She reappeared in the sequels, More Tales of the City (1998), Further Tales of the City (2001) and again under the title of Tales of the City (2019). "[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. As afternoon arrived, I asked two favors of the legendary actress. 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. I was so excited I could scarcely breathe. Her producing, credit for documentary includes the feature "The Case of Josephine H." by the renowned, Polish artist Izabella Gustowska which was released in the 2014 New Horizons International. She played the role of Debby Marsh, an attorney. Currently, she has two feature films in the development stage with White Night Films. by her passion for theatre work. But, in the end, it was her portrayal of Rose Castorini in "Moonstruck," the effort that won her the Oscar, that remains dearest to my heart. Before we talked about her lifeunder Hollywood's glare, we talked about her life under the street lamps of Lowell. Olympia Dukakis's brother Apollo confirmed her death in a Facebook post, noting that the actress had been dealing with health issues. The Musical, an off-Broadway musical that had several runs and enjoyed sweet success. The course of her career suggests that her ambitions never lay in the direction of Hollywood. Returning to Western Massachusetts in 2013 for her last stage performance, she played Mother Courage in Mother Courage and Her Children at Shakespeare & Company, in Lenox, Massachusetts. "My ambition wasn't to win the Oscar," the veteran stage and screen actor said. She appeared in Martin Sherman's one-woman play, Rose, entirely a monologue about a woman who survived the Warsaw Ghetto, in London and then on Broadway. Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 - May 1, 2021) was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, the daughter of Greek immigrants. [41] Her life off the screen and stage was very active. Efforts at assimilation continued to evade her. When Rose learns that Loretta has gotten herself engaged to a middle-aged mediocrity shes not in love with, she offers the following advice: Good. [30] That same year, on May 24, she was honored with the 2,498th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But what, exactly, is that? Her television roles included the transgender landlady Anna Madrigal in the 1993 miniseries Tales of the City. She reprised the role in the sequels More Tales of the City in 1998 and Further Tales of the City in 2001, according to IMDB. Paul Cantelon is an American composer of film scores and contemporary classical music. The play earned her an Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama Desk Award nomination and she continues to tour the country with it.Olympia was seen on the New York stage in the Roundabout Theatre's production of "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore" (2011), in San Francisco in A.C.T. As Rose says to her unfaithful husband, Cosmo (Vincent Gardenia), in Moonstruck, Your life is not built on nothing. After years of regularly working in TV and theater, her "Moonstruck" success led to more big roles. As a producer, Mr. Ganis found box office success withBig Daddy,Deuce Bigalow,Mr. Because they know they can. Thats the kind of line that followed Dukakis around the kind her fans would come up to her on the street wanting her to repeat. Dukakis died at her home with her daughter Christina Zorich by her side, the family said in a statement. Butterfly (2007), Sony Pictures The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Oliver Stones W (2008), New York, I Love You (2009), Tony Goldwyns Conviction (2010), Diana Vreeland: The Eye. Honored in 2012 as one of Greek Americas 40 Under 40. "I love this chaotic, contradictory, loving mess that has been my life.". She later developed and produced autobiographical solo shows, What Will People Think? & Warrior Without A Cause that have garnered many accolades and won awards off-Broadway. In role after role, she spoke mom: imperious, testy, kind, haughty and, in the end, always looking out for you. 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. Given this prism, its easy to understand why the roles for which she is best known initially appealed to this grande dame of film. In a 1991 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Dukakis revealed that she enjoyed her new fame and the fans it earned her, and was particularly amused when they shouted her famous lines at her while she was out and about even when it was her "Moonstruck" quote, "Your life is going down the toilet. 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Olympia Dukakis sneaks a cigarette in a rare moment alone in her apartment during the play "Vigil" at . According to a Facebook. Harry curated the first LGBTQ Film Festival and was one of the key organizers of the 1st Pride Parade in Cyprus. "[6][46], After a period of ill health, Dukakis died under hospice care at her home in Manhattan on May 1, 2021, at the age of 89. As Founder of INSPYRS PR she has a zest for attention to detail and encouraging others to "CREATE ~ SUSTAIN ~ INSPYRE". 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. Playing characters like the flinty principal of Mr. I-I don't think I can take this! Later roles included Clairee Belcher in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias, in which she encourages a grieving MLynn Eatenton, portrayed by Sally Field, to slap Shirley MacLaines character, saying, Knock her lights out, MLynn!. [17] She believed him after receiving the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. He has a degree in music and architecture and holds an MFA in filmmaking from NYU Tisch. [39] It was there they raised their three children: Christina, Peter and Stefan. 2023 Cable News Network. Paul composed music for Liev Schreibers Everything Is, Illuminated. In 2000, Dukakis appeared in London at the National Theatre in Rose, a monologue written for her by Martin Sherman. Her character was the mother of Loretta Castorini, who was played by Cher, the Best Actress winner that year. Macabre, hilarious and weirdly touching more or less sums up Ms Dukakiss performance, although a host of other adjectives might also be applied to her multihued portrait of a woman who has married and buried four husbands but cannot face the truth when the reaper comes to escort her from lifes banquet, reported a New York Times critic. Olympia Dukakis, the Oscar-winning actress who brought beloved roles like Rose Castorini in Moonstruck and Clairee in Steel Magnolias to life, has died at the age of 89. In 2017, she worked in the production of 'Okja' and 'Sense 8'. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. 