Matinee Classics - Olympia Dukakis Biography & Filmography

Olympia Dukakis ACTOR

OLYMPIA DUKAKIS BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Olympia Dukakis was born on June 20th, 1931 in Lowell, Massachusetts, born to Constantine and Alexandra Dukakis. Her father was part of an acting troupe and he encouraged his daughter to perform with them as a teenager.

After graduating from Arlington High School in Arlington, Massachusetts she went on to study Physical Therapy at Boston University earning her degree and later returning to the same school to pursue a graduate degree in performing arts.

While trying to break into the film industry she supported herself with physical therapy jobs and first found work as a stage actress performing in summer stock as well as with a number of Shakespearean companies throughout the country.

Some of her early stage roles were in such productions as, "The Aspern Papers", "Abraham Cochrane" and "Who's Who in Hell". Soon she began adding such film credits to her resume as, "John and Mary" (1969), "Made for Each Other" (1971), "The Idolmaker" (1980) and "Moonstruck" (1987), for which she earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Other successful film roles soon followed such as, "Steel Magnolias" (1989), "Dad" (1989), "Look Who's Talking" (1989), "The Cemetery Club" (1993) and "Mr. Holland's Opus" (1995).

Later in her career she chose to also work at New York University as a master instructor. She also maintained her love for the stage and added such plays to her credits as, "A Man's a Man", "The Cherry Orchard", "Mother Courage", "The Rose Tattoo", "The Seagull" and "The Marriage of Bette and Boo".

Olympia Dukakis has married only one time to Louis Zorich whom she wed in 1962 and has three children with. Her and her husband founded the Whole Theatre Company in Montclair, New Jersey which they ran from 1973 through 1988.

In addition to her career as an actress she has been involved on the other side of the industry as a director on such productions as, "Orpheus Descending", "The House Bernarda Alba", "Uncle Vanya", "A Touch of the Poet" and "Kennedy's Children" among others.

More recently, Olympia has been seen in the films, "In the Land of Women" (2007), "Montana Amazon" (2011), "Birds of a Feather" (2011), "The Last Keepers" (2011), "Adventures of the Dunderheads" (2012) and the television series, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (2011) and "Bored to Death" (2010-2011).