Oscar-winning
Actor Olympia Dukakis, has died aged 89.
The veteran stage and screen star was best known for her roles as Cher’s mother in the romantic
comedy Moonstruck and as Clairee Belcher in Steel Magnolias.
Allison Levy, her agent at Innovative Artists, said that Olympia died on Saturday at her home in
New York City. Her cause of death was not given.
Olympia’s brother, Apollo Dukakis, also announced her death in a post on Facebook, writing: “My beloved sister ... passed away this morning in
New York City. After many months of failing health she is finally at peace.”Olympia rose to prominence in 1987 when she was 56, following her role as Rose in Moonstruck.
She won the Oscar for Best Supporting
Actress for the film, while Cher took home the trophy for Best Actress.
Olympia 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.
She 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.
Her Oscar victory kept film roles coming, playing Kirstie Alley’s mother in Look Who’s Talking and its sequel Look Who’s Talking Too, the sardonic widow in Steel Magnolias and the overbearing wife of Jack Lemmon (and mother of Ted Danson) in Dad.
But the stage had been her first love.
“My ambition wasn’t to win the Oscar,” she commented after her Moonstruck win. “It was to play the great parts.”She accomplished that in such New York productions as Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage And Her Children, Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night and Tennessee Williams’ The Rose Tattoo.
For two decades she ran the Whole Theatre Company in Montclair, New Jersey, specialising in classic dramas.
Olympia was married to actor Louis Zorich for 56 prior to his dead in 2018, and they had three children, Christina, Peter and Stefan.
Following news of her death, Cher was among those who paid tribute, labelling her an “amazing” actress.Olympia Dukakis Was an Amazing,Academy Award Winning Actress.Olympia Played My Mom In Moonstruck,& Even Though Her Part wasThat Of a Suffering Wife, We😂ALL The Time.She Would Tell Me How MUCH She Loved Louis,Her”Handsome Talented,Husband”.I Talked To Her 3Wks Ago. Rip Dear One pic.twitter.com/RcCZaeKFmz— Cher (@cher) May 1, 2021She added: “Olympia Played My Mom In Moonstruck,& Even Though Her Part was That Of a Suffering Wife, We [laughed] ALL The Time.
“She Would Tell Me How MUCH She Loved Louis, Her ‘Handsome Talented, Husband’.
“I Talked To Her 3Wks Ago. Rip Dear One.”
Other tributes were shared online...RIP Olympia Dukakis...the consummate actor. You made all around you step up their game. A joy to work with. Rest well. "May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest".💛💛💛https://t.co/9uC2Ld4rTU— Viola Davis (@violadavis) May 1, 2021Olympia Dukakis has departed our company. We were Moonstruck by her, as she told us great Tales of the City. A true Steel Magnolia within a more common forest. Ah, what a life force, her later years her best. Rest now among the heavens, Olympia.— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 1, 2021Olympia Dukakis was a great actress who loved the work and loved the theatre. She was the acting teacher who spoke to me (and many, many others) with clarity and humor and NO censor. 1/2— Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) May 1, 2021Olympia Dukakis brought warmth, humor and wit to the stage and screen for almost 60 years, including a stellar run of unforgettable roles in "Steel Magnolias" "Tales of the City" and "Moonstruck," for which she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. She will be missed. pic.twitter.com/TLuNTx32PI— The Academy (@TheAcademy) May 1, 2021