Olivia Hussey, the actress famous for her role as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (1968), passed away at 73. Known for her Golden Globe-winning performance, she also starred in Black Christmas and Death on the Nile. Hussey was remembered for her warmth, wisdom, and kindness.
Olivia Hussey, the actress renowned for her portrayal of Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, has passed away at 73. Hussey, who was just 15 when she starred alongside Leonard Whiting in the Oscar-winning adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy, died on Friday. Born in Buenos Aires to an Argentine opera singer and a British legal secretary, Hussey moved to London as a child and studied at the Italia Conti drama school. Her breakout role earned her a Golden Globe for “New Star of the Year.”
In 2023, Hussey and Whiting filed a lawsuit alleging child abuse related to a controversial nude scene in the film, but the case was dismissed later that year. Hussey, in a 2018 interview, defended the scene as tastefully shot by Zeffirelli, saying both she and Whiting were aware of what they were doing and took their roles seriously. Hussey’s later work included the 1974 slasher Black Christmas and Death on the Nile (1978). She is survived by her husband, David Eisley, their three children, and a grandchild. Her family described her as a person whose "warmth, wisdom, and pure kindness" touched the lives of all who knew her.
