Last modified on Sun 2 May 2021 13.27 EDT
After more than two decades of distinguished work in the US theatre as an actor, director and teacher, and appearances in a dozen or so films, Olympia Dukakis, who has died aged 89, became hugely famous overnight by winning the best supporting actress Oscar in 1988 for her performance as Cher’s mother in the romantic film Moonstruck (1987).
The course of her career suggests that her ambitions never lay in the direction of Hollywood. 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 O’Neill and Tennessee Williams, on and off Broadway, as well as in various regional theatres across the country. In films, she took on several character roles, making an impression in scores of pictures for more than half a century.
Oscar-winning actress and N.J. theater pioneer Olympia Dukakis dies at 89
Updated May 01, 2021;
Posted May 01, 2021
Olympia Dukakis, winner of a Golden Globe for Best Performance in a Supporting Role and Cher, winner of the Best Performance by an Actress in a musical or comedy , hold the awards they received in 1988 for performances in the hit movie Moonstruck. Dukakis, the veteran stage and screen actress died on May 1. She was 89. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)AP
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Olympia Dukakis, a long-time theater actress who later gained movie fame for playing maternal roles, including Cher’s mother in “Moonstruck,” died on Saturday in New York City, her brother confirmed on Facebook. The former long-time Montclair resident was 89.
Olympia Dukakis, late-blooming Oscar winner for Moonstruck, dies at 89 msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.