Oscar-winning Moonstruck actress Olympia Dukakis has died
May 2, 2021 by:
Oscar-winning actress Olympia Dukakis, who took home the statuette for her role in
MOONSTRUCK, died Saturday in New York City. She was 89 years old. The news of her passing was confirmed by her brother on Facebook. After many months of failing health, she is finally at peace with her Louis, her brother Apollo Dukakis posted on Facebook. Her agent, Allison Levy, also confirmed her death to various media outlets. Dukakis had her daughter Christina Zorich by her side when she died at her home on Saturday. The family released the following statement after her passing that read 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. Louis is a reference to her late husband who died in 2018.
The Marriage of Bette and Boo (1985) and
The Singing Forest (2009).
In 2011, Dukakis played the leading role of Flora in
The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore at the Laura Pels Theatre. “Macabre, hilarious and weirdly touching more or less sums up Ms. Dukakis’ performance,” wrote Charles Isherwood in his
New York Times review of that production, “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 life’s banquet.” He continued: “While Ms. Dukakis renders with broad, almost Borscht Belt humor the vulgar aspects of the character, she shades her performance with haunting glimpses of deeper feeling.”
Olympia Dukakis, Oscar-winning Moonstruck actress, has died
Olympia Dukakis, Oscar-winning Moonstruck actress, has died. (Photo / Getty)
Olympia Dukakis, Oscar-winning Moonstruck actress, has died Sun, 2 May 2021, 2:27PM
Olympia Dukakis, an Oscar-winning actress for her role in Moonstruck, died Saturday in New York City. She was 89 years old. After many months of failing health she is finally at peace and with her Louis, her brother Apollo Dukakis posted on Facebook. Her agent, Allison Levy, also confirmed her death to CNN.
Dukakis died at her home with her daughter Christina Zorich by her side, the family said in a statement. 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.
Rose.
Tales of the City miniseries/series. She was the subject of the 2013 documentary
Olympia Dukakis: Undefined and the 2018 doc,
Olympia. The fun part is that people pass me on the street and yell lines from my movies, she told
Los Angeles Times in 1991. For
Moonstruck, they say, Your life is going down the toilet! Or from
Dad, they say, How much are those pork chops? They say, Do you know who you are? It s real funny.
Fellow actors and members of the theater community paid tribute to the late actress on Saturday.
Olympia Dukakis Was an Amazing,Academy Award Winning Actress.Olympia Played My Mom In Moonstruck,& Even Though Her Part was
Olympia Dukakis poses for portraits during the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 11, 2006.
The veteran stage actress also appeared in Steel Magnolias, Mr. Holland s Opus and as a transgender landlady four times on Tales of the City.
Olympia Dukakis, the dignified actress who received a supporting Oscar for her performance as Cher s nitpicking Brooklyn mother in
Moonstruck, died Saturday. She was 89.
Dukakis died in New York, her brother Apollo wrote on Facebook. After many months of failing health she is finally at peace and with her [husband] Louis.
The late-blooming star also was known for her turn as Clairee Belcher, a woman of fiber and the elegant widowed friend of Ouiser Boudreaux (Shirley MacLaine), in Herbert Ross