Olympia Dukakis


Olympia Mary Dukakis is a Greek American actress. She started her career in theater and 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 in 1987 she won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA nomination for her performance in Moonstruck. She received another Golden Globe nomination for Sinatra and Emmy Award nominations for Lucky Day, More Tales of the City, and Joan of Arc.

Early life

Dukakis was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, the daughter of Alexandra "Alec" and Constantine "Costa" S. Dukakis. Her parents were Greek emigrants, her father originally from Anatolia and her mother from the Peloponnese. She has a brother named Apollo and is a cousin of Michael Dukakis, 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.

Career

Dukakis has appeared in a number 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 in the mini-series of Frank Sinatra's life. Her Broadway theatre credits include Who's Who in Hell and Social Security. She appeared in Martin Sherman's one-woman play Rose, about a woman who survived the Warsaw Ghetto, in London and then on Broadway 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 an Academy 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, ', In the Land of Women, and Away From Her, the 2006 film which cast her alongside Gordon Pinsent as the spouses of two Alzheimers patients.
In 1998, she starred as Charlotte Kiszko in the British TV drama A Life for a Life: The True Story of Stefan Kiszko, based on the real-life story of Stefan Kiszko, a man wrongfully imprisoned for seventeen years for the murder of a child, Lesley Molseed, after police suppressed evidence of his innocence.
In 2008, Dukakis directed the world premiere production of Todd Logan's Botanic Garden at Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. 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, and 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.
In 2011, Dukakis guest-starred on '. She played the role of Debby Marsh, an attorney. In 2013 she starred in and executive-produced the 2013 film Montana Amazon, co-starring Haley Joel Osment; that same year, on May 24, she was honored with the 2,498th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard, in the category of Live Theater.
In 2018 Olympia Dukakis starred in , which follows an Auschwitz survivor as she recites a true story about a group from the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. The following year, Dukakis reprised the role of Anna Madrigal, which she had first played in 1993, in a Netflix update of Armisted Maupin's Tales of The City.

Personal life

Dukakis was married to actor Louis Zorich from 1962 until his death on January 30, 2018. They have three children. She is the cousin of Michael Dukakis, the 1988 Democratic nominee for president. She is a "sudoku fanatic."

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1951Search for TomorrowDr. Barbara MorenoTelevision series
1962The NursesIoana ChiriacEpisode: "Frieda"
1962Dr. KildareAnna NievesEpisode: "The Legacy"
1974Nicky's WorldIrene KaminiosTelevision film
1975Great PerformancesPaulineEpisode: "The Seagull"
1977The Andros TargetsMarina AngelisEpisode: "The Beast of Athens"
1980FDR: The Final YearsTelevision film
1980Breaking AwayEpisode: "The Cutters"
1982American PlayhouseMama NicolaEpisode: "King of America"
1982One of the BoysProfessorEpisode: "His Cheatin' Heart"
1982The NeighborhoodMrs. St. PaulTelevision film
1986The EqualizerJudge Paula G. WalshEpisode: "Shades of Darkness"
1991Lucky DayKatherine CampbellTelevision film
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1991The General Motors Playwrights TheaterLaura CunninghamEpisode: "The Last Act Is a Solo"
1991Fire in the DarkEmily MillerTelevision film
1992SinatraDolly SinatraTelevision miniseries
4 episodes
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
1993Tales of the CityAnna MadrigalTelevision miniseries
6 episodes
Nominated—British Academy Television Award for Best Actress
1995Young at HeartRose GaraventiTelevision film
1996Touched by an AngelClaraEpisode: "A Joyful Noise"
1997Heaven Will WaitDianaTelevision film
1997'Helen RosnerTelevision film
1998Scattering DadMollyTelevision film
1998'Madam ChairwomanTelevision film
1998More Tales of the CityAnna MadrigalTelevision 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
1998A Life for a LifeCharlotte KiszkoTelevision film
1999Joan of ArcMother BabetteTelevision miniseries
3 episodes
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
2000The Last of the Blonde BombshellsDinahTelevision film
2001And Never Let Her GoMarguerite CapanoTelevision film
2001Ladies and the ChampSara StevensTelevision film
2001Further Tales of the CityAnna MadrigalTelevision miniseries
3 episodes
2001My Beautiful SonEsther LipmanTelevision film
2002Guilty HeartsAmanda PattersonTelevision film
2002The SimpsonsZelda Episode: "The Old Man and the Key"
2002FrasierCaller #3 Episode: "Frasier Has Spokane"
2003Mafia DoctorRoseTelevision film
2003It's All RelativeColeen O'NeilEpisode: "Thanks, But No Thanks"
2004'Margie CarsenTelevision film
2004–2005Center of the UniverseMarge Barnett12 episodes
2006NumbersCharlotte YatesEpisode: "Hot Shot"
2006'Margie CarsenTelevision film
2008Worst WeekJuneEpisodes: "The Ring", "The Wedding"
2010–2011Bored to DeathBelinda4 episodes
2011Debby MarshEpisode: "Pop"
2013The Christmas SpiritGwen HollanderTelevision film
2013–2015Sex & ViolenceAlex MandalakisTelevision miniseries
Also executive producer
12 episodes
2013–2015Forgive MeNovalea9 episodes
2013Mike & MollyNarrator on TVEpisode: "The Princess and the Troll"
2014F to 7thMarieTelevision series
Episode: "Down to Zero"
2014Big DriverDoreenTelevision film
2016TripTankMa / Caller 4 episodes
2019Tales of the CityAnna MadrigalMain cast