Oscar-winning Moonstruck actress Olympia Dukakis dies at 89
b"Her banter with Cher was among the film\\u2019s highlights, including a scene in which Dukakis scolded her daughter during a kitchen dissection of her love life.\\n\\n\\u201cYour life\\u2019s going down the toilet,\\u201d Dukakis said in her throaty voice.\\n\\nAt another point, she tells Cher it is good she did not love her fiance. \\u201cWhen you love them, they drive you crazy because they know they can.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cMoonstruck,\\u201d considered one of Hollywood\\u2019s great romantic comedies, won three Academy Awards, including Cher as best actress, and was nominated in three other categories, including best picture. It also was one of the highest-grossing films of 1987.\\n\\nIn accepting her Oscar as best supporting actress in April 1988, when her cousin was battling to become the Democratic Party\\u2019s presidential nominee, she thanked Jewison, her husband and a few others.\\n\\nShe then raised the golden statuette over her head and shouted to the worldwide TV audience, \\u201cOK, Michael, let\\u2019s go.\\u201d\\n\\nMichael Dukakis won the nomination but lost badly in the general election to Republican George H.W. Bush. Olympia Dukakis embraced liberal views like her cousin, advocating for causes including women\\u2019s rights, gay rights and the environment.\\n\\nDukakis was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on June 20, 1931 and continued to act into her 80s.\\n\\nReferring to becoming a movie star at an age when many actresses have a hard time finding good roles, Dukakis told the Guardian newspaper in 2012, \\u201cWho knows how that happened? Chance, fate or a bit of both. But I\\u2019m very glad I did \\u2018Moonstruck.\\u2019 It meant that I woke up the next day and was finally able to pay the bills.\\u201d\\n\\nDukakis said she enjoyed her fame after \\u201cMoonstruck.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cThe fun part is that people pass me on the street and yell lines from my movies,\\u201d she told the Los Angeles Times in 1991. \\u201cFor \\u2018Moonstruck\\u2019 they say, \\u2018You\\u2019re life is going down the toilet.'\\u201d\\n\\nHer TV appearances included playing a transgender landlady in the 1993 miniseries \\u201cArmistead Maupin\\u2019s Tales of the City\\u201d and its 1998 and 2001 follow-ups.\\n\\nOther films included \\u201cCloudburst\\u201d (2011) playing a foul-mouthed lesbian, \\u201cAway from Her\\u201d (2006) with Julie Christie, \\u201cThe Event\\u201d (2003), \\u201cBetter Living\\u201d (1998) with Roy Scheider, \\u201cNever Too Late\\u201d (1996) with Cloris Leachman, and \\u201cDad\\u201d (1989) with Jack Lemmon and Ted Danson."