Olympia Dukakis (born June 20, 1931) is an Academy Award-winning American actress.
Dukakis was born in Lowell, Massachusetts to Alexandra Christos and Constantine Dukakis, Greek immigrants to the United States. She has a brother, Apollo, and is a cousin of Michael Dukakis, the former governor of Massachusetts who was the Democratic candidate for president in 1988. She is an alumnus of Arlington High School in Arlington, Massachusetts, and was educated at Boston University.
Dukakis has starred in films, including Steel Magnolias, Mr. Holland's Opus, The Thing About My Folks, and Moonstruck, for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She also played the role of Anna Madrigal in the Tales of the City television mini-series, which garnered her an Emmy Award nomination. Her Broadway theatre credits include Who's Who in Hell, Social Security, and the one-woman play Rose. Her theater, film, and television work has won her an Obie Award, a Drama Desk Award, a Los Angeles Drama...
Created by dipity on Feb 7, 2008
Last updated: 03/04/10 at 11:05 AM
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The Great New Wonderful is a 2006 film written by Sam Catlin and directed by Danny Leiner.The Great New Wonderful is a series of vignettes of incidents taking place concurrently around Manhattan. The only other thing linking the incidents is the month in which they occur: September 2002. Reoccuring themes include Frustration and Sugar.The vignettes include:The movie is overall confusing and it left me not knowing the point of the story, so i cane to wikipedia to see if other people knew what is was about and apparently no one does....
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402230
Away From Her is a Canadian film which debuted at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. The feature-length directorial debut of Canadian actor Sarah Polley, the film is based on Alice Munro's short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain", from the 2001 collection Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage.The film stars Gordon Pinsent and Julie Christie as a couple whose marriage is tested when Christie's character begins to suffer from Alzheimer's and moves into a nursing home, where she loses virtually all memory of her husband and begins to develop a romance with another nursing home resident.The cast also includes Olympia Dukakis, Michael Murphy, Wendy Crewson, Alberta Watson, and Kristen Thomson.Atom Egoyan, Polley's director in The Sweet Hereafter, is the film's executive producer.The film also played in the Premier category at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.The film was distributed by Lionsgate Films....,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491747
Day on Fire is an American film which was produced by Lodestar Entertainment and filmed in New York City and Israel in 2006. It is written and directed by Jay Anania, stars Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis, Carmen Chaplin and Martin Donovan and is produced by William Fisch and Larry Rattner. The film was scored by John Medeski with vocals by Judy Kuhn.Day on Fire was screened at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2006 and will be screened at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival on September 13, 2006. Director Jay Anania and cast Olympia Dukakis, Carmen Chaplin and Martin Donovan will attend the Toronto screening and answer questions from the audience.Day on Fire tells the story of a singer, a model, an Arab woman journalist, and a physician as they criss-cross New York City over a 12 hour period. Their intersecting lives unfold against the backdrop of a ghastly suicide bombing in Israel, and the strange New York City wanderings of a malevolent Handsome Man, whose predatory intents...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814072
3 Needles is a 2005 dramatic film directed by Thom Fitzgerald. The title, 3 Needles, refers to the three main characters who make a deal with the devil in order to survive a global epidemic. Shawn Ashmore stars as a Canadian porn star hiding the fact he is HIV positive. Stockard Channing is his mother who learns the truth. The second individual is a blood buyer in China Lucy Liu who fails to take adequate precautions with the blood. Finally, in Africa, Olympia Dukakis, Chloe Sevigny, and Sandra Oh are Catholic nuns caring for their HIV-infected patients.3 Needles debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival, before showing at countless festivals in London, Stockholm, Karlovy Vary, Seattle, and Pusan. It made its commercial release in the United States at the New York City Museum of Modern Art on December 1, 2006 (World AIDS Day). Leading up to its U.S. premier, it was heavily promoted by the United Nations Global Media AIDS Initiative. The film won prizes for cinematography and...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395424
The Thing About My Folks is a 2005 film directed by Raymond De Felitta.
