LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Olympia Dukakis: Boston University
built 621 days ago
When Olympia Dukakis won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar as Rose, Cher's wry mom in Moonstruck (1987), few of her new legions of adoring fans realized she was a 25-year acting veteran. The cousin of 1988 presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, the actress was born to Greek immigrant parents on January 20, 1931, in Lowell, Mass., and began acting onstage after attending Boston University.
Source:
Olympia Dukakis, seen here performing in "Rose" in New York in 2000, plays the title character entirely from a seated position. "I've grown to love doing it that way," she says. In Boston, she'll perform a 95-minute concert version of the one-woman play.
Source:
The daughter of Greek immigrants, Olympia grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts in a neighborhood where ethnic discrimination, particularly against Greeks, was routine. She made her stage debut at thirteen in a benefit for Greek war relief and acting became her first love. Early in her career, she was advised to change her name to something "less ethnic." She refused, despite the fact that it would have paved the way to a greater variety of roles, and remained undeterred in her desire to become an actor. After high school, she obtained a degree in physical therapy and worked as a therapist during the height of the polio epidemic. She saved her money, returned to school and earned a Masters in Fine Arts at Boston University's School of the Performing Arts.
Source:
A yearning to believe in 'Rose' Boston Globe As a lesson in acting technique, Olympia Dukakis's performance in Martin Sherman's "Rose" is virtuosic. As a theatrical experience... this one-woman show at the Boston Center for the Arts delivers less than it should.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Boston University