• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, MAY 3, 2021 NEWS/FEATURES 13 People & Places Obits Author Matthews dead Oscar-winning actress Dukakis dies aged 89 MAPLEWOOD, NJ, May 2, (AP): Olympia Duka- kis, the veteran stage and screen actor whose fl air for maternal roles helped her win an Oscar as Cher’s mother in the romantic comedy “Moonstruck,” has died. She was 89. Dukakis died Saturday morning in her home in New York City, according to Allison Levy, her agent at In- novative Artists. A cause of death was not immedi- ately released, but her family said in a statement that she had been in failing health for months. Dukakis won her Oscar through a surprising chain of circumstances, beginning with author Nora Ephron’s recommendation that she play Meryl Streep’s mother in the fi lm version of Ephron’s book “Heartburn.” Du- kakis got the role, but her scenes were cut from the fi lm. To make it up to her, director Mike Nichols cast her in his hit play “Social Se- curity.” Director Norman Jew- ison saw her in that role and cast her in “Moonstruck.” Dukakis won the Oscar for best supporting actress and Cher took home the trophy for best actress. She referred to her 1988 win as “the year of the Dukakii” because it was also the year Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis Dukakis, her cousin, was the Democratic Party’s presiden- tial nominee. At the ceremony, she held her Oscar high over her head and called out: “OK, Michael, let’s go!” Members of the Chinese music group Produce Pandas, (from left), Husky, Otter, Mr 17, Cass, and DING strike a pose while practicing dance choreography dur- In 1989, her Oscar statuette was stolen from Duka- ing rehearsals in Beijing, April 15, 2021. The Produce Pandas proudly call themselves ‘the first plus-sized boy band in China.’ That’s a radical departure from the kis’ New Jersey home. industry standard set by Korean super groups such as BTS, whose lanky young members are sometimes referred to in China as ‘little fresh meat.’ (AP) “We’re not pretentious,” her husband, actor Louis Zorich, said at the time. “We kept the Oscar in the kitchen.” Drama Dukakis, who was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Music had yearned to be an actor from an early age and had hoped to study drama in college. Her Greek immigrant parents insisted she pursue a more practical education, so she studied physical therapy at Boston University Musicians blend jazz rhythms across Estonia-Russia border on a scholarship from the National Foundation for In- fantile Paralysis. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she worked at an understaffed hospital in Marmet, West Virginia, and at the Hospital for Contagious Diseases in Boston. ‘Plus-size’ boy band inspires fans But the lure of the theater eventually led her to study drama at Boston University. BEIJING, May 2, (AP): Gathered in the oldest contestant in the competition “I hope people will feel encouraged It was a shocking change, she told an interviewer in a practice room, fi ve generously pro- at age 31. He had been discovered on when watching our performance,” 1988, noting that she had gone from the calm world portioned young men in baggy black Douyin, the Chinese version of Tik- he said. They can think, “If Produce of science to one where students routinely screamed sweaters are patting their bellies and Tok, where he posted clips of himself Pandas can make a breakthrough and at the teachers. waggling their arms. Bearded with dancing in pajamas or while holding a perform on a bigger stage, then ‘why “I thought they were all nuts,” she said. “It was double chins, they shout “Hoo-Ha!” in bowl of rice. can’t I?’” wonderful.” time to upbeat African drums. He nicknamed himself “17” after Her fi rst graduate school performance was a disas- The choreography is for the new his favorite age. The former petroleum Also: ter, however, as she sat wordless on the stage. song “Good Belly,” by Produce Pan- company worker said he doesn’t feel NARVA, Estonia: Two jazz musi- After a teacher helped cure her stage fright, she be- das. DING, Cass, Husky, Otter and old, but admits that after rehearsals, “I cians gave an unusual concert Friday gan working in summer stock theaters. In 1960, she In this May 24, 2013 file photo, Ac- Mr. 17 weigh an average of 100 kilo- felt my energy was emptied.” on the Estonia-Russia border, where made her off-Broadway debut and two years later had tress Olympia Dukakis is honored grams (220 pounds) and proudly call The fi ve were solicited from over Estonian guitarist Jaak Sooäär and a small part in “The Aspern Papers” on Broadway. with a star on the Hollywood