Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis | |
---|---|
Born | Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S. | June 20, 1931
Died | May 1, 2021 New York City, U.S. | (aged 89)
Education | Boston University (BA, MFA) |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1961–2021 |
Spouse | |
Children | 3 |
Relatives | Michael Dukakis (cousin) |
Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 – May 1, 2021) was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater. Not long after her arrival in New York City, she won an Obie Award for Best Actress in 1963 for her off-Broadway performance in Bertolt Brecht's Man Equals Man.
She later moved to film acting and won an
Early life and education
Olympia Dukakis (Greek: Ολυμπία Δουκάκη) was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on June 20, 1931, the daughter of Alexandra "Alec" (née Christos) and Constantine "Costa" S. Dukakis.[3] Her parents were Greek immigrants; her father a refugee from Anatolia and her mother from the Peloponnese.[4][1] She had a brother named Apollo, six years her junior. As a girl, she dominated in sports and was a three-time New England fencing champion.[5] She contended with pressures within her patriarchal Greek family and around her, "in a neighborhood where ethnic discrimination, particularly against Greeks, was routine."[6]
Dukakis was an
Career
Stage
Prior to her film career, Dukakis began a decades-long stage life working in 1961 in productions at the
With her husband, Louis Zorich, and with other acting couples, she co-founded the Whole Theater Company. The company's first play was Our Town, in 1973. With Dukakis serving as artistic director, the theater rolled out five productions per season for almost two decades. Across that span, productions included the works of Euripides, Eugene O'Neill, Samuel Beckett, Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, and Lanford Wilson. Among the actors performing with Dukakis and her husband were José Ferrer, Colleen Dewhurst, Blythe Danner, and Samuel L. Jackson.[13]
Dukakis' prolific stage directing credits include many of the classics: Orpheus Descending, The House of Bernarda Alba, Uncle Vanya, and A Touch of the Poet, as well as the more contemporary; One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Kennedy's Children. She also adapted such plays as "Mother Courage" and The Trojan Women for her Montclair, New Jersey situated theater company. Her Broadway theatre credits include Who's Who in Hell and Social Security. She appeared in Martin Sherman's one-woman play, Rose, entirely a monologue about a woman who survived the Warsaw Ghetto, in London and then on Broadway.[14][15] For the role, she won the 2000 Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Solo Performance. Twenty-two years after earning her first Obie, she won her second in 1985, a Ensemble Performance Award, for playing Soot Hudlocke in The Marriage of Bette and Boo.[3]
Screen
Dukakis appeared in a number of films, including
Moonstruck (1987) was directed by
She took on powerful roles on the small screen as well. In 1998, she starred as Charlotte Kiszko in the
In 2008, Dukakis directed the world premiere production of Todd Logan's "Botanic Garden" at Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.[26] That same year she starred in the revival of Tennessee Williams' The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore, opposite Kevin Anderson at the Hartford Stage,[27] and co-adapted and starred in the world-premiere of Another Side of the Island, based on William Shakespeare's The Tempest, at Alpine Theatre Project in Whitefish, Montana.[28]
In 2011, Dukakis guest-starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She played the role of Debby Marsh, an attorney.[29] In 2013, she starred in and executive-produced the 2013 film Montana Amazon, co-starring Haley Joel Osment.[30] That same year, on May 24, she was honored with the 2,498th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[31]
In 2018, Dukakis starred in Eleftheromania, which follows an Auschwitz survivor as she recites a true story about a group from the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.[32] The following year, Dukakis reprised the role of Anna Madrigal, which she had first played in 1993, in a Netflix update of Armistead Maupin's Tales of The City.[33][34]