In the beginning of the movie, Muriel Kleinman leaves her husband Sam suddenly, only leaving a note on the fridge, explaining that she's left to be alone, not knowing where she's going, and stating that Sam is the reason their marriage fell apart. While Ben's wife and his three sisters try to find her, Ben takes Sam on a day trip to see a farmhouse that's for sale. The day trip turns into a road trip while dad and son explore their past, their relationship, and why Sam's wife might have left him. The road trip includes fishing, drinking, playing pool, sleeping under the stars, and frank discussion.
After the night under the stars, When Sam awakes, he finds Ben on the phone with the hospital. Muriel went on vacation, and had a few leisurely days by herself, but began blacking out. The Doctors give her 6 months, and Ben & Sam visit Muriel at the hospital. Sam explains he never knew that he cared too little, and...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429177
The Librarian: Quest for the Spear is a movie which was originally released on American cable channel TNT in December 2004, directed by Peter Winther and starring Noah Wyle in the title role.
Taglines:Noah Wyle plays Flynn Carsen, a 30-something perpetual college student who has 22 academic degrees. Carsen’s professor kicks him out of college, telling Carsen that he lacks real life experience and needs to experience life outside of college. Carsen’s mother, Margie (Olympia Dukakis) is a typical mother, worried about her son and constantly encouraging him to get a job, find a girl, and be happy.
Carsen receives a mysterious invitation for an interview at the Metropolitan Public Library. Shortly after Carsen’s odd but successful interview, he is shown the true duties of his new job by a doleful library employee, Charlene (Jane Curtin), and library head Judson, (Bob Newhart) . The position of librarian, Carsen’s new job, has existed for centuries, and its purpose is to protect...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412915
Joan of Arc is a 1999 two-part television miniseries about the 15th century Catholic Saint of the same name. The film stars Leelee Sobieski as Saint Joan. A joint production of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Alliance Atlantis Communications, the film was shown internationally in 1999.
The film received four Golden Globe Award nominations. Peter O'Toole won the Emmy award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.
...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0178145
Mafia!, also known as Jane Austen's Mafia! is a 1998 comedy film directed by Jim Abrahams and starring Jay Mohr, Lloyd Bridges, Olympia Dukakis, and Christina Applegate. It spoofs Coppola's Godfather series and various other mafia films, notably Scorsese's Casino and Goodfellas. The film also parodies movies in other genres, ranging from Forrest Gump to Il Postino and The English Patient.
Jane Austen's Mafia! received dismal reviews.
Like The Godfather: Part II, the narrative of Mafia! consists of a series of flashbacks interwoven with the main plot. Jay Mohr plays Tony, the son of a prominent Mafia don, Vincenzo Armani Windbreaker Cortino (Bridges). As the film opens, Tony introduces the main thread when he exits a Vegas casino and walks to his car, accompanied by a voiceover explaining his philosophy of life. When he starts the car, it explodes.
The story then regresses more than half a century to describe the boyhood of Tony's father, Vincenzo, who was born in Italy, the clumsy...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120741
Never Too Late is a 1997 Canadian drama/comedy film, starring Olympia Dukakis, Jean Lapointe and Corey Haim. It was filmed in Montréal, Québec.
Tagline: Four old friends reunite to investigate the death of a good friend.
Joseph, Rose and Olive suspect Carl, the owner of a retirement home of misusing the funds of the home's residents. Together they set out to protect their unhealthy friend Woody from being taken advantage of.
...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119775
Mighty Aphrodite is a 1995 comedy film, written by, directed by and starring Woody Allen.
Allen plays Lenny, a sportswriter, who is married to Amanda (Helena Bonham Carter). Unwilling to have children of their own, they adopt a child. As the child grows and shows intellectual abilities, Lenny becomes obsessed with the children's birth parents, who he is convinced are likewise brilliant.
However, Lenny finds the birth mother, Linda (Mira Sorvino), is a prostitute and part-time porn star with limited intellectual interests and an incredibly squeaky voice. Lenny wants to free Linda from her life, but must deal with her pimp, Ricky (Dan Moran) and a society which feels morally superior to Linda because of her professional life.