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. Stella, the butch lesbian of 2011s "Cloudburst," noted as much for its off-color script as for its tender love story. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below. There are attitudes I have, a fatefulness that I carry that is very Greek, she reflected. 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. Walter Mitty (2013) and 20th Century Fox in the films Epic (2013), Rio 2 (2014) and Ferdinand (2017). 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. Because of this part and several other gay-friendly ones, Dukakis became a hero of the LGBTQ+ movement. Ryan is based in New York City. "My beloved sister, Olympia Dukakis, passed away this morning in New York City," he wrote. "I never told my parents, but by the time I turned 11, I carried a knife with me everywhere I went.. She performed in over 130 productions on and off-Broadway and regionally at theatres including the Public Theater, A.C.T., Shakespeare in the Park, Shakespeare & Co., and the Williamstown Theatre Festival, where she also served as Associate Director. 2. Throughout her rise to fame, 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, according to IMDB. We miss your fighting spirit. Has To Travel (2011), Woody Allen: A Documentary (2012), and most recently Jane Fonda in Five Acts (2018). (Jeff Chiu/AP) It's been just. He is an associate producer on the documentary feature Yankee Restraint, currently in production. Olympia published her best-selling autobiography "Ask Me Again Tomorrow: A Life in Progress" in 2003, an introspective chronicle full of her trademark candor and wry humor. Sally Struthers - All in the Family. The first, for her to recite her most famous line from "Moonstruck." Te amo. Dukakis was built on seeing (and loving) the world as it is. Honored in 2012 as one of Greek Americas 40 Under 40. 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. 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 . [31], Dukakis became an adherent of Goddess worship, a feminist form of modern Paganism, during a production of The Trojan Women in 1982. Her family home was located in The Acre, the largely Greek section of town. He went on to score such films as the award-winning Diving Bell And The. Bush. A fourth version, Armistead Maupins Tales of the City, was streamed on Netflix in 2019. We were unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today. Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 - May 1, 2021) was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, the daughter of Greek immigrants. Did you encounter any technical issues? She was an Editor onthe pay-it-forward series Returning The Favor (Facebook) with Mike Rowe. appreciated. Her producing credit for documentary includes the feature "The Case of Josephine H." by the renowned Polish artist Izabella Gustowska which was released in the 2014 New Horizons International Film Festival and the short Suit Yourself showcased at 2012 My Hero Film Festival. He bought her a 99 cent ring, and they remained married until his death in 2018. John Ryan Johnsonis an Award-winning commercial director and filmmaker. Currently, she is a producer at Boipeba Filmes, led by the Academy Award-nominated director Carlos Saldanha. I never told my parents, but by the time I turned 11, I carried a knife with me everywhere I went. Laura Linney, left, and Olympia Dukakis in More Tales of the City, 1998. Thats a fitting reference, since Dukakis was of Greek heritage and, in a stage career that stretched back to 1961, appeared in classics from Electra to Titus Andronicus to Long Days Journey Into Night. Yet even when she was carving out her place in movies and TV, often cast as the Grande Dame Whos Smarter Than Anyone in the Room (its telling that she took on that role as far back as the 1969 Dustin Hoffman/Mia Farrow trifle John and Mary, when she was just 38), the Dukakis face, part cherub and part statue, made it seem that whatever reality she was confronting, she saw the absurdity of it, and the heartbreak as well. The Oscar-winning actressOlympia Dukakis has died at the age of 89, according to the Hollywood Reporter. A dented screen door hung precariously from the hinges of the cottages doorframe. 1971: Sue Ane Langdon - Arnie. [25], In 2008, Dukakis directed the world premiere production of Todd Logan's "Botanic Garden" at Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. He currently serves as Vice President on the Academys Board ofGovernors and as chair of the Academys Museum Committee. She was 89 years old. In films, she took on several character roles, making an impression in scores of pictures for more than half a century. Get a first look at Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in 'The Crown' . [32] The following year, Dukakis reprised the role of Anna Madrigal, which she had first played in 1993, in a Netflix update of Armistead Maupin's Tales of The City. She was 89. As a girl, she dominated in sports and was a three-time New England fencing champion. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series. Facebook Olympia won an Academy Award for her performance in Moonstruck, a role that also earned her a Golden Globe Award, American Comedy Award, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. Karen Valentine - Room 222. 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). Her Best Supporting Actress Oscar statuette was stolen from her home "My beloved sister, Olympia Dukakis, passed away this morning in New York City," he wrote. 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. [9], Prior to her film career, Dukakis began a decades-long stage life working in 1961 in productions at the Williamstown Summer Theater, in the northwestern corner of Massachusetts. [4][1] She had a brother named Apollo, six years her junior. Fords television credits include the Emmy-nominated 'Frontier House' series for PBS, and the ground-breaking documentary series,'Family Bonds', for HBO. [5] She contended with pressures within her patriarchal Greek family and around her, "in a neighborhood where ethnic discrimination, particularly against Greeks, was routine. Commercial clients have included McDonalds, Bombas, Skagen, American Express, and Storyhunter. [33][34], In 2018, Olympia, an American documentary film about her life and career, had its festival premiere at DOC NYC. 1972: Ruth Buzzi - Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Both would go on to win Academy Awards later that year. She also adapted such plays as "Mother Courage" and The Trojan Women for her Montclair, New Jersey situated theater company. 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