I was fortunate enough to spend a few hours with Olympia one lazy Saturday morning,more than a decade ago. He currently serves as Vice President on the Academys Board ofGovernors and as chair of the Academys Museum Committee. Harry curated the first LGBTQ Film Festival and was one of the key organizers of the 1st Pride Parade in Cyprus. The honors compounded as she collected the Los Angeles and New York Film Critics Awards, all in recognition of her talent, some acting improvised, as she delivered a serious while hilarious performance. 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. A member of SAG-AFTRA and AEA, a true artist at heart, her love for performing on-screen ismatched by her passion for theatre work. 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. (Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images) Olympia Dukakis, the Emmy- and Academy Award-winning actress hailed for her landmark portrayal of the transgender Anna Madrigal in Tales of the City, died on. [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. In one scene, she remains hostile until, alone in the hallway, she shrieks: Get that woman out of my house.. Long a vital, respected thespian of the classic and contemporary stage, this grand lady did not become a household name and sought-after film actress until age 56 when she turned in a glorious, Oscar-winning performance as Cher 's sardonic mother in the romantic comedy Moonstruck (1987). He had the privilege to work with Miss Dukakis again on the latest installment of Tales of the City in 2019 for Netflix where he was the Director of Photography forthe entire series. "It was to play the great parts.". There are attitudes I have, a fatefulness that I carry that is very Greek, she reflected. Long a vital, respected thespian of the classic and contemporary stage, this grand lady did not become a household name and sought-after film actress until age 56 when she turned in a glorious, Oscar-winning performance as Cher 's sardonic mother in the romantic comedy Moonstruck (1987). Winning the Oscar led inevitably to more recognition, though not necessarily bigger parts. 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). Stern but perpetually amused, with a warm leer of a grin that could light up a scene, she looked like the comedy and tragedy masks fused together. 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. He is an associate producer on the documentary feature Yankee Restraint, currently in production. [10] But her stage work began across the summer of 1961, in productions at the Williamstown Summer Theatre,[11] she continued to perform there every few years, with her last appearance on that stage occurring in 2003, where she played multiple roles in The Chekov Cycle. [12], With her husband, Louis Zorich, and with other acting couples, she co-founded the Whole Theater Company. Previously Sam spent many years managing and co-producing feature/short films, and trailers for Stunning Cuts Films a Brooklyn based production company. Her Best Supporting Actress Oscar statuette was stolen from her home 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. [16], Moonstruck (1987) was directed by Norman Jewison who predicted Dukakis would receive honors for the role. Her husband,Louis Zorich, was also an actor, best known for his part in the sitcom "Mad About You." Originally intending to become a physical therapist, Dukakis turned to acting with work on and off-Broadway in productions such as "The Aspern Papers". The Musical, an off-Broadway musical that had several runs and enjoyed sweet success. 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. In Moonstruck, that delirious 1987 fairy tale of loopy passion, opera and dowdy depressives who learn how to bloom, Dukakis, as Rose the steel-lasagna wife and mother, attempts to counsel her daughter, the widowed Loretta (Cher), to do the right thing. Dukakis again appeared in the miniseries, which was her last television role. Dukakis, with that noodgy droll gleam, let you know the answer was both. 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. She was 89. 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. [5] She contended with pressures within her patriarchal Greek family and around her, "in a neighborhood where ethnic discrimination, particularly against Greeks, was routine. She taught acting at NYU and gave master classes for professional theatre companies, colleges, and universities across the country. Soon enough, I found myself in front of a small bungalow in a nondescript part ofWest Hollywood. Olympia Dukakis, Oscar Winner for 'Moonstruck,' Dies at 89 A veteran of the stage who also had a long list of film and TV credits, she was best known for playing characters who were worldly . Her character was the mother of Loretta Castorini, who was played by Cher, the Best Actress winner that year. She later moved to film acting and won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, among other accolades, for her performance in Moonstruck (1987). Olympia Dukakis, who died on May 1 at 89, had a face like no one else's. Stern but perpetually amused, with a warm leer of a grin that could light up a scene, she looked like the comedy and . Not long after her arrival in New York City, she won an Obie Award for Best Actress in 1963 for her off-Broadway performance in Bertolt Brecht's Man Equals Man. From 1989, she was publicly outspoken about this and produced improvised stage performances based on the movement's myths. Her theatrical credits read like the canon of classic and modern plays: she had roles in plays by Euripides, Sophocles, Shakespeare, Chekhov, Ibsen, Lorca, Pirandello, Brecht, Eugene ONeill and Tennessee Williams, on and off Broadway, as well as in various regional theatres across the country. 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. Her Broadway theatre credits include Who's Who in Hell and Social Security. You can try. She helped the " Moonstruck " star get out of traffic, review contracts, and take care of her family. Once out of that corner of New England and hitting the pavement of the Great White Way, it didn't take long for her to be recognized for her talent and skill. [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. The Oscar-winning actressOlympia Dukakis has died at the age of 89, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Playing a Holocaust survivor, sitting on a bench, she held an audience for nearly two hours. 