Olympia Dukakis (1931-2021)

Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 – May 1, 2021), who found fame in her 50s with an Oscar win for Moonstruck after working for decades on stage and screen, has passed away at the age of 89.

She won a Cosmo at the First Awards for Steel Magnolias, winning Best One-Liner or Camp Quote in Movie History for the line, “If you don’t have anything nice to say about anyone, come sit next to me.” Steel Magnolias was also nominated for Most Quotable Movie of All Time, losing to a tie between The Wizard of Oz and The Women, both 1939 films.

Dukakis was also well-known to Cosmo audiences for her portrayal of Anna Madragal in Tales of the City and its sequels, which was nominated for Best Film with Significant Gay & Lesbian Themes or Characters despite being a made-for-TV movie.

No specific cause of death was disclosed, but her brother, Apollo Dukakis, revealed that she had been ill in his Facebook post announcing her passing: “After many months of failing health she is finally at peace and with her Louis [Zorich, Dukakis’ husband of 55 years who died in January 2018].”

Her cousin, Michael Dukakis, was the Governor of Massachusetts and the Democratic nominee for President in 1988, just as Olympia was coming into her own fame.