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During a career that spans over 35 years, Olympia Dukakis has worked as an actress, director, producer, teacher, and activist. She received an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actress category, the New York Film Critics Awards, the Los Angeles Film Critics Award, and the Golden Globe Award for her work in the Norman Jewison film "Moonstruck."
Her heart though, has long been in the theatre. Dukakis has received two OBIE Awards for Bertolt Brecht's "A Man's A Man" and Christopher Durang's "The Marriage of Bette and Boo" at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre. Other notable appearances at the Public include Sam Shepard's "Curse of the Starving Class," "Titus Andronicus," "Electra," and "Peer Gynt."
Dukakis made her London debut in 1999 on stage at the Royal National Theatre in Martin Sherman's one-woman play "Rose" to rave reviews. Dukakis then opened "Rose" on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre in the spring of 2000. She also made her debut on British television (BBC) in a made-for-TV movie "A Life for A Life."
Prior to Rose, Dukakis was last seen on Broadway in "Social Security" directed by Mike Nichols. Her other Broadway credits include "Who's Who in Hell," "The Aspern Papers, ""Abraham Cochrane," and" Night of the Iguana." She continues to actively create and develop theatre projects. They include work with Shakespeare and Company on "Lear and Her Daughters," the company Voices of Earth, the new adaptation of "Hecuba" by Timberlake Wertenbaker at ACT in San Francisco, and Singer's Boy by Leslie Ayvazaian at ACT.
As a founding member and Producing Artistic Director of the World Theatre in Montclair, NJ for 19 years (1971-1990), she directed and appeared in many productions, winning accolades time and again. In 1992, Olympia Dukakis became the proud recipient of the New Jersey Governor's Walt Whitman Creative Acts Award.
Olympia Dukakis has appeared in over 125 productions Off-Broadway and regionally. She taught acting in the graduate school at New York University for fifteen years, and currently teaches master classes at various universities and colleges throughout the country.
Recent film releases include" Better Living," "A Match Made in Heaven" with John Stamos and Della Reese for CBS, "Picture Perfect" with Jennifer Aniston and Kevin bacon, and "Mafia! " for Disney. Other feature film releases include "Mr. Holland's Opus, with Richard Dreyfus, Woody Allen's "Mighty Aphrodite," "I Love Trouble" with Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts, "Dead Badge," "The Haunted Heart" with Diane Ladd, "Digger" co-starring Leslie Nielsen and "Look Who's Talking Now!" with John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. Audiences continue to seek out videos of "The Cemetery Club," "Steel Magnolias," "Dad," and "Look Who's Talking."
On television, Dukakis starred in "Tales of the City," a 6-hour mini-series based on the novel by Armistead Maupin, and was a controversial ratings blockbuster for PBS. She went on to star in the sequels "More Tales of the City", and "Further Tales of the City" (Showtime) for which she earned Emmy, Screen Actors Guild, and BAFTA nominations. She starred with Frank Sinatra and Dukakis' real-life husband Louis Zorich in "Young at Heart" on CBS (Emmy nomination). Other TV movie projects include "Scattering Dad" with Andy Griffith, "A Century of Women" a 6-hour mini-series for TBS, "Fire in the Dark" for CBS, "Luck Day" co-starring Amy Madigan for ABC (Emmy nomination), "The Last Act is a Solo" for Nederlander Television for which she received an ACE Award, and "Sinatra," a mini-series for CBS in which Olympia Dukakis portrayed Frank Sinatra's mother (Emmy nomination).
She is a founding member of The National Museum of Women in the Arts and is a member of several outstanding organizations including Broadway Cares, NOW, Women in Film, Congress of Racial Equality, and Amnesty International.
Rooted in this social commitment, her lecture presentations look at life as a journey of growth and possibility and include dramatic readings that showcase her remarkable talent. Whether addressing the richness of life after 50, the immigrant experience in America, or the thought-provoking relationship between maternal and environmental concerns, her moving performances inspire audiences to reach for new and exciting heights.
Her heart though, has long been in the theatre. Dukakis has received two OBIE Awards for Bertolt Brecht's "A Man's A Man" and Christopher Durang's "The Marriage of Bette and Boo" at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre. Other notable appearances at the Public include Sam Shepard's "Curse of the Starving Class," "Titus Andronicus," "Electra," and "Peer Gynt."
Dukakis made her London debut in 1999 on stage at the Royal National Theatre in Martin Sherman's one-woman play "Rose" to rave reviews. Dukakis then opened "Rose" on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre in the spring of 2000. She also made her debut on British television (BBC) in a made-for-TV movie "A Life for A Life."
Prior to Rose, Dukakis was last seen on Broadway in "Social Security" directed by Mike Nichols. Her other Broadway credits include "Who's Who in Hell," "The Aspern Papers, ""Abraham Cochrane," and" Night of the Iguana." She continues to actively create and develop theatre projects. They include work with Shakespeare and Company on "Lear and Her Daughters," the company Voices of Earth, the new adaptation of "Hecuba" by Timberlake Wertenbaker at ACT in San Francisco, and Singer's Boy by Leslie Ayvazaian at ACT.
As a founding member and Producing Artistic Director of the World Theatre in Montclair, NJ for 19 years (1971-1990), she directed and appeared in many productions, winning accolades time and again. In 1992, Olympia Dukakis became the proud recipient of the New Jersey Governor's Walt Whitman Creative Acts Award.
Olympia Dukakis has appeared in over 125 productions Off-Broadway and regionally. She taught acting in the graduate school at New York University for fifteen years, and currently teaches master classes at various universities and colleges throughout the country.
Recent film releases include" Better Living," "A Match Made in Heaven" with John Stamos and Della Reese for CBS, "Picture Perfect" with Jennifer Aniston and Kevin bacon, and "Mafia! " for Disney. Other feature film releases include "Mr. Holland's Opus, with Richard Dreyfus, Woody Allen's "Mighty Aphrodite," "I Love Trouble" with Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts, "Dead Badge," "The Haunted Heart" with Diane Ladd, "Digger" co-starring Leslie Nielsen and "Look Who's Talking Now!" with John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. Audiences continue to seek out videos of "The Cemetery Club," "Steel Magnolias," "Dad," and "Look Who's Talking."
On television, Dukakis starred in "Tales of the City," a 6-hour mini-series based on the novel by Armistead Maupin, and was a controversial ratings blockbuster for PBS. She went on to star in the sequels "More Tales of the City", and "Further Tales of the City" (Showtime) for which she earned Emmy, Screen Actors Guild, and BAFTA nominations. She starred with Frank Sinatra and Dukakis' real-life husband Louis Zorich in "Young at Heart" on CBS (Emmy nomination). Other TV movie projects include "Scattering Dad" with Andy Griffith, "A Century of Women" a 6-hour mini-series for TBS, "Fire in the Dark" for CBS, "Luck Day" co-starring Amy Madigan for ABC (Emmy nomination), "The Last Act is a Solo" for Nederlander Television for which she received an ACE Award, and "Sinatra," a mini-series for CBS in which Olympia Dukakis portrayed Frank Sinatra's mother (Emmy nomination).
She is a founding member of The National Museum of Women in the Arts and is a member of several outstanding organizations including Broadway Cares, NOW, Women in Film, Congress of Racial Equality, and Amnesty International.
Rooted in this social commitment, her lecture presentations look at life as a journey of growth and possibility and include dramatic readings that showcase her remarkable talent. Whether addressing the richness of life after 50, the immigrant experience in America, or the thought-provoking relationship between maternal and environmental concerns, her moving performances inspire audiences to reach for new and exciting heights.