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!. 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" (1964) and "Who's Who in Hell" (1974). Harry has dual citizenship from the United States and Cyprus. He went on to score such films as the award-winning Diving Bell And The. In 1999, she premiered a one-woman play "Rose," at the National Theatre in London and subsequently on Broadway in 2000. "After many months of failing health she is finally at peace and with her [husband] Louis [Zorich]" (viaLos Angeles Times). In 2003, Dukakis published her autobiography, Ask Me Again Tomorrow: A Life in Progress, in which she wrote of her support of feminism and environmental causes, and her support for the Democratic party, with candour and humour. Not long after her arrival in New York City, she won an Obie Award for Best Actress in 1963 for her off-Broadway performance in Bertolt Brecht's Man Equals Man. 2. [36], Dukakis' final performance is as a judge in the 2021 film Not to Forget. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series. No, no, I stammered, not of your face. [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. Share this - copied. [18] The role of a no-nonsense matriarch, Rose Castorini, plays off Cher's Best Actress Award-winning role as daughter Loretta. Its been just over a year since the death of Oscar-winning actress Olympia Dukakis. In 2005, Sid was elected to his first term as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, a positionwhich he held for four consecutive terms. 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. 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). Memorial and Museum, and founded the Johnny and Mikey Katsimatides Foundation for Lifein memory of her two brothers. [25], In 2008, Dukakis directed the world premiere production of Todd Logan's "Botanic Garden" at Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. Bush. Not so for Dukakis. She was 89. Dukakis kept working steadily through her 80s, including supporting roles on the limited series "Sex and Violence" (OUTtv 2013-15) and the Canadian drama "Forgive Me" (Super Channel 2013-18). We miss your fighting spirit. She later moved to film acting and won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, among other accolades, for her performance in Moonstruck. November 30, 1962 - January 30, 2018 (his death, 3 children), The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999). 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. Dukakis graduated from Boston University, and moved to New York City, where she taught at NYU while auditioning for parts. He has a degree in music and architecture and holds an MFA in filmmaking from NYU Tisch. 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. 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 played mom to such leads as Dustin Hoffman in John and Mary (1969), Joseph Bologna in the cult comedy Made for Each Other (1971) and Ray Sharkey in The Idolmaker (1980). Her first experience as a theatre producer was for Opa! Olympia Dukakis, left, with Cher in Moonstruck. Candice Swanepoel shows off tangled blue and orange bikini from her range, Kerry Katona insists she's not 'bragging' about her new 2m house & a year ago she sold her jukebox to pay her rent, Teen Mom Jenelle Evans calls daughter Ensley, 4, 'sassy' after husband David 'threatened to smack her in the mouth', Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond's daughter Alex gets married as star's husband attends wedding with neck brace after crash, Inside Sheridan Smith's rainforest-themed party for her son Billy's first birthday, Ellie Goulding reveals she's given birth to her first baby with husband Caspar Jopling, Teen Mom fans shocked by Farrah Abraham's 'unrecognizable face' as star takes self-defense class with daughter Sophia. ), as well her chameleon-like versatility in everything from cutting edge comedy to stark tragedy, kept her in high demand for 30 years as one of Hollywood's topnotch character players.Olympia Dukakis was born on June 20, 1931, in Lowell, Massachusetts, the daughter of Greek immigrants, Alexandra (Christos), from the Peloponnese, and Constantine S. Dukakis, from Anatolia. Dukakis passed away three years after the death of her husband, fellow actor Louis Zorich. His on-screen work includes appearances in Steven Spielberg's The Post, Tamara Jenkins' Private Life and TV shows including Homeland, House of Cards, Godfather of Harlem and The Plot Against America. [17] She believed him after receiving the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was an Editor onthe pay-it-forward series Returning The Favor (Facebook) with Mike Rowe. A dented screen door hung precariously from the hinges of the cottages doorframe. I-I don't think I can take this! Dukakis is survived by her three children,Christina, Peter and Stefan. Steam as well as, Mr Comas latest feature film American Falls, currently in post-production. She also adapted such plays as "Mother Courage" and "The Trojan Women" for the theater company. 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. He has also served 10 years on the Board of Directors of Marvel Entertainment until its sale to Disney in 2009, as well as the boards of FIND (Film Independent) and University of California, Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive and San Franciscos SF FILM. Shirley MacLaine, left, with Olympia Dukakis in Steel Magnolias, 1989. Or her 1989 performance as one of the Steel Magnolias, a fitting title for a woman known for her winsome heart and yet resolute demeanor. She is a proud board member of TheNationalSeptember 11thMemorial and Museum, and founded the Johnny and Mikey Katsimatides Foundation for Lifein memory of her two brothers. As afternoon arrived, I asked two favors of the legendary actress. 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." 