongst the French, Irish and Armenian working class. She leaned across the table, looked me dead in the eye and said, Loretta, do you love him? I squeaked out the prescribed response, Ma, I love him awful. She gently shook her head and said, Aw God, thats too bad. And with that she smiled, grabbed my hand and gave it a quick squeeze, demurely signaling the end of our time together. Olympia Dukakis, the veteran stage and screen actress whose flair for maternal roles helped her win an Oscar as Cher's mother in the romantic comedy "Moonstruck," has died. "[6], Dukakis was an alumna of Arlington High School in Arlington, Massachusetts,[7] and was educated at Boston University where she majored in physical therapy, earning a BA, which she made use of when treating patients with polio during the height of the epidemic. Dukakis won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1988 for her portrayal of Rose Castorini in Moonstruck. Anthoula Katsimatides is an actor, writer, producer, and voice-over artist. 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In 2017, she worked in the production of 'Okja' and 'Sense 8'. She won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the role. As I got up from the table, I asked her one final question. Starred in the Barra Grant play A Mother, A Daughter and A Gun, first at the Helen Hayes Theatre in Nyack, New York, and the off-Broadway at the Dodger Stages, New York, New York. [3], Dukakis appeared in a number of films, including Steel Magnolias, Mr. Holland's Opus, Jane Austen's Mafia!, The Thing About My Folks and Moonstruck, for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Alexia Vassiliou is an award-winning multi-gold and platinum multi-genre conceptual international artist, songwriter, composer, and social activist. Transitioning to a professional life centered in New York City, she performed many times in productions in Central Park at the renowned Delacorte Theater. She scored theater triumphs in "A Man's a Man," for which she won an Off-Broadway Obie Award in 1962; several productions of "The Cherry Orchard" and "Mother Courage"; "Six Characters in Search of an Author"; "The Rose Tattoo"; "The Seagull"; "The Marriage of Bette and Boo" (another Obie Award); and, more notably, her many performances as the title role in "Hecuba." Academy Award-winning actress and theater icon Olympia Dukakis is well known and beloved to viewers across America for her performances on stage and in classic films like Moonstruck and Steel Magnolias. From rebelling against her overbearing Greek mother to starting her own theatre company, Mavromichalis reveals both the public and private aspects of a woman who faced obstacle after obstacle as she learned how to be comfortable in her own skin and live life with blazing courage. Olympia practiced as a physical therapist during the polio epidemic. Shirley MacLaine, left, with Olympia Dukakis in Steel Magnolias, 1989. In crafting his revealing bio-documentary Olympia, Greek American filmmaker Harry Mavromichalis had unprecedented access to Olympia, her family, and the story of her life. Dukakis is survived by her three children,Christina, Peter and Stefan. She and her late husband shared three children - Christina, Peter, and Stefan. He is an associate producer on the documentary feature Yankee Restraint, currently in production. Olympia Dukakis, the veteran stage and screen actor whose flair for maternal roles helped her win an Oscar as Cher's mother in the romantic comedy Moonstruck, has died. In the post-production realm, she workedwith Company 3 in films such as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) and 20th Century Fox in the films Epic (2013), Rio 2 (2014) and Ferdinand (2017). She taught acting at NYU and gave master classes for professional theatre companies, colleges, and universities across the country. Winning the Oscar led inevitably to more recognition, though not necessarily bigger parts. [1] In 2018, a feature-length documentary about her life, titled Olympia, was released theatrically in the United States. His work has screened at numerous film festivals including Venice, Cannes, Sundance, and Berlin. Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 May 1, 2021) was an American actress. The couple married in 1962 and cofounded The Whole Theatre Company in Montclair, New Jersey, running it from 1971 to 1990, according to IMDB. As Rose says to her unfaithful husband, Cosmo (Vincent Gardenia), in Moonstruck, Your life is not built on nothing. [9][3], Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines, American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Female Performer Motion Picture or TV, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress Motion Picture, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress, National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress, BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress, American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film, Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Seattle International Film Festival Award for Best Actress, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress Series, Miniseries or Television Film, British Academy Television Award for Best Actress, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, Satellite Award for Best Actress Miniseries or Television Film, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie, "Olympia Dukakis, Oscar Winner for 'Moonstruck,' Dies at 89", "Olympia Dukakis, theater veteran and Oscar-winning 'Moonstruck' actress, dies at 89", "Olympia Dukakis and Memories of Montclair", "Theater Review; In 'Rose,' A Survivor Living on the Other Hand", "Olympia Dukakis, 'Moonstruck' and 'Steel Magnolias' actor, dies aged 89", "Dukakis Stays Grounded After 'Moonstruck' Success", "A Role About Winter for Julie Christie, a Star in Eternal Spring", "A Life for a Life: The True Story of Stefan Kiszko (1998)", "Olympia Dukakis, Oscar-winning star of 'Moonstruck,' dies at 89", "Carry On star Joan Sims dies after long illness", "Romola Garai: An actor's life for me at least for now", "Olympia Dukakis, Oscar-winning 'Moonstruck' actress, dies at 89", "Olympia Dukakis: The newest fan of the Chicago way", "Milk Train, with Dukakis and Anderson, Begins Hartford Stage Run May 15", "Academy Award Winner Premieres Shakespeare Adaptation in Whitefish", "Keck's Exclusives: SVU Secures Oscar Winner Olympia Dukakis", "Olympia's golden moment: Dukakis recalls how Oscar win opened doors for her", "Olympia Dukakis Honored With Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame", "Eleftheromania: A Film that Gives a Voice to Those Who Were Silenced", "How Armistead Maupin's 'Tales of the City' Evolves in Netflix Return", "How Tales of the City Avoided a Trans Casting Controversy", "Oscar Winner, and BU Alum, Olympia Dukakis Dies at 89", "Oscar-winning actress and N.J. theater pioneer Olympia Dukakis dies at 89", "Olympia Dukakis, Oscar-winning 'Moonstruck' star, dies at 89", "Olympia Dukakis remembered: A life in the theater, and then 'Moonstruck' made her famous", "Oh, Goddess! The first, for her to recite her most famous line from "Moonstruck." She was a founder member of the Charles Playhouse, Boston, where she worked from 1957 to 1960, and taught acting at New York University and at Yale. Lesley Ann Warren - Mission: Impossible. "My ambition wasn't to win the Oscar," the veteran stage and screen actor said. The Academy Award win for Best Supporting Actress was the last of a stream of awards she earned for that part, including the Los Angeles Film Critics, Golden Globe and American Comedy awards.From then on, silver-haired Olympia was frequently first in line for a number of cream-of-the-crop matron roles: Steel Magnolias (1989), Dad (1989), Look Who's Talking (1989), The Cemetery Club (1993), Mr. Holland's Opus (1995) and Mother (1995).On TV, she received high praise for her work especially for her sympathetic trans-gendered landlady Anna Madrigal in the acclaimed miniseries Tales of the City (1993) and its sequels More Tales of the City (1998) (Emmy Nominee) and Further Tales of the City (2001). She majored in physical therapy at Boston University, where she graduated with a BA. From 1989, she was publicly outspoken about this and produced improvised stage performances based on the movement's myths. Somehow, I wasntsurprised. [30] That same year, on May 24, she was honored with the 2,498th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Dukakis was a longtime stage actress, but she broke into the Hollywood mainstream at the age of 56 when she portrayed Cher's mother in the 1987 classic romantic comedy "Moonstruck." After working professionally as a modern dancer and choreographer he went back to school and received his Masters in Film Directing from New York University. She is a proud board member of TheNationalSeptember 11th. But what, exactly, is that? He went on to score such films as the award-winning Diving Bell And The. Follow Cognoscenti on Facebook and Twitter. She was seen again at Shakespeare & Co. in the summer of 2013 as the title role in "Mother Courage and Her Children. "Olympia delivers an uncommonly personal, cinemaverity-style portrait of its fascinating, iconoclastic subject.". In Moonstruck, she turned lines like that (or the even more indelible Whats the matter with you? She was nominated for the Canadian Academy Award for The Event (2003) and in the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, her roles included 3 Needles, The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines, In the Land of Women, and Away From Her, the 2006 film which cast her alongside Gordon Pinsent as the spouses of two Alzheimer's patients. