Olympia Dukakis, Moonstruck and Steel Magnolias star has died aged 89. The family of US actress, who won an Oscar for her role in the 1987 romantic comedy Moonstruck, made the announcement.
Her brother wrote she was “at peace” after suffering ill health.
Dukakis had a long and distinguished career in theatre, both as a performer and as a director.
But in her 50s she starred in a series of hit comedies on screen, including an award-winning turn as Cher’s mother in Moonstruck.
That run – in the late 1980s – also included roles in Steel Magnolias, Working Girl and Look Who’s Talking.
Other key roles were as a secondary school head teacher in 1995’s Mr Holland’s Opus and as a transgender landlady in the TV series Tales of the City, whose fourth series premiered on Netflix in 2019.
“My beloved sister, Olympia Dukakis, passed away this morning in New York City,” Apollo Dukakis wrote on Facebook.
“After many months of failing health she is finally at peace and with her [husband] Louis.”
