Moonstruck at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Image credit: Reed Saxon
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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. 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.
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Olympia Dukakis, the iconic, Oscar-winning actress of film and stage known best for her roles in films like
Moonstruck and
Steel Magnolias has died. As of this writing, the actressâ cause of death has not officially been confirmed. She was 89 at the time of her passing.
Olympia Dukakisâ death was confirmed by her brother, Apollo Dukakis, who confirmed the news on his Facebook page. In the post, he revealed that the 89-year-old Dukakis had been in poor health for some time, and that she had now joined her late husband, actor Louis Zorich. You can see his beautiful post down below:
wo
Moonstruck, has died. She was 89.
Dukakis died on Saturday morning in her home in New York City, according to Allison Levy, her agent at Innovative Artists. The cause of death was not immediately known
.
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. 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.
Dukakis won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and Cher took home the trophy for Best Actress for their roles in the film.
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