Olivia Hussey EisleyBritish-Argentine actress known for her iconic role as Juliet in the 1968 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet directed by Franco Zeffirellidied on Friday, at the age of 73. His death was revealed through a statement on his official Instagram account and confirmed by his friend, the filmmaker Marc Huestis, to the newspaper San Francisco Chronicle.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Olivia Hussey Eisleywho left peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones on December 27,” the statement said. “Olivia was an extraordinary person whose warmth, wisdom and pure kindness touched the lives of all who knew her.”
According to Huestis, Hussey had fought against breast cancer since 2008, with a relapse in 2018. Likewise, the family highlighted that Olivia lived a life full of “passion, love and dedication to the arts, spirituality and kindness towards animals.”
Born Olivia Osuna on April 17, 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Hussey moved to London in her childhood. His career began in the theater, where he made his West End debut in the production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodiesharing the stage with Vanessa Redgrave. It was at that time when Zeffirelli discovered her and chose her to star in Romeo and Juliet. He was barely 15 years old.
The film, a faithful and visually stunning adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic, marked a milestone in Hussey’s career and in the cinema of the time. She and her co-star Leonard Whiting They were 15 and 16 years old respectively. They were teenagers, like their characters in the original novel.
For her performance as the beautiful Capulet, Hussey won the Golden Globe Award for “New Star of the Year” in 1969. The film was a commercial success and received four Oscar nominations, including best picture and best direction.
After that favorable start in the seventh art, Olivia participated in several notable projects.
Among them is the horror movie The macabre residence (Black Christmas, 1974), considered one of the precursors of the genre slasher. In 1977, she reunited with Zeffirelli to play Maria in the miniseries Jesus of Nazarethand in 1978 he appeared in the adaptation of Death on the Nilealong with Peter Ustinov. In the 90s, he stood out in horror films such as Psycho IV: The Beginning and the miniseries Itbased on the novel by Stephen King.
In the 2000s, he starred in the biographical film Mother Teresa and participated in other genres, including thriller The Scream and comedy Tortilla Heaven. Additionally, Hussey also explored video game dubbing, with roles in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron y Star Wars: The Old Republic.
In the last years of her life, Hussey was involved in a legal battle related to Romeo and Juliet. In 2022, along with her co-star Leonard Whiting, she sued Paramount Studios alleging sexual exploitation and distribution of nude images without her consent.
According to the lawsuit, Zeffirelli had allegedly pressured them to film the nude scenes, stating that they were essential to the film’s success “or the film would fail.”
At that time, Hussey declared to Variety: “It wasn’t something I agreed to do. “I did it because I felt like I couldn’t say no.”
The case was dismissed in 2023, in part due to issues related to the statute of limitations. Likewise, the judge in charge held that the scenes in question did not meet the legal criteria to be considered child abuse.
At the beginning of 2024, the duo of actors filed a second lawsuit; but this was also rejected in October.
After the artist’s death, Whiting dedicated words of affection and nostalgia to her: “Olivia, we have shared so much since we were two sweet and innocent children who hugged each other as if our lives depended on them, as every photo of us attests. . You have never been afraid to fight to fix everything that is wrong in this world”.
“Rest now, my beautiful Juliet, no injustice can harm you now. And the world will remember your beauty inside and out forever,” concluded the actor from the classic film.