In 2018, Olympia, an American documentary film about her life and career, had its festival premiere at DOC NYC. The film, directed by Harry Mavromichalis, features Whoopi Goldberg, Laura Linney, Ed Asner, Lainie Kazan, Armistead Maupin, Austin Pendleton, Diane Ladd and Dukakis' cousin, Governor Michael Dukakis.[35] It was released theatrically in the United States in July 2020.[36]
Dukakis' final performance is as a judge in the 2021 film Not to Forget.[37]
Personal life
In 1962, Dukakis married fellow Manhattan stage actor Louis Zorich.[38] Planning for a family, they moved out of the city in 1970 to settle in Montclair, New Jersey.[39] It was there they raised their three children: Christina, Peter and Stefan. They had four grandchildren.[40]
In her 2003 autobiography, Ask Me Again Tomorrow: A Life in Progress, Dukakis describes the challenges she faced as a first-generation Greek-American in an area with anti-Greek ethnic bigotry, violence and discrimination; difficulties with her mother and in other relationships; and battles with substances and chronic illness.[41] Her life off the screen and stage was very active. She taught acting for 15 years at NYU[42] and gave master classes for professional theatre universities, colleges and companies across the country.[41] She received the National Arts Club Medal of Honor.[31]
Dukakis became an adherent of
Death
After a period of ill health, Dukakis died under hospice care at her home in Manhattan on May 1, 2021, at the age of 89.[9][3]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1964 | Twice a Man | Young mother | [25] | |
Lilith | Patient | Uncredited | [47] | |
1969 | Stiletto | Mrs. Amato | [48] | |
John and Mary | John's mother | [25] | ||
1971 | Made for Each Other | Mrs. Panimba | [25] | |
1973 | Sisters | Louise Wilanski | Uncredited | [49] |
1974 | Death Wish | Officer Gemetti | Listed in opening credits only | [25] |
The Rehearsal | [25] | |||
1979 | The Wanderers | Mrs. Capra | [25] | |
Rich Kids | Bea | [50] | ||
1980 | The Idolmaker | Mrs. Vacarri | [25] | |
1982 | National Lampoon Goes to the Movies | Helena Naxos | Segment: "Success Wanters" | [51] |
1985 | Walls of Glass | Mary Flanagan | [52] | |
1987 | Moonstruck | Rose Castorini | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Female Performer – Motion Picture or TV Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated – New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress |
[53] |
1988 | Working Girl | Ruth | [50] | |
1989 | Look Who's Talking | Rosie | [25] | |
Steel Magnolias | Clairee Belcher | Nominated – American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture | [53] | |
Dad | Bette Tremont | [9] | ||
1990 | In the Spirit | Sue | [51] | |
Look Who's Talking Too | Rosie | [25] | ||
1992 | Over the Hill | Alma Harris | [51] | |
1993 | The Cemetery Club | Doris Silverman | [25] | |
Digger | Bea | [51] | ||
Look Who's Talking Now
|
Rosie | [50] | ||
1994 | Dead Badge | Dr. Doris Rice | [51] | |
Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult | Herself | Uncredited | [50] | |
I Love Trouble | Jeannie | [52] | ||
1995 | Jeffrey | Mrs. Marcangelo | [25] | |
Mighty Aphrodite | Jocasta | [25] | ||
Mr. Holland's Opus | Principal Helen Jacobs | [25] | ||
1996 | Mother | Mrs. Jay | [51] | |
Jerusalem | Mrs. Gordon | [25] | ||
Milk & Money | Goneril Plogg | [51] | ||
1997 | Balkan Island: The Last Story of the Century | Mother | ||
Picture Perfect | Rita Mosley | [51] | ||
1998 | Mafia! | Sophia Cortino | [51] | |
Better Living | Nora | [54] | ||
2000 | Brooklyn Sonnet | Helen Manners | [55] | |
2002 | The Intended | Erina | [56] | |
2003 | The Event | Lila | Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
|
[54] |
Charlie's War | Charlie | [57] | ||
2005 | The Great New Wonderful | Judy Hillerman | Segment: "Judy's Story" | [25] |
The Thing About My Folks | Muriel Kleinman | [25] | ||
3 Needles | Hilde | [50] | ||
Whiskey School
|
Ellen Haywood | [50] | ||
Jesus, Mary and Joey | Sophia Vitello | [50] | ||
2006 | Away from Her | Marian | [25] | |
Day on Fire | Dr. Mary Wade | [58] | ||
Upside Out | Dr. Walker | |||
2007 | In the Land of Women | Phyllis | [25] | |
2011 | Cloudburst | Stella | Nominated – Seattle International Film Festival Award for Best Actress | [25] |
Outliving Emily | Emily Hanratty | Short film | [59] | |
2013 | Montana Amazon | Ira Dunderhead | Also executive producer | [30] |
The Last Keepers | Rosmarie Carver | [52] | ||
A Little Game | YaYa | [52] | ||
