Credit: Paramount PicturesThere was nothing more exciting in school for children of a certain age than when the teacher walked in with a television on a cart. It meant that you would spend that time watching a movie and perhaps not paying that much attention at all.
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There was one guarantee for a movie: when you were reading William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. You were guaranteed to be watching the Franco Zeffirelli version of the film.
The star of the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet was Argentinian-born Olivia Hussey, who was 15 when she made the iconic film. For many, she was Juliet when we imagined that character.
Late last night, Hussey’s family announced that she passed away peacefully at her home. Hussey was 73. The announcement from her family on Instagram read:
Olivia was a remarkable person whose warmth, wisdom, and pure kindness touched the lives of all who knew her. Olivia lived a life full of passion, love, and dedication to the arts, spirituality, and kindness towards animals.
Olivia leaves behind a loving family— her children, Alex, Max, and India, her husband of 35 years David Glen Eisley, and grandson, Greyson, and a legacy of love that will forever be cherished in our hearts. As we grieve this immense loss, we also celebrate Olivia’s enduring impact on our lives and the industry.
In 2022, Hussey and Leonard Whitling, who played Romeo, sued Paramount Pictures, claiming they were coerced into filming the nude scenes in Romeo and Juliet despite both of them being underage at the time. The lawsuit was later dismissed.
After her role as Juliet, Hussey starred in Bob Clark’s Black Christmas (1974), and she reunited with Zeffirelli to play Mary in Jesus of Nazareth, a 1977 TV miniseries.
In the earlier 1990s, Hussey turned more to horror films, starring in a television adaptation of Stephen King’s It and playing Norma Bates, Norman’s mother, in Psycho IV: The Beginning, a prequel to the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock classic.
i first saw Jesus of Nazareth as a child and Olivia Hussey’s performance as Mary has stayed with me all this time. May she rest in eternal peace with our Lord pic.twitter.com/n3F3WQUOxS
— 𝒥𝓊𝓁𝒾𝒶 𝒜𝑔𝒶𝓉𝒽𝒶 (@hereinthecanvas) December 28, 2024
Later in life, Hussey periodically appeared in films and on television but found herself doing more voice acting. In 1998, she played Kasan Moore in the video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. This was the start of half a dozen Star Wars video games that she would voice.
Hussey also voiced Talia al Ghul in some DC Comics animated television shows. Her last on-screen role was in 2015’s Social Suicide, loosely based on Romeo and Juliet. She played Julia’s mother.
Hussey is survived by her three children and husband of 35 years, David Eisley.