Olympia Dukakis–Actress
The Greek American actress Olympia Dukakis was born on June 20th, 1931, in Massachusetts, USA. She was the daughter of Greek immigrants. Her father, Kostas Dukakis, was an Asian Minor who immigrated to America, while her mother, Alexandra, came from Karveli, Messenia. She studied at Boston University College of Fine Arts and began her theatre career in Boston in 1958. In 1963, she debuted in Robert Rosen's film "Lilith". In the same year, she won an Obie award for the movie "A Man's a Man" and another Obie two years later for her participation in the film "The Marriage of Bette and Boo". Her appearance in the Broadway production of "Social Security" was later considered her "ticket" to major motion picture productions.
With her Serbian-born husband and actor, Louis Zorich, she had three children: Christina, Peter and Stefan. In 1965, he began teaching at the New School of Arts at Tisch University of the Arts in New York. In fact, in her honour, a scholarship is given every year in her name to a student of the university who achieved exceptionally high results. In 1987, she won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Moonstruck. Olympia Dukakis acted in a total of over 130 plays, more than 60 films ("Dad", "Blooming Magnolias", "Cloudburst", etc.), and over 50 television series. She stood out on television with her participation in "Tales of the City" (1993) and the following sequel, for which she was even nominated for an Emmy award.
In 2013, she won her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, while in 2018, the documentary by American Cypriot director Haris Mavromichalis, entitled "Olympia" was released. The documentary records aspects of the life and personality of Olympia Dukakis, who returns at the age of 84 to her mother's village, Karveli, following in her family's footsteps in Messenia. In the same year, he received the "Life Achievement Award" in the framework of the 11th "Bridges International Film Festival" under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.
Olympia Dukakis was a cousin of Michael Dukakis, a politician and the Democratic candidate for President of the United States in 1988. She was also an activist for women's rights. Olympia had a close relationship with Greece and the Greek American community in the USA, as she was a member of the Greek American Foundation based in New York. She passed away on May 1st, 2021, at the age of 89, at her home in New York.