John Dukakis
John Dukakis (né Chaffetz; born June 9, 1958) is an American entertainer, music executive, and political aide.
John Dukakis
Actor, music executive
4
Kitty Dukakis
John Chaffetz (biological father)
Michael Dukakis (adoptive father)
Jason Chaffetz (half-brother)
Early life[edit]
Dukakis was born John Chaffetz Jr. in San Jose, California on June 9, 1958,[2] but reared in the Boston area. He is the son of Kitty Dukakis and John Chaffetz, a businessman,[3] and the adoptive son of former Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis whom his mother married when he was five.[4] His half-brother, through his biological father, is Jason Chaffetz who was a U.S. Representative from Utah from 2009 to 2017.[5] He changed his name from Chaffetz to Dukakis at age 18.[6]
Acting career[edit]
While attending Brown University in the 1970s, Dukakis was cast in Universal's Jaws 2. He relocated to Hollywood and continued to work as an actor for the next 6 years. He had substantial roles in the films Making Love, Delusion and Split Image and on television in Family Ties, Little House on the Prairie, Taxi, the Jim Jones docudrama, Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones and Three Sovereigns for Sarah. He finished his career in New York working on the Broadway and Off-Broadway stage.
Political career[edit]
After retiring from acting, he secured a job in Washington, D.C., as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator John Kerry in Kerry's first two years in office. In 1987, when Michael Dukakis announced his intention to run for President of the United States, John left Washington and moved to Atlanta to run the Southern campaign prior to the Super Tuesday primaries. Later, as the Democratic National Political Director, he campaigned nationally on behalf of the unsuccessful Dukakis–Bentsen ticket.