The Only Actors Still Alive From The Cast Of Moonstruck

The Oscar-nominated 1987 romantic comedy "Moonstruck" has maintained its popularity for years. It's easy to see how viewers were bowled over by Oscar nominee director Norman Jewison's film: the Oscar-winning script by playwright John Patrick Shanley understands that love can be messy and confusing and infuriating, but it's also rewarding and freeing and life-confirming. It also looks gorgeous, carries loads of authentic New York/Italian atmosphere (even though much of the film's interiors were shot in Canada), and eminently quotable dialogue ("In time you'll drop dead and I'll come to your funeral in a red dress"). 

Chief among its many extraordinary qualities is its cast, led by Cher, who won an Oscar for the film, and a pre-megastardom Nicolas Cage as her unlikely lover. They're supported by an unimpeachable cast of stage, film and television talent, including Olympia Dukakis, who won an Oscar as Cher's acerbic mother; Oscar nominee Vincent Gardenia as her philandering father; John Mahoney as a self-impressed professor Dukakis meets at a restaurant; Danny Aiello as Cher's timid fiancée; Russian actor Feodor Chaliapin Jr., who began his acting career in silent movies, as her grandfather; and veteran actors Julie Bovasso, Louis Guss, Paula Trueman, and Helen Hanft as various relatives and family friends. 

Sadly, all of the supporting cast members referenced here are no longer with us — though Cher and Cage, as well as a handful of supporting players, remains active today. Following is a spoiler-heavy list of the only actors still alive from the cast of "Moonstruck."

Nicolas Cage, who played the passionate Ronnie Cammereri in "Moonstruck," was initially not interested in appearing in Norman Jewison's film. "I wanted to be punk rock," he told USA Today in 2021. "I didn't want to do a schmaltzy movie about opera." Cage's heart was set on appearing in the 1989 horror-comedy "Vampire's Kiss" –- an indie feature which showcased one of his most unbridled performances -– and told then-agent Ed Limato that he would only do "Moonstruck" if he could do "Vampire." Limato struck the deal, and while "Vampire's Kiss" found a minor following (and helped built a cult around Cage's acting), "Moonstruck" earned him a Golden Globe nomination and led to his ascent as a major Hollywood star.

In the years since "Moonstruck," Cage has undergone almost as many career transformations and revivals as Cher. He's won an Oscar ("Leaving Las Vegas"), starred in high-profile studio pictures like "Adaptation." and "Bringing Out the Dead," been an inspired leading man in offbeat hits like "Raising Arizona," "Joe," and "Pig," an unlikely but believable action star in "Con Air" and "The Rock," a full-tilt-gonzo presence in cinematic freakouts like "Mandy" and "Color Out of Space," and a direct-to-video hero in far too many forgettable films to list. Between these efforts, he's also given memorable voice-over roles in animated features ("The Croods" and "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"), hosted a television series ("The History of Swear Words"), and earned headlines for financial troubles and offbeat behavior. After three tumultuous decades in front of the camera, Cage appears to have put his B-pictures and action titles to rest and settled into the indie fare he wanted to make back in 1987. His most notable recent role: himself in "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent."

Among the colorful secondary characters in "Moonstruck" is a crew of waitstaff at the Neapolitan restaurant where Danny Aiello's Johnny proposes to Loretta. These include Robert Weil's elderly Bobo, Nicolas Pasco as his nephew, Eddie, and character Joe Grifasi, who's billed as the Shy Waiter. The character is compensated for his lack of a formal name via a heartfelt exchange with Perry, in which he reveals that his reticence cost him a chance at happiness with a woman he wanted to marry.

A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Grifasi began working in television in the early 1970s and gave one of his first screen appearances in 1978's "The Deer Hunter." His world-weary presence has been featured in numerous major features over the past three decades, including David Lynch's "The Elephant Man," the Coen Brothers' "The Hudsucker Proxy," and Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers."

TV work includes multiple episodes of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" as Judge Hashi Horowitz, as well as two turns as New York Yankees Hall of Famers: He played shortstop and commentator Phil Rizzuto ("Holy cow!") in "61* " and catcher/manager Yogi Berra in the miniseries "The Bronx is Burning." Other small screen efforts include "Homicide: Life on the Street," "L.A. Law," "Bull," and "Lodge 49" as pawnbroker Burt.

A prolific character actress who has specialized in no-nonsense women of authority for more than three-decades, Amy Aquino made her feature film debut as Bonnie the hair stylist in "Moonstruck." (Aquino technically appeared in the grindhouse chiller "Slumber Party Massacre" five years earlier, but her role was uncredited and that's hardly "feature.") She quickly amassed multiple credits on the big and small screen in the 1990s, including recurring appearances on "Picket Fences" (which netted her a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination), "Freaks and Geeks" (as Samm Levine's mom), "Felicity" (as psychologist Dr. Pavone) and "Everybody Loves Raymond" (as the "Cookie Lady" who bullies Ray).

Aquino's busy schedule continued into the 2000s with recurring roles on "ER" (as obstetrics chief Janet Coburn), "Monk," and "The Good Fight." She enjoyed a high-profile turn as Dr. Christina Raynor, the incisive Army vet and therapist assigned to work with Bucky Barnes in "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" while also handling her series regular role on "Bosch" as Harry Bosch's superior officer, Lt. Grace Billets.

While working up the courage to propose to Loretta at their dinner date, Johnny overhears an argument between college professor Perry (played by John Mahoney) and a student, Patricia (Lisa Howard), with whom he has become romantically entangled. Perry's disdainful treatment of Patricia causes her to storm out of the restaurant, which Johnny finds amusing. Loretta, however, makes note of their mismatched natures –- something that she herself will have to overcome with Ronny.

One of several Canadian actors cast in the film, which shot much of its interiors in Toronto, Lisa Howard worked in Canadian TV and minor features prior to "Moonstruck." American television soon came calling with recurring roles on "Days of Our Lives" and "Wings," as well as a brief run as a love interest of Duncan McLeod on "Highlander: The Series."

Howard worked steadily on TV in the late '90s, amassing credits on "Cybill" and "Suddenly Susan" and co-starring in the first two seasons of the Gene Roddenberry-inspired "Earth: Final Conflict." Her final credit to date appears to be a 2012 episode of the short-lived medical procedural "Body of Proof" with Dana Delaney.

Blink and you might miss Frank Gio as a florist in "Moonstruck." It's an uncharacteristically relaxed role for the Bronx native, who was a boxer before moving into features and television in the 1970s. Though occasionally uncredited for his work, Gio lent invaluable street credibility and grit to roles in crime films and thrillers like "Serpico," William Friedkin's underrated "Sorcerer," Abel Ferrara's "King of New York," and Sergio Leone's epic "Once Upon a Time in America."

Gio also worked in action films like William Lustig's "Vigilante," with Robert Forster, and "Assassination Tango," with Robert Duvall, as well as comedies like "My Blue Heaven," Jonathan Demme's "Married to the Mob," and Harold Ramis's "Analyze That," which reunited him with "America" co-star Robert DeNiro. Gio's small screen roles included numerous TV movies and episodes of crime-driven series like "The Equalizer."