Olympia Dukakis, Oscar-winning Moonstruck actor, dies aged 89

Olympia Dukakis, the veteran stage and screen actor whose flair for maternal roles helped her win an Oscar as Cher’s mother in the romantic comedy Moonstruck, has died aged 89.

Dukakis died on Saturday morning (local time) in her home in New York City, according to her agent.

A cause of death was not immediately released.

Dukakis won her Oscar through a surprising chain of circumstances, beginning with author Nora Ephron’s recommendation that she play Meryl Streep’s…