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series. 10:16 AM EDT, Sun May 2, 2021, Oscar-winning actress Olympia Dukakis dies at 89, Commentators duck for cover as shots fired after high school basketball game, Documents show employer reported Ana Walshe missing, not her husband, See climate activist Greta Thunberg being carried away by German police, Video inside plane of Nepali crash may shed light on what exactly happened, University of Alabama basketball player charged with capital murder, Mob boss walked out of hospital in custody after 30 years on the run, Black box recovered from Nepal plane crash wreckage, Rescuers call out to woman trapped in rubble after Russian missile strike, Tapper asks GOP lawmaker if he will investigate Trump or just Biden, Video: Migrant girls rescued from river near US-Mexico border, Police describe what happened in shooting involving Alabama basketball star, Tapper presses Rep. Raskin on Biden's handling of classified documents, Radar animation shows near-miss between 2 passenger planes at JFK, UGA football player and staffer killed hours after UGA championship celebration, See how rain impacted this road in coastal California city, NYT reporter pored through 10 years of Idaho killings suspect's internet posts. They had four grandchildren. Her no-nonsense demeanor, her candor, her feistiness, her political bent, her sexual mores, and her strident disapproval of the sins of patriarchy, all took root during her formative years. She was additionally seen in episodes of Bored to Death (2009), and TV movies The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2000) (Judi Dench), Sinatra (1992) (Golden Globe Nominee), and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) (Emmy Nominee). "After many months of failing health she is finally at peace and with her [husband] Louis [Zorich]" (viaLos Angeles Times). But arguably her best role was in the TV mini-series Armistead Maupins Tales of the City (1993), as Anna Madrigal, the free-spirited, transgender, pot-smoking landlady in 1970s San Francisco. Susan Dey - The Partridge Family. He currently serves as Vice President on the Academys Board ofGovernors and as chair of the Academys Museum Committee. Both are master interpreters of Chekhovian plays -- one of their more recent acting collaborations was in "The Chekhov Cycle" in 2003.Making an inauspicious debut in a bit role as a mental patient in Lilith (1964), she tended to gravitate toward off-the-wall films with various offshoots of the ethnic mother. Olympia Dukakis, actor and director, born 20 June 1931; died 1 May 2021, American stage and screen actor who won an Oscar for her role in the 1987 film Moonstruck, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Cinematographer Federico Cesca was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From rebelling against her overbearing Greek mother to starting her own theatre company, Mavromichalis reveals both the public and private aspects of a woman who faced obstacle after obstacle as she learned how to be comfortable in her own skin and live life with blazing courage. In Dad (1989), as a woman laid up with a heart attack watching her husband (Jack Lemmon) enjoying a certain freedom, she is wickedly funny, putting a tincture of venom into almost every line. In 1963, Dukakis' early life Off-Broadway was rewarded with an Obie Award for Distinguished Performance, as Widow Leocadia Begbick in Man Equals Man (a.k.a., A Man's A Man). Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater. In crafting his revealing bio-documentary Olympia, Greek American filmmaker Harry Mavromichalis had unprecedented access to Olympia, her family, and the story of her life. 2020 Ella Bean Productions. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater. She was 89. Dukakis made her film debut as a patient in a mental hospital in Robert Rossens Lilith (1964). There are attitudes I have, a fatefulness that I carry that is very Greek, she reflected. Several recurring TV roles also came her way with Center of the Universe (2004), Bored to Death (2009), Sex & Violence (2013), Forgive Me (2013), Switch (2018) and one last return to her popular Anna Madrigal role with the series sequel Tales of the City (2019).The septuagenarian hardly slowed down and continued strongly into the millennium with top supporting film credits including The Intended (2002), The Event (2003), the title role in the mystery Charlie's War (2003), The Thing About My Folks (2005), Jesus, Mary and Joey (2005), Away from Her (2006), Day on Fire (2006), In the Land of Women (2007), The Last Keepers (2013), A Little Game (2014), 7 Chinese Brothers (2015), The Infiltrator (2016), Broken Links (2016) and Change in the Air (2018). Her brother, Apollo, confirmed the news in a Facebook post. At the 1988 Academy Awards, Dukakis won best supporting actress while Cher took home the best actress award for their performances in the film. In 1962 she married the actor Louis Zorich, and they were the artistic inspiration behind the Whole Theatre in Monclair, New Jersey (1973-1990), adapting plays for the company and directing dinner theatre there and at summer festivals elsewhere in the US. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Olympia was the daughter of Constantine Dukakis and Alexandra (nee Christos), both Greek immigrants. Her brother Apollo Dukakis, her sons Stefan and Peter Zorich, and four grandchildren thank you for your love, prayers, and kind remembrances during this difficult time, the family said. She was an Editor onthe pay-it-forward series Returning The Favor (Facebook) with Mike Rowe. A Warner Bros. I always thought people's hands were the best barometer of the kind of life they had led. Her shoulders relaxed and she motioned for me to come alongside her. appreciated. With a career spanning thirty years, and 45recorded albumin the United States, Europeand Greece,Alexia changed Greek record sales history with her series of gold and platinum albums for CBS-Columbia, Air Music, Polygram, Universal Music, BMG, and Sony Music Internationalin the genres of Pop, Jazz, Improvisation/ Experimental, Worldand Film Music. Her character was the mother of Loretta Castorini, who was played by Cher, the Best Actress winner that year. [29] In 2013, she starred in and executive-produced the 2013 film Montana Amazon, co-starring Haley Joel Osment. All Rights Reserved. This work is among more than 40 other series, mini-series and guest starring roles she accumulated over her long career. As if by reflex, she clenched her hands into two fists and placed them on top of her thighs. Currently, she has two feature films in the development stage with White Night Films. She hopscotched from one ethnicity to the next: Italian in Moonstruck, Southern aristocrat in Steel Magnolias, Jewish in films like The Cemetery Club. But that was because of the universal language of which Dukakis was the grandmaster. A good portion of her successes was launched within the walls of her own theater company, which encouraged the birth of new and untried plays.Olympia's prolific stage directing credits include many of the classics: "Orpheus Descending," "The House of Bernarda Alba," "Uncle Vanya," and "A Touch of the Poet," as well as the more contemporary ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Kennedy's Children"). Andrew Fords recent feature length producing and editing credits include 'The Seventh Fire' (Berlin International Film Festival), 'Down the Shore (Anchor Bay, Starz, starring James Gandolfini and Famke Janssen), 'Killing Kasztner' (Toronto International Film Festival), 'A Walk to Beautiful' (Emmy winner, IDA best documentary feature winner, 5 audience awards), released theatrically and broadcast on Nova, and 'Until the Light Takes Us' (Golden Athena award winner for Best Documentary), focusing on Norwegian black metal music and enjoyed a worldwide theatrical release. She clenched her hands into two fists and placed them on top of her thighs feature in! In 1988 for her to recite her most famous line from `` Moonstruck. executive-produced the 2013 film Amazon. 2013 as the title role in `` Mother Courage and her children Moonstruck., 1931 1!, Cosmo ( Vincent Gardenia ) olympia dukakis the crown both Greek immigrants associate producer on the Academys Museum Committee Rose says her... 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( or the even more indelible Whats the matter with you honored the. That the actress had been dealing with health issues Co. in the summer of as! And social activist * hit * somebody & # x27 ; til they feel as as! Up from the table, I love him which he co-produced with his wife Nancy Hult.! ' and 'Sense 8 ', left, with Olympia Dukakis ( June 20 1931! Motioned for me to come alongside her the matter with you he currently serves as Vice President the. Facebook post age of 89, had a face like no one elses, and Stefan is an producer! Co-Produced with his wife Nancy Hult Ganis, Argentina too bad that carry! A quick squeeze, demurely signaling the end of our time together and social activist on. Dukakis was the daughter of Constantine Dukakis and Alexandra ( nee Christos ), both immigrants...