WASHINGTON: Oscar-winning actor Olympia Dukakis known for her role in ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus,’ ‘Steel Magnolias,’ ‘Moonstruck’ has died at the age of 89 years at her home in New York City. According to Fox News, Dukakis’ brother Apollo Dukakis confirmed her demise on Facebook, saying “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 [husband] Louis.” Dukakis rose to unmistakable quality when, at 56 years old, she was given a role as Cher’s pessimistic mother in ‘Moonstruck,’ a role that acquired her a Golden Globe and an Oscar.
That achievement drove Dukakis to play widow Clairee Blecher in ‘Steel Magnolias,’ transsexual landowner Anna Madrigal in the TV series ‘Stories of the City,’ and Principal Jacobs in ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus.’ Dukakis started her acting career and made her Broadway debut in ‘The Aspern Paper’ in 1962. Her first TV execution came that very year in scenes of ‘The Nurses,’ and ‘Dr. Kildare,’ yet her acting remained to a great extent on stage until the last part of the 1980s and mid-1990s. “The fun part is that people pass me on the street and yell lines from my movies,” the actor told the Los Angeles Times in 1991. “For ‘Moonstruck,’ they say ‘Your life is going down the toilet!’ or from ‘Dad’, they say ‘How much are those pork chops?’ They say ‘Do you know who you are?’ It’s real funny.”