2015 | 7 Chinese Brothers | Grandma | [60] | |
Emily & Tim | Emily | Segment: "6" or "Attachment" | [59] | |
2016 | The Infiltrator | Aunt Vicky | [50] | |
Broken Links | Arlene | [61] | ||
2018 | Change in the Air | Margaret Lemke | [52] | |
Olympia | Herself | DOC NYC, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival | [62] | |
2021 | Not to Forget | Judge | Final film role (released posthumously) | [52] |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1962 | The Nurses
|
Ioana Chiriac | Episode: "Frieda" | [25] |
Dr. Kildare | Anna Nieves | Episode: "The Legacy" | [25] | |
1974 | Nicky's World | Irene Kaminios | Television film | [63] |
1975 | Great Performances | Pauline | Episode: "The Seagull" | [25] |
1977 | The Andros Targets | Marina Angelis | Episode: "The Beast of Athens" | |
1978 | The Doctors | Mrs. Martin | NBC-TV | |
1980 | FDR: The Final Years | Television film | ||
Breaking Away | Episode: "The Cutters" | [64] | ||
1982 | American Playhouse | Mama Nicola | Episode: "King of America" | [64] |
One of the Boys | Professor | Episode: "His Cheatin' Heart" | [52] | |
The Neighborhood | Mrs. St. Paul | Television film | [51] | |
1983 | Search for Tomorrow | Dr. Barbara Moreno | NBC-TV/Procter & Gamble Productions | [50] |
1986 | The Equalizer | Judge Paula G. Walsh | Episode: "Shades of Darkness" | [50] |
1991 | Lucky Day | Katherine Campbell | Television film Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
|
[25] |
The General Motors Playwrights Theater | Laura Cunningham | Episode: "The Last Act Is a Solo" | [55] | |
Fire in the Dark | Emily Miller | Television film | [51] | |
1992 | Sinatra | Dolly Sinatra | Television miniseries 4 episodes Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film |
[51] |
1993 | Tales of the City | Anna Madrigal | Television miniseries 6 episodes Nominated – British Academy Television Award for Best Actress |
[53] |
1995 | Young at Heart | Rose Garaventi | Television film | [55] |
1996 | Touched by an Angel | Clara | Episode: "A Joyful Noise" | [52] |
1997 | Heaven Will Wait | Diana | Television film | 2 |
A Match Made in Heaven | Helen Rosner | [51] | ||
1998 | Scattering Dad | Dotty | ||
The Pentagon Wars | Madam Chairwoman | [52] | ||
More Tales of the City | Anna Madrigal | Television miniseries 6 episodes Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie |
[53] | |
A Life for a Life | Charlotte Kiszko | Television film | [56] | |
1999 | Joan of Arc | Mother Babette | Television miniseries 3 episodes Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
|
[25] |
2000 | The Last of the Blonde Bombshells | Dinah | Television film | [25] |
2001 | And Never Let Her Go | Marguerite Capano | ||
Ladies and the Champ | Sara Stevens | [65] | ||
Further Tales of the City
|
Anna Madrigal | Television miniseries 3 episodes |
[53] | |
My Beautiful Son | Esther Lipman | Television film | [56] | |
2002 | Guilty Hearts | Amanda Patterson | Television film | [55] |
The Simpsons | Zelda | Voice, episode: "The Old Man and the Key" | [25] | |
Frasier | Caller #3 | Episode: "Frasier Has Spokane" | [25] | |
2003 | Mafia Doctor | Rose | Television film | |
It's All Relative | Coleen O'Neil | Episode: "Thanks, But No Thanks" | ||
2004 | The Librarian: Quest for the Spear | Margie Carsen | Television film | [66] |
2004–2005 | Center of the Universe | Marge Barnett | 12 episodes | [25] |
2006 | Numbers | Charlotte Yates | Episode: "Hot Shot" | [25] |
The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines | Margie Carsen | Television film | [66] | |
2008 | Worst Week | June | Episodes: "The Ring", "The Wedding" | [67] |
2010–2011 | Bored to Death | Belinda | 4 episodes | [25] |
2011 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Debby Marsh | Episode: "Pop" | [25] |
2013 | The Christmas Spirit | Gwen Hollander | Television film | [68] |
Mike & Molly | Narrator on TV | Episode: "The Princess and the Troll" | [69] | |
2013–2015 | Sex & Violence | Alex Mandalakis | Television miniseries Also executive producer 12 episodes |
[57] |
Forgive Me | Novalea | 9 episodes | [9] | |
2014 | F to 7th | Marie | Episode: "Down to Zero" | [70] |
Big Driver | Doreen | Television film | [71] | |
2016 | TripTank | Ma / Caller | Voice, 4 episodes | [57] |
2019 | Tales of the City | Anna Madrigal | Main cast | [53] |
References
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- ^ "Olympia The Film". Retrieved April 11, 2021.