Walk of themselves “the fi rst plus-sized boy 300 hopefuls by Beijing-based DMDF Russian saxophonist Alexey Kruglov After three years with a Boston regional theater, Fame for her stage work in front of band in China.” Entertainment, which wanted to build performed from castles on the oppos- Dukakis moved to New York and married Zorich. the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles. That’s a radical departure from the a band that would be rotund and ap- ing banks of the river that separates Olympia Dukakis, the veteran stage industry standard seen in South Ko- proachable as well as inspiring. During their fi rst years of marriage, acting jobs their countries. were scarce, and Dukakis worked as a bartender, wait- and screen actress whose flair for rean super groups such as BTS, whose maternal roles helped her win an Os- lanky young members are sometimes Weight The musicians combined rhythms ress and other jobs. car as Cher’s mother in the romantic on International Jazz Day as an act of She and Zorich had three children - Christina, Peter referred to in China as “little fresh Husky, who worked in IT, thought comedy ‘Moonstruck,’ has died. She meat.” he would fi t in perfectly because he has friendship, despite the deteriorating and Stefan. They decided it was too hard to raise chil- was 89. (AP) relations between Russia and Estonia. dren in New York with limited income, so they moved Yet, it seems to be working for been chubby since primary school and Produce Pandas, who rose to fame af- has failed repeatedly to lose weight. The coronavirus pandemic has limited the family to a century-old house in Montclair, a New opportunities for cross-border contact. Jersey suburb of New York. ter making it about halfway through “I often work out one day then take “Youth with You,” an idol talent com- a rest for the next three days, so the re- “As the border stayed closed, I have Her Oscar victory kept the motherly fi lm roles com- friends on the other side of the border ing. She was Kirstie Alley’s mom in “Look Who’s petition hosted by iQiyi, one of the sult is clear that I gained some weight Talking” and its sequel “Look Who’s Talking Too,” largest video platforms in China. instead,” he said. The point is “stay in with whom I wanted to play with, so the sardonic widow in “Steel Magnolias” and the On the show, mentors and audience shape (and) not to lose weight, but to we decided to do it,” Sooäär said be- overbearing wife of Jack Lemmon (and mother of Ted voters pick nine fi nalists, either indi- lose fat.” fore the concert. Danson) in “Dad.” viduals or group members, to come Echoing Husky, Cass said the up- For the predominantly Russian- Her recent projects included the 2019 TV minise- together to form a new band. side to being on such a team is that speaking residents of Estonian border ries “Tales of the City” and the upcoming fi lm “Not to “The fi ve of us may not have the they don’t need to abstain when it city Narva, the concert was a chance Forgot.” But the stage was her fi rst love. standard look and shape of a boy band comes to food. to reconnect with their foreign neigh- “My ambition wasn’t to win the Oscar,” she com- but we hope to use the term ‘plus-sized “We don’t mind eating like a horse. bors, albeit through music. band’ to break the aesthetic stereo- I feel sorry for the ‘little fresh meat’ Few places in Europe illustrate the mented after her “Moonstruck” win. “It was to play Lady Gaga Douglas the great parts.” types,” Cass said in an interview. bands whose members must follow a tensions between Russia and the West She accomplished that in such New York productions The fi ve, two of whom formerly diet to stay slim. I feel great whenever as strongly as Hermann Castle, the as Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children,” sang in bars, are also unusual for their they look on enviously as we dig in!” 14th century fortress of Narva, and the Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey into Night” and Variety relatively advanced ages in an industry Team leader DING quit plus-sized medieval fortress built across the river Tennessee Williams’ “The Rose Tattoo.” that worships youth and stamina. Most modeling when he heard about audi- at the end of the 15th century in what is In 2000, she was on Broadway in Martin Sherman’s of their fellow contestants on “Youth tioning for an “XXL” boy band, say- now the Russian town of Ivangorod. one-actor play “Rose,” and received a Drama Desk with You” began South Korean-style ing, “I feel this is probably the closest I LOS ANGELES: The woman who training while in their teens.

Load more

  1

Copy Link