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 aged 89.
Allison Levy, her agent at Innovative Artists, said Saturday that Dukakis died on Saturday at her home in New York City. A cause of death was not given.
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.
Dukakis got the role, but her scenes were cut from the film. To make it up to her, director Mike Nichols cast her in his hit play Social Security. Director Norman Jewison saw her in that role and cast her in Moonstruck.
Olympia Dukakis, Oscar-winning star of Moonstruck, dies aged 89
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Olympia Dukakis, Oscar-winning star of Moonstruck, dies aged 89
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