Dukakis, Olympia,
1931-2021, American actress, b. Lowell, Ma., Boston Univ.
(B.A., M.F.A.). Dukakis’s parents were Greek immigrants. After
graduating from college with a degree in physical therapy, Dukakis worked
for several years in that occupation before returning to school to study
theater. She made her New York debut off-Broadway in 1959, and received an
Obie award for her role in Bertolt Brecht’s A Man’s
a Man in 1963. She also landed a few television and film roles.
In 1973, she founded the Whole Theater Company in Montclair, N.J., with her
husband, actor Louis Zorich. She won a second Obie for her appearance in
Christopher Durang’s The Marriage of Bette and Boo
(1985), leading to her casting in the film
Moonstruck. In this, her best-known role, she won an
Oscar and a Golden Globe award for best supporting actress. Other film and
television roles followed; over the course of her career, she appeared in
over 130 stage productions, 60 films, and 50 television series.
See her autobiography (2003); Olympia (2020, doc. film).
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