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 Ephron's recommendation that she play Meryl Streep's mother in the film version of Ephron's book "Heartburn.
To make it up to her, director Mike Nichols cast her in his hit play "Social Security. Dukakis won the Oscar for best supporting actress and Cher took home the trophy for best actress. She referred to her win as "the year of the Dukakii" because it was also the year Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, her cousin, was the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. At the ceremony, she held her Oscar high over her head and called out: "OK, Michael, let's go! 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. Image source, Hulton Archive. From stage to screen. Olympia Dukakis's breakthrough role came in the 80s with Moonstruck.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. View original tweet on Twitter. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Related Topics. Theatre United States. Published 9 July Olympia practiced as a physical therapist during the polio epidemic. She later returned to her alma mater and entered the graduate program in performing arts, earning a Master of Fine Arts degree. Olympia found early success by distinguishing herself first on stage performing in summer stock and with several repertory and Shakespearean companies throughout the county.
She made her Broadway debut as an understudy in "The Aspern Papers" at age 30, followed by very short runs in the plays "Abraham Cochrane" and "Who's Who in Hell" In , she premiered a one-woman play "Rose," at the National Theatre in London and subsequently on Broadway in She has performed in over productions Off-Broadway and regionally at theaters including the Public Theatre, A.
As actress, director, producer and teacher, she still found the time to raise their three young children. She also became a master instructor at New York University for fourteen years. Over the duration of their marriage, she and her husband have experienced shared successes, appearing together in "Long Day's Journey Into Night," "Camino Real, "The Three Sisters" and "The Seagull," among many others.
Both are master interpreters of Chekhovian plays -- one of their more recent acting collaborations was in "The Chekhov Cycle" in Making an inauspicious debut in a bit role as a mental patient in Lilith , she tended to gravitate toward off-the-wall films with various offshoots of the ethnic mother. Interestingly, it was her scene-stealing work on Broadway in the comedy "Social Security" that caught director Norman Jewison 's eye and earned her the Moonstruck movie role.
From then on, silver-haired Olympia was frequently first in line for a number of cream-of-the-crop matron roles: Steel Magnolias , Dad , Look Who's Talking , The Cemetery Club , Mr. Holland's Opus and Mother 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 and its sequels More Tales of the City Emmy Nominee and Further Tales of the City This work is among more than 40 other series, mini-series and guest starring roles she accumulated over her long career.
The film Cloudburst , in which she shared a co-lead with Brenda Fricker , became a critical and audience darling, winning a multitude of "Best Film" awards and several "Best Actress" honors Seattle, San Diego at various film festivals.
An ardent liberal and Democrat, she was the cousin of presidential nominee Michael Dukakis. Moreover, she was a strong advocate of women's rights and environmental causes.
Olympia published her best-selling autobiography "Ask Me Again Tomorrow: A Life in Progress" in , an introspective chronicle full of her trademark candor and wry humor. She was also a figure on the lecture circuit covering topics as widespread as life in the theater to feminism, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and osteoporosis. A hardcore New Yorker, she resided there following the death of her husband in , and until her death in May Sign In.
Edit Olympia Dukakis. Showing all 47 items. She gave him a shout-out when winning her Oscar in the spring of that year. Her Best Supporting Actress Oscar statuette was stolen from her home kitchen in The burglar left only her nameplate. Studied acting with Peter Kass in Boston, and teaches master classes at studios and universities around the world.
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