Olympia Dukakis

Olympia Dukakis (1931–2021) was an American actress and theater director whose film and stage career spanned more than six decades. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Moonstruck (1987).

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Moonstruck: A 1987 romantic comedy film directed by Norman Jewison, starring Cher as an Italian American woman in Brooklyn. Dukakis won her Academy Award for playing Rose Castorini, the heroine’s sharp-witted mother.
Louis Zorich: An American stage, film, and television actor who was married to Olympia Dukakis. They worked in theater together and co-founded the Whole Theatre Company.
American regional theater: Professional theater produced by nonprofit companies outside Broadway and New York commercial theater. Dukakis built much of her stage career in regional companies, including the theater she helped lead.
Academy Awards: Annual awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievements in film. Dukakis’s 1988 win brought broad attention to a long career that had begun onstage.
Steel Magnolias: A 1989 comedy-drama film about the friendships of women in a small Louisiana town. Dukakis plays Clairee Belcher, one of the ensemble’s longtime friends.
Cher: An American singer and actor who starred with Dukakis in Moonstruck. Their mother-and-daughter performances anchored the film that brought Dukakis her Academy Award.
Off-Broadway: Professional theater in New York City venues smaller than Broadway theaters and governed by separate contracts. Dukakis’s New York stage work included productions in the Off-Broadway theater world.
Whole Theatre Company: A New Jersey theater company founded by Olympia Dukakis and Louis Zorich in 1971. Dukakis co-founded and led the company, advancing classical and contemporary theater outside Broadway.
Look Who’s Talking: A 1989 comedy film in which a baby’s thoughts are voiced for the audience. Dukakis plays Rosie, the taxi-driving mother of John Travolta’s character.
Norman Jewison: A Canadian film director and producer whose films include Moonstruck. He directed Dukakis in the Oscar-winning role of Rose Castorini.