From Publishers Weekly
Who can forget Rose Castorini, the feisty Italian mother Dukakis played in 1988's Moonstruck? Dukakis won an Academy Award for her performance and went on to star in Steel Magnolias, Mighty Aphrodite and other films. But most viewers are unaware of Dukakis's laudable stage career of more than 40 years (she's appeared in over 125 productions). In this uplifting autobiography, the first-generation Greek-American recounts her life and work. Dukakis-born in 1931 and a cousin of one-time presidential hopeful Michael-grew up in Lowell, Mass. She and her brother, Apollo, staged plays in the backyard while their parents worked difficult factory jobs. After high school, Dukakis wanted to pursue acting seriously and figured the best way to do it was to make a lot of money doing something-it turned out to be working as a physical therapist-and then moving to New York to act. And that's exactly what she did. Battling low self-esteem, feelings of sorrow and rejection, and facing ethnic and gender biases, Dukakis eventually made it as an actor and, in 1973, launched a theater company with her husband in New Jersey. Playing Rose in Moonstruck changed her life ("Just a few weeks before I had been clipping coupons and shopping for bargain jeans, while working 10 to 12 hour days at the theater. Now I was checking into the Four Seasons"). Although the memoir leaves a few questions unanswered and Dukakis's prose is sometimes vague, this is still a fine portrait of a hardworking, dedicated, proud and inspiring woman, by turns affecting and laugh-out-loud funny. Photos not seen by PW.
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From Booklist
Her "overnight success," which was 30 years in the making, came in 1988, when Dukakis won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Rose Castorini in
Moonstruck. Although it was not her most challenging role, she recognized why it fit her so well: the ethnicity, the attitude, and the confidence of a matriarchal caregiver. The late 1980s were a fabulous time to be a Dukakis--not only did Olympia win an Oscar but her first cousin Michael was the Democratic nominee for president. Being an Oscar-winning actress meant the phone started to ring continually (she took advantage of her good fortune by constantly promoting the local theater company she and her husband ran), and for the first time, she did not have to worry about how they'd pay the mortgage on their sizable home. Olympia artfully unfolds what makes her tick, from her complex relationship with her pessimistic mother to what it was like to mingle with such greats as Shirley MacLaine ("as high-spirited and generous as she seems") and Julia Roberts ("absolutely no formal training and held her own"). With a heavy promotion schedule planned, expect demand.
Mary Frances WilkensCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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