Olivia Hussey, the actress who gained international fame as a teenager for her performance in the celebrated 1968 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, passed away at 73.
The actress, originally from Argentina and raised in London, passed away on Friday in the company of her family and friends, according to a statement shared on her Instagram account.
Hussey received the Golden Globe for Best New Actress for portraying Juliet. However, years later, she took legal action against Paramount Pictures, alleging sexual abuse, as she was only 15 years old during the filming of the movie’s nude scene.
One of her most significant performances was in the 1977 television miniseries Jesus of Nazareth, in which she portrayed Mary, Jesus’s mother.
The statement expressed, “While we mourn this profound loss, we also honour Olivia’s lasting influence on our lives and the industry.”
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1951, Hussey relocated to London at seven, where he pursued his education at the Italia Conti Academy drama school.
At the age of 15, she caught the attention of director Franco Zeffirelli while performing onstage alongside Vanessa Redgrave in the production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
Zeffirelli sought an actress youthful enough to authentically portray Juliet in what he envisioned as the ultimate film adaptation of the Shakespearean classic.
He selected Hussey to star opposite British teenager Leonard Whiting, who took on the role of Romeo in the film.
The film received an Oscar nomination for best picture and best director. During a competitive year, Hussey was overlooked for an Oscar nomination, with Barbra Streisand taking home the top honor for her performance in Funny Girl.
At that year’s Golden Globes, Hussey won the award for best new star.
Years after the fact, she and Whiting took legal action against Paramount Pictures, claiming that Zeffirelli, who passed away in 2019, had urged them to perform nude scenes despite earlier guarantees that such scenes would not be required.
The duo pursued damages exceeding $500 million (£417 million), citing the distress they claimed to have endured alongside the financial gains generated by the film since its debut.
However, a judge dismissed the case last year, determining that the scene did not meet the threshold of being “sufficiently sexually suggestive”.
In 1977, Hussey collaborated again with Zeffirelli to produce Jesus of Nazareth, taking on the role of the Virgin Mary. The following year, she featured in Death on the Nile, a film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s renowned novel.
Her performances in the early slasher film Black Christmas (1974) and the television movie Psycho IV: The Beginning garnered her acclaim as a prominent figure in the horror genre. In this role, she portrayed the mother of Norman Bates within a prequel narrative.
In subsequent years, she expanded her career by acting as a voice actress, frequently appearing in video games.
In a poignant twist of fate, she shared one last reunion with her former co-star, Whiting, in the 2015 British film Social Suicide. This film, which draws inspiration from the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet, is set against the backdrop of the social media age.