- ^ a b c Gates, Anita (May 1, 2021). "Olympia Dukakis, Oscar Winner for 'Moonstruck,' Dies at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
- ^ Fanshawe, Simon (June 12, 1999). "Olympian heights". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Thomopoulos, Elaine. "And the Winner Is Olympia Dukakis". Journal of Modern Hellenism. 32: 56–65 – via journals.sfu.ca.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-9720861-0-3.
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- ^ "A Man's a Man". www.iobdb.com. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
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- New York Times. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
- ^ "A CurtainUp Review, Rose". www.curtainup.com. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
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- ^ Triscari, Caleb (May 2, 2021). "Olympia Dukakis, 'Moonstruck' and 'Steel Magnolias' actor, dies aged 89". NME. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "13 Enchanting Facts About Moonstruck". www.mentalfloss.com. December 16, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
- ^ Insdorf, Annette (January 2, 1988). "Dukakis Stays Grounded After 'Moonstruck' Success". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
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- ^ "A Life for a Life: The True Story of Stefan Kiszko (1998)". BFI. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ^ "A Life for a Life: The True Story of Stefan Kiszko (1998)". Celtic Entertainment. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
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- ^ "Carry On star Joan Sims dies after long illness". The Guardian. June 28, 2001. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
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- ^ "Olympia Dukakis: The newest fan of the Chicago way". Chicago Tribune. January 30, 2008.
- ^ Hetrick, Adam (May 15, 2008). "Milk Train, with Dukakis and Anderson, Begins Hartford Stage Run May 15". Playbill.
- ^ "Academy Award Winner Premieres Shakespeare Adaptation in Whitefish". Flathead Beacon. August 25, 2008.
- ^ "Keck's Exclusives: SVU Secures Oscar Winner Olympia Dukakis". TV Guide. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
- ^ a b Burke, David (September 27, 2009). "Olympia's golden moment: Dukakis recalls how Oscar win opened doors for her". The Quad-City Times.
- ^ a b Varikos, Joanna (May 24, 2013). "Olympia Dukakis Honored With Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame". Greek Reporter.
- ^ Pappas, Gregory (December 9, 2016). "Eleftheromania: A Film that Gives a Voice to Those Who Were Silenced". The Pappas Post. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ^ "How Armistead Maupin's 'Tales of the City' Evolves in Netflix Return". The Hollywood Reporter. June 7, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
- ^ a b Longo, Joseph (June 6, 2019). "How Tales of the City Avoided a Trans Casting Controversy". Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
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- ^ "'Moonstruck' actress Olympia Dukakis dead at 89". KIRO 7 News Seattle. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
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- ^ "Review: Sisters". Slant. Retrieved April 20, 2005.
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- ^ a b c "Tributes paid to 'genius' Oscar-winning actress Olympia Dukakis". The Irish News. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Olympia Dukakis Dead at 89, Cher Pays Tribute". TMZ. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
- ^ "Alyssa Sutherland Joins 'The Mist' Stephen King Adaptation At Spike". Deadline. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
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- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (April 22, 2016). "Ingrid Jungermann To Adapt Her Web Series 'F To 7th' As Comedy For Showtime". Deadline.
- ^ McNamara, Mary (October 17, 2014). "Review: Left brutalized by adaptation of Stephen King's 'Big Driver'". Los Angeles Times.
External links
- Olympia Dukakis at IMDb
- Olympia Dukakis at the Internet Broadway Database
- Olympia Dukakis at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Olympia Dukakis at the TCM Movie Database
- Olympia Dukakis discography at Discogs