Photo: Mireya Acierto/Getty Images
Olympia Dukakis, the actress best known for her role in the 1987 filmMoonstruck,has died. She was 89.
Her brother, Apollo, announced the news in aFacebook poston Saturday. He did not share Dukakis' cause of death but noted that she had been ill for some time.
“My beloved sister, Olympia Dukakis, passed away this morning in New York City. After many months of failing health she is finally at peace and with her Louis,” Apollo wrote, citing Dukakis' late husband, Louis Zorich.
Born in 1931 in Lowell, Massachusetts, the star was the daughter of a Greek-born, American-educated lawyer named Constantine, who died in 1975. Her mother, Alexandra, was also born in Greece and worked in cotton mills in Massachusetts.
Dukakis, the cousin of former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, began her career as a theater actress before entering the world of film with her Oscar-winning role inMoonstruck.In addition to the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, her performance earned her a Golden Globe and a BAFTA nomination.
“I’m so worldly and sophisticated,” shetold PEOPLEahead ofthe Oscarsin 1988. “When I heard I’d been nominated, I jumped up and down 50 times, like a child.”
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Olympia Dukakis.Theo Wargo/Getty Images
“We have the same demeanor,” Cher said of her and Dukakis at the time. “We laughed a lot. It was easy to step into our mother-daughter relationship. She even ad-libbed pinching me.”
“Her timing is astounding,” added Jewison of Dukakis.
Dukakis was also known for her role as Clairee Belcher in Herbert Ross' 1989 filmSteel Magnolias.
source: people.com
