During her Los Angeles Greek Film Festival masterclass in 2020, Nia Vardalos opened up to the participants about her father's death: "We lost my dad in March, and of all the amazing outpouring of love and just people being so supportive ... I got the most beautiful note from Michael Constantine." Constantine played Toula's father, Gus, in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Vardalos continued, "I have so many pictures of Michael Constantine and my dad, Constantine, on set together. My dad plays the psaltis in the two 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' movies, and Michael Constantine wrote me a note that said, 'Love, your other dad.'"
According to Variety, Gus Vardalos' "funeral was livestreamed from the same church of which he was once president" a week following his death. Sadly, daughter Nia Vardalos was unable to go home to Winnepeg, Canada due to the coronavirus pandemic, so she told her father goodbye via FaceTime. Thanking her late father "for an incredible life," she said that he was "a gentleman" and "a great dad" as they communed virtually.
Around this time, the star organized charitable donations in her father's name. Pals Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks also donated money to the church Gus belonged to, which sponsored an elderly outreach program. Nia Vardalos said of her fundraising projects, "People in our industry, we're fortunate, we're privileged, we're pampered and some of us want to use our voices to do something ... We have to do some good or we're going to go nuts."
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7XCpKCsr5mbwW%2BvzqZmbWloZoN4e9ahsGaxn6p6pbvNrWSsnZViurp5waKeZp6RqXqovsSeomavlZmxqrrGrGSnoZFiw6K%2Bw5qjqKtdosKktIyapbKln6eycA%3D%3D