By GEOFFREY MURPHY

Early December is a special time of the year: Winter is just beginning to make its presence felt, the holiday season is kicking into full gear, and the fall semester's end is in sight. This year, it also brought the Drama Division the honor of a visit by Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis, who came to talk to students on December 6.

Olympia Dukakis spoke with students in the Drama Division last December. (Photo by Jessica Katz)

Dukakis was introduced by faculty member Stuart Howard to a large audience of drama students crowded into Room 304. Wearing a leather jacket and comfortable clothes, the vibrant septuagenarian Dukakis looked 20 years younger than her age and quite at home in the environment as she and Howard engaged in an open conversation about acting and life.

Born in Lowell, Mass., to Greek immigrant parents, Dukakis originally went to Boston University for her undergraduate studies. She did not, however, major in theater. Rather, she chose the "practical" study of physical therapy. Only later—after college and some time working as a physical therapist—did she find her true calling, and return to B.U. to earn her M.F.A. in acting.

Dukakis is, first and foremost, an actress of the theater, and it has been in the theater that she has spent most of her time. She has worked at virtually every level in the theater and performed often on and off Broadway, and at the nation's most prestigious regional theaters (including a long association with the Williamstown Theater Festival, where she served as associate director). Her early work onstage, interestingly enough, had her playing against type: she was cast as a 60-year-old and as a 100-year-old woman in her first two roles.

The first topic brought to the table by Howard was the Whole Theater Company, which Dukakis founded in 1973 in New Jersey and ran until it folded in 1988. Running the theater, she said, was "full of contradictions. It was like trying to live with a stick in your eye. It was exciting to bring together different people who you thought had real talent, and abilities, and different ways of seeing things. We did new plays, and did the classics when somebody had a really interesting idea about how to do them." She now mentors young people starting theater companies of their own, and extended this same invitation to the students of Juilliard.

In the course of discussing the Whole Theater, Dukakis described the cultural movement in the arts that led to its creation. "In the '60s and '70s, there was a great energy about actors making theater, not waiting around for producers. So actors would start theaters … there was the idea that they would get together, and not be the recalcitrant and precocious children that they are (certainly that they are treated as)—but they would actually manage their affairs. You know, have a budget. Stick to the budget. Actually be like grownups."

A theme Dukakis returned to often was that life need not be solitary, or only about the work of an artist. "You can have it all," she shouted encouragingly toward the end of the conversation. "You can have a career, you can get married, and you can have children!" She spoke at length about her successful marriage of 44 years to fellow actor Louis Zorich (best known to Juilliard students as "Pete," the owner of the diner where Kermit the Frog works in the film The Muppets Take Manhattan), and their achievement of raising three children together, as an example of how actors can lead lives that are normal outside the profession.

It is a challenge, however, to support yourself and your family while being a professional actor. "Before we had children, it didn't matter … If we didn't have money, well … we went to Nathan's and had hot dogs. But, you know, with children there has got to be milk in the fridge and things had to happen."

Dukakis went on to recount her efforts to support her family. "I started to stand up for myself in terms of salaries [at the theaters where she worked] … I think I always made it my business to be in [the negotiations], and I think running the Whole Theater really helped me. I have no difficulty saying what I want, why I want it, where it has to be; negotiating 'I'll give you this, you give me that.' My mind thinks like that and figures like that now." She also had a plethora of day jobs, but "I couldn't hold a job for longer than a month. … I was a waitress. I sold Arthur Murray dance lessons on the telephone … I was a copy editor, a fake banker for about a month. Everything was faking." But eventually, her hard work would pay off.

In 1988, after working in the industry for nearly 30 years, Dukakis was catapulted to fame when she was awarded the Academy Award for best supporting actress for her work in the film Moonstruck, in which she played the mother of Cher's character. "1988 was a great year for Greeks. One won the Academy Award, and one ran for president," Dukakis joked—referring to her cousin Michael Dukakis, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. presidency against George H. W. Bush.

Dukakis's words served to inspire and instruct us. One thing certainly was made clear: that she is an artist of determination, spirit, and the highest integrity. Her long and successful career is certainly an admirable model for young actors everywhere.

Geoffrey Murphy is a first-year drama student.