Stage and Screen Actress Olympia Dukakis, Best Known For MOONSTRUCK, Dies at 89

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that stage and screen actress Olympia Dukakis has died at age 89.

Dukakis is an Academy Award-winning actress who is best known for her Oscar-winning performance in the 1987 romantic comedy "Moonstruck."

She made her Broadway debut as an understudy in "The Aspern Papers" at age 30. Dukakis won an Obie Award for her roles in off-Broadway productions of "A Man's a Man" in 1963, and "The Marriage of Bette and Boo" in 1985.

Also on Broadway, Dukakis appeared in Abraham Cochrane, Who's Who in Hell, Social Security, and Rose.

Her other off-Broadway credits include Crime and Crime, Electra, Father Uxbridge Wants to Marry, The Memorandum, Peer Gynt, Baba Goya, Nourish The Beast, Curse of the Starving Class, The Hope Zone, A Mother, A Daughter, and a Gun, 70, Girls, 70, The Singing Forest, and The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore.

"Moonstruck" featured Dukakis in the role of Cher's sardonic, world-weary mother. In addition to that year's Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, her performance earned her a Golden Globe, an American Comedy Award, and a Los Angeles Film Critics Award.

Since then, Dukakis has appeared in several films, including "Steel Magnolias" (1989), "Look Who's Talking" (1989), "The Cemetery Club" (1993) and "Mr. Holland's Opus" (1995). A more recent film, "Cloudburst" (2011), won Dukakis several Best Actress awards for her role.

Dukakis has also received Emmy Award nominations for "Lucky Day," "More Tales of the City," and "Joan of Arc."

A documentary was made about her life in 2020, called "OLYMPIA." The film was directed by Harry Mavromichalis, and is now available on Apple TV, Digital & ON Demand.