UpdatedSat, May 1, 2021 at 5:14 pm ET
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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. She was 89. In this 1988 file photo, Dukakis is pictured with Cher. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
LOWELL, MA 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. She was 89.
Dukakis died Saturday morning in her home in New York City, according to Allison Levy, her agent at Innovative Artists. A cause of death was not immediately released.
Brooke Lefferts
FILE - In this June 26, 2011 file photo, Actress Olympia Dukakis, a celebrity Grand Marshall for the 41st annual Gay Pride parade, waves to the crowd while being driven past them in San Francisco. Olympia Dukakis, the veteran stage and screen actress whose flair for maternal roles helped her win an Oscar as Cherâs mother in the romantic comedy âMoonstruck,â has died. She was 89. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) May 01, 2021 - 2:25 PM
MAPLEWOOD, N.J. - Olympia Dukakis, the veteran stage and screen actor whose flair for maternal roles helped her win an Oscar as Cherâs mother in the romantic comedy âMoonstruck,â has died. She was 89.
Dukakis won the Oscar for best supporting actress and Cher took home the trophy for best actress.
She referred to her 1988 win as “the year of the Dukakii” because it was also the year Massachusetts Gov. 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 actress 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.
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 wise and world-weary.
Dukakis won the Oscar for best supporting actress and Cher took home the trophy for best actress.
She referred to her 1988 win as “the year of the Dukakii” because it was also the year Massachusetts Gov. 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 actress 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.