Boston, MA – Boston University College of Fine Arts is pleased to announce that School of Theatre alumnus, Olympia Dukakis (’53, ’70), was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the iconic Pantages Theatre. The ceremony coincided with The Greek America Foundation’s Gabby Awards of which Dukakis is a supporter and Foundation board member.
Long a vital, respected actor of the classic and contemporary stage, and the epitome of Mediterranean-styled weariness, the star was presented by Leron Gubler, President of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce on Friday, May 24, 2013 in recognition of her amazing work on stage.
Olympia Dukakis was born on June 20, 1931, in Lowell, Massachusetts, the daughter of Greek immigrants Constantine and Alexandra Dukakis. She majored in physical therapy at Boston University, and later returned to her alma mater and entered the graduate program in performing arts, earning a Master of Fine Arts degree.
Dukakis found early success by distinguishing herself first on stage performing in summer stock and with several repertory and Shakespearean companies throughout the country. She made her Broadway debut as an understudy in The Aspern Papers at age 30, followed by very short runs in the plays Abraham Cochrane (1964) and Who’s Who in Hell (1974). In 1999, she premiered a one-woman play, Rose, at the National Theatre in London and subsequently on Broadway in 2000. The play earned her an Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama Desk Award nomination, and she continues to tour the country with it. Most recently she was seen on the New York stage in the Roundabout Theatre’s production of The Milktrain Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore (2011), in San Francisco in A.C.T.’s production of Vigil (2011), and as Prospera in The Tempest (2012) at Shakespeare & Co. She has performed in more than 130 productions Off-Broadway and regionally at theatres including the Public Theatre, A.C.T., Shakespeare in the Park, Shakesepare & Co., and the Williamstown Summer Theatre Festival, where she also served as Associate Director. She will be seen again at Shakespeare & Co. in the summer of 2013 at the title role in Mother Courage and Her Children.