The plot is clearly based on the myth of Pygmalion, which was also explored in the George Bernard Shaw play of the same name and the musical made from the play, My Fair Lady. Allen continues the classical theme by using a Greek Chorus as a sounding board for...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113819
Mr. Holland's Opus is a 1996 drama film in which Richard Dreyfuss plays Glenn Holland, a musician and composer who takes a teaching job to pay the rent while trying to compose one memorable piece of music to make him famous.
The film features an orchestral score by Michael Kamen and many pieces of classical music. Kamen also wrote An American Symphony, the work Mr. Holland is shown working on throughout the movie.
The movie was written by Patrick Sheane Duncan (for which he received a Golden Globe nomination) and directed by Stephen Herek. Dreyfuss was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. It also stars Glenne Headly, Jay Thomas, Olympia Dukakis, William H. Macy, Alicia Witt, Terrence Howard, Jean Louisa Kelly, and Joanna Gleason.
This movie was rated PG, for mild language (including cursing in American Sign Language) by the MPAA.
In the United States, gross domestic takings totalled US$ 82,569,971. International takings are estimated at $23,700,000, for a gross worldwide...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113862
Look Who's Talking is a 1989 comedy film which stars John Travolta (James Ubriacco) and Kirstie Alley (Mollie). Bruce Willis plays the voice of Mollie's son, Mikey. The movie also features George Segal as Mollie's client, Albert, who is the illegitimate father of Mikey. It was written and directed by Amy Heckerling.
Mollie, a qualified accountant, is currently having an affair with her client, Albert. When she becomes pregnant with Albert's child (although she tells her parents the father is a sperm donor), Albert says he will leave his wife and raised the child with Mollie. When Mollie discovers Albert with another woman while shopping with her best friend, Albert admits that he is not going to live with Mollie, but with the woman Mollie caught him with, who is his interior designer. While storming away in rage while her best friend and the interior designer attack Albert on the street, Mollie goes into labor; she hastily gets into a taxicab. The driver, James, realizing that his...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097778
Steel Magnolias, by Robert Harling, is a 1987 off-Broadway play, made into a successful movie in 1989. Based on the author's experience with the death of his sister, Steel Magnolias is a comedy-drama about the bond among a group of southern women in northwest Louisiana.
The action centers around Truvy's beauty parlor and some women who regularly gather there. The drama begins on the morning of Shelby's wedding to Jackson and covers events over the next year, including Shelby's decision to have a child despite having Type 1 diabetes and the complications that result from the decision. We also get a glimpse of the unlikely friendship between Claire and Ouiser; Annelle's transformation from a shy, anxious newcomer in town, to a partying woman, then to a religious fundamentalist; and Truvy's relationships with the men in her family. Although the main storyline involves Shelby, her mother, and Shelby's medical battles, the underlying group-friendship among all six women is prominent...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098384
Moonstruck is a 1987 romantic comedy film directed by Norman Jewison.
This film is number 72 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies" and number 41 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 LaughsThe story is about a middle aged, Italian-American woman named Loretta Castorini (Cher) who is engaged to Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello), but before their marriage he has to visit his dying mother in Palermo, Italy. Loretta's father, Cosmo (Vincent Gardenia) does not approve the marriage because he believes Loretta has bad luck in marriage (which she had stated to Johnny herself) and that Johnny is a mama's boy. Loretta was married once already. Her first husband died because he was hit by a bus. Her mother, Rose (Olympia Dukakis) does not really care about the marriage, but her question is:
Johnny calls Loretta from Palermo and says that he wants her to talk to his younger brother, Ronny (Nicolas Cage) in coming to the wedding. At first, Ronny was resistant to Loretta's demands in coming to wedding, but...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093565
The Rehearsal (Gr. I Dokimi)is a 1974 film produced by Jules Dassin that is a cinemagraphic indictment of the Greek junta of 1967-1974.
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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072074
Olympia Dukakis was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Middlesex County
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