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. I had a chip on my shoulder so big it was like a tree, she mused. Dukakis rose to fame starring in such hits as Moonstruck and Steel Magnolias. Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 May 1, 2021) was an American actress. Dukakis. Olympia Dukakis sneaks a cigarette in a rare moment alone in her apartment during the play "Vigil" at . CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. [31], In 2018, Dukakis starred in Eleftheromania, which follows an Auschwitz survivor as she recites a true story about a group from the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. [30] That same year, on May 24, she was honored with the 2,498th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She held her Oscar high over her head at the ceremony and called out: OK, Michael, lets go!. I just wanna hit something! The company's first play was Our Town, in 1973. Her surname is well-known to my fellow Bostonians. Angie Dix is an Emmy Award-winning American editor and producer working in the film and television world for more than 10 years. All rights reserved. I-I don't think I can take this! [1] In 2018, a feature-length documentary about her life, titled Olympia, was released theatrically in the United States. MAPLEWOOD, N.J. 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. "After many months of failing health she is finally at peace and. The family has not disclosed an official cause of death. appreciated. A Warner Bros. It's not even the language! The actress referred to her 1988 win as the year of the Dukakii because it was also the year Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, her cousin, was the Democratic Partys presidential nominee. I rapped on the door and heard her signature alto voice bellow, Its open! Tentatively crossing the threshold, I made my way down a narrow hallway. 50 Greatest Romantic Comedies of All Time The actress' brother. She is quoted as having said, "I recognize that the real pulse of life is transformation, yet I work in a world dominated by men and the things men value, where transformation is not the coinage. A member of, SAG-AFTRA and AEA, a true artist at heart, her love for performing on-screen ismatched. Across that span, productions included the works of Euripides, Eugene O'Neill, Samuel Beckett, Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, and Lanford Wilson. 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. Somehow, I wasntsurprised. Get a first look at Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in 'The Crown' . Anthoula Katsimatides is an actor, writer, producer, and voice-over artist. In Made for Each Other (1971), a romantic comedy in which an Italian-American man (Joseph Bologna) and a Jewish woman (Renee Taylor) fall in love, Dukakis is the formers mama opposed to her sons relationship. 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. Laura Linney, left, and Olympia Dukakis in More Tales of the City, 1998. With Udon Productions, led by the award-winning Spanish director Toni Comas, she producedcampaigns for companies such as SodaStream and Mr. Movie (and TV) fans then discovered what East coast theater-going audiences had uncovered decades before -- Olympia Dukakis was an acting treasure. Dukakis continued to be much in demand in the movies, with roles such as Jocasta in Woody Allens Mighty Aphrodite (1995), and the stern but lovable school principal in Mr Hollands Opus (1995). In Norman Jewisons Moonstruck, a modern fairytale of love, with each leading character destined to have his or her moment of glory, Dukakis is by turns warm, humorous and cynical, and poignantly wonders why men (especially her husband) are unfaithful. Your lifes going down the toilet!) into addled diva classics, but the reason the film won her the Oscar for supporting actress is that she cut right to the romantic paradox that Rose was the only one in the movie wise enough to see. I've always been ready to go first! Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck, 1987, in which she played Chers mother. 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Richard Dreyfuss and Olympia Dukakisin Mr Holland's Opus. 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. 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. 2023 TV GUIDE, A FANDOM COMPANY. In Moonstruck, she turned lines like that (or the even more indelible Whats the matter with you? Alexia Vassiliou is an award-winning multi-gold and platinum multi-genre conceptual international artist, songwriter, composer, and social activist. The news of the Oscar winner's passing was shared by her brother, Apollo Dukakis, on Facebook.. "My beloved sister . Featuring interviews with Laura Linney, Whoopi Goldberg, Diane Ladd, Lainie Kazan and Armistead Maupin, "I love this chaotic, contradictory, loving mess that has been my life. The Musical, an off-Broadway musical that had several runs and enjoyed sweet success. It was to play the great parts." Dukakis's autobiography, Ask Me Again Tomorrow: A Life in Progress, was published in 2003. 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. She was 89 years old. Dukakis made her film debut as a patient in a mental hospital in Robert Rossens Lilith (1964). "My ambition wasn't to win the Oscar. They had four grandchildren. 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"). 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Was for Opa first play was Our Town, in which she played Chers mother Courage '' and `` Trojan... About this and produced improvised stage performances based on the Hollywood Walk of.... She held an audience for nearly two hours of Loretta Castorini, plays off Cher 's Best actress award-winning as! ; brother 2,498th star on the movement 's myths daughter Loretta May 24, she.! Plays off Cher 's Best actress award-winning role as daughter Loretta 60 films in. Score such films as the award-winning Diving Bell and the is finally at peace and a mental hospital in Rossens. ], Moonstruck ( 1987 ) was olympia dukakis the crown Editor onthe pay-it-forward series the! Her signature alto voice bellow, its open left, with her husband, Louis Zorich had.
olympia dukakis the crown