Olympia Dukakis

Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis, July 2005
Born	(1931-06-20) June 20, 1931 Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1962–present
Spouse	Louis Zorich (1962-present)

Olympia Dukakis (born June 20, 1931) is an American actress.

Personal life

Dukakis was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, the daughter of Alexandra (née Christos) and Constantine S. Dukakis. Her parents were Greek immigrants to the United States, her father from Anatolia and her mother from the Peloponnese. She has a brother, Apollo, and is a cousin of Michael Dukakis, a former governor of Massachusetts and the Democratic nominee for president in 1988, for whom she was a delegate from New Jersey at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. She is an alumna of Arlington High School in Arlington, Massachusetts, and was educated at Boston University.

Dukakis has been married to actor Louis Zorich since 1062. They have three children.

Career

Dukakis has held a lengthy career in a diverse range of films, including Steel Magnolias, Mr. Holland's Opus, Jane Austen's Mafia!, The Thing About My Folks, and Moonstruck, for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She also played the role of Anna Madrigal in the Tales of the City television mini-series, which garnered her an Emmy Award nomination, and appeared on Search for Tomorrow as Dr. Barbara Moreno, who romanced Stu Bergman. She appears as Dolly Sinatra (Frank's mother) in the mini-series of Frank Sinatra's life (1992). Her Broadway theatre credits include Who's Who in Hell, Social Security, and the one-woman play Rose. Her theater, film, and television work has also won her an Obie Award, a Drama Desk Award, a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, and a Golden Globe.

Dukakis won a BAFTA Award,and a Golden Globe for Moonstruck and was nominated for the Canadian Academy Award for The Event. She provided the voice of Grandpa's love interest for The Simpsons episode "The Old Man and the Key". In 2003, Dukakis published her national bestselling autobiography Ask Me Again Tomorrow: A Life in Progress. Recent films include 3 Needles, The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines, In the Land of Women, and Away From Her, the 2006 film which cast her alongside Gordon Pinsent as the spouse of two Alzheimers patients.

In 1998 she starred as Charlotte Kisko in the British TV drama A Life for a Life (ITV), based on the real-life story of Stefan Kisko, a man wrongfully imprisoned for seventeen years for the murder of a child, Lesley Molseed, after police suppressed evidence of his innocence.

She recently directed the world premiere production of Todd Logan's Botanic Garden at Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

In the 2008 season of Hartford Stage, Dukakis starred in the revival of Tennessee Williams' The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore, opposite Kevin Anderson.

In 2008, Dukakis also co-adapted and starred in the world-premiere of Another Side of the Island, based on Shakespeare's The Tempest, at Alpine Theatre Project in Whitefish, Montana.

She starred in and executive-produced the 2009 film Montana Amazon, co-starring Haley Joel Osment.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1964	Lilith	Patient	uncredited
	Twice a Man	Young mother
1969	Stiletto	Mrs. Amato, woman accepting perfume	uncredited
	John and Mary	John's mother
1971	Made for Each Other	Gig's Mother
1973	Sisters	Louise Wilanski, Bakery Shop Employee #2	uncredited
1974	Death Wish	Cop at the precinct	uncredited
	The Rehearsal
1979	Rich Kids	Lawyer
	The Wanderers	Joey's Mom
1980	The Idolmaker	Mrs. Vacarri
1982	National Lampoon Goes to the Movies	Helena Naxos	segment "Success Wanters"
1985	Walls of Glass	Mary Flanagan
1987	Moonstruck	Rose Castorini	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
1988	Working Girl	Personnel Director
1989	Steel Magnolias	Clairee Belcher
	Look Who's Talking	Rosie
	Dad	Bette Tremont
1990	Look Who's Talking Too	Rosie
	In the Spirit	Sue
1992	Over the Hill	Alma Harris
1993	Look Who's Talking Now	Rosie
	The Cemetery Club	Doris Silverman
	Digger	Bea
1994	I Love Trouble	Jeannie, Peter's Secretary
1995	Mr. Holland's Opus	Principal Helen Jacobs
	Mighty Aphrodite	Jocasta
	Jeffrey	Mrs. Marcangelo
	Dead Badge	Dr. Doris Rice
	Young at Heart	Rose Garaventi
1996	Milk & Money	Goneril Plogg
	Jerusalem	Mother (Mrs. Gordon)
	Mother	Mrs. Jay
1997	A Match Made in Heaven	Helen Rosner
	Picture Perfect	Rita Mosley
1998	Better Living	Nora
	Jane Austen's Mafia!	Sophia
	The Pentagon Wars	Madam Chairwoman
1999	Joan of Arc	Mother Babette
2000	Brooklyn Sonnet	Helen Manners
2003	Charlie's War	Charlie
	The Event	Lila	Nominated - Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress
2005	Whiskey School	Ellen Haywood
	3 Needles	Hilde the Missionary Nun
	The Thing About My Folks	Muriel Kleinman
	The Great New Wonderful	Judy Hillerman	segment "Judy's Story"
	The Intended	Erina
2006	Day on Fire	Dr. Mary Wade
	Away from Her	Marian
	Jesus, Mary and Joey	Sophia Vitello
2007	In the Land of Women	Phyllis
2008	Poor Things
	The Price of Art	Esther	pre-production
2011	Montana Amazon	Ira	post-production

External links

• Please use a more specific IBDB template. See the documentation for available templates.
• Olympia Dukakis at the TCM Movie Database