Romeo and Juliet Actress Olivia Hussey Dies at Age 73

Olivia Hussey, the actress who rose to international notoriety as a teenager for her portrayal in the famous 1968 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, has died at 73.

The Argentine-born actress, who grew up in London, died on Friday in the arms of her loved ones, according to an Instagram message.

Hussey won the Golden Globe for Best New Actress for her role as Juliet, but she later sued Paramount Pictures for sexual abuse because she was just 15 years old when she recorded the film’s nude scene.

Her other most noteworthy movie role was as Mary, Jesus’ mother, in the 1977 television miniseries Jesus of Nazareth.

According to the BBC, the family said, “As we grieve this immense loss, we also celebrate Olivia’s enduring impact on our lives and the industry.”

Olivia Hussey was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1951 and moved to London at seven to study at the Italia Conti Academy, a theatrical school.

She was 15 years old when Franco Zeffirelli, the director of Romeo and Juliet, saw her onstage opposite Vanessa Redgrave in the play The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Zeffirelli sought a young actress who could convincingly play Juliet in what he hoped would be the definitive film adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy.

Olivia Hussey and British 16-year-old Leonard Whiting played Romeo in the film.

The film received Academy Award nominations for best picture and director. Hussey did not receive an Oscar nomination despite a successful year in which Barbra Streisand won the top prize for Funny Girl.

However, that year, Olivia Hussey won the Golden Globe for Best New Talent.

Decades later, she and Whiting sued Paramount Pictures, claiming Zeffirelli, who died in 2019, had persuaded them to record naked scenes despite previous assurances that they would not have to.

The couple demanded damages above $500 million (£417 million), citing the agony they said they had endured and the revenue generated by the film since its premiere. However, last year, a court dismissed the complaint because the scene was not “sufficiently sexually suggestive”.

Olivia Hussey rejoined with Zeffirelli in 1977 for Jesus of Nazareth, playing the Virgin Mary, before returning the following year for Death on the Nile, based on Agatha Christie’s novel.

Her performances in the early slasher Black Christmas (1974) and the television film Psycho IV: The Beginning cemented her reputation as a scream queen. In the latter, she portrayed Norman Bates’ mother in a precursor plot.

She began working as a voice actress in subsequent years, appearing regularly in video games.

However, she did have one final reunion with her old Romeo, as she and Whiting featured together in the 2015 British film Social Suicide, which was loosely based on Romeo and Juliet and set in the social media era.

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