May 1, 2021 by NextTribe Editors · Arts & Culture

Olympia Dukakis, Star of Moonstruck and Steel Magnolias, Dies at Age 89

We loved Olympia Dukakis for many reasons, but especially because she was a late bloomer who reminded us of all we can achieve at this age.

Olympia Dukakis didn't become a movie star till she was 56. She'd spent most of her career till then doing independent theater productions in and around New York. Then she got cast as Rose Castorini, the put-upon Italian mother, in Moonstruck. That's when fame struck.

The role won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1988, while Cher, who played her daughter Loretta, won the Best Actress award. The two—a Greek and Armenian, by ancestry—played an Italian mother and daughter with great gusto. "Ms. Dukakis stole scene after scene as Rose, Loretta’s sardonic mother, who saw the world clearly and advised accordingly," The New York Times wrote in her obituary.

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