Olympia Dukakis to Receive Hollywood Walk of Fame Star

By City News Service

Oscar-winning actress Olympia Dukakis will receive the 2,498th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Friday, honoring her performances in more than 130 stage productions.

Joining Dukakis in speaking in the 11:30 a.m. ceremony in front of the Pantages Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard are Ed Asner, who played her husband in the 2004-2005 CBS comedy "Center of the Universe," and appeared with her in a 1962 episode of the NBC medical drama "Dr. Kildare," and Diane Ladd, who joined Dukakis in the cast of the 1993 film comedy, "The Cemetery Club" and the 2003 drama "Charlie's War."

Born June 20, 1931, in Lowell, Mass., the daughter of Greek immigrants and the cousin of Michael S. Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, Dukakis received a bachelor's degree in physical therapy at Boston University, where she later returned to earn a master's degree in fine arts.

Dukakis found early success in summer stock and with several repertory and Shakespearean companies throughout the nation. She made her Broadway debut in 1962 as an understudy in "The Aspern Papers," an adaptation of the Henry James novella about a man's hopes of seeing a dead poet's correspondence.

Dukakis received a Drama Desk Award nomination for outstanding solo performance on Broadway in 2000 as a Holocaust survivor in the one-woman play "Rose."

Her theater credits also include "A Man's a Man," and "The Marriage of Bette and Boo," which both brought her Obie Awards; many performances as the title role in "Hecuba"; "Six Characters in Search of an Author"; "The Rose Tattoo"; "The Seagull"; and several productions of "The Cherry Orchard" and "Mother Courage."

Dukakis also performed at the Public Theatre, Shakespeare in the Park, Shakespeare & Co. and the Williamstown Summer Theatre Festival, where she also served as associate director.

Dukakis won a best supporting actress Oscar for her portrayal of the sardonic mother of a widowed 37-year-old accountant (Cher) in the 1987 romantic comedy "Moonstruck."

Dukakis also portrayed the mothers of characters played by Dustin Hoffman in "John and Mary"; Joseph Bologna in "Made for Each Other"; and Ray Sharkey in "The Idolmaker."

Dukakis also appeared in the films "Steel Magnolias"; "Dad"; "Look Who's Talking"; "Mr. Holland's Opus"; and "Mother."

On television, Dukakis has appeared in more than 40 series and miniseries, including "Tales of the City" and its sequels "More Tales of the City" and "Further Tales of the City"; "Sinatra"; "Last of the Blonde Bombshells"; "Joan of Arc"; and "Bored to Death."

The unveiling of the star comes one day before the presentation of the Gabby Awards, the top achievement awards for Greek North Americans, at the El Capitan Theatre. Dukakis is a member of the Board of Directors of the Greek America Foundation, which conducts the ceremony.