Olivia Hussey, best known for her iconic portrayal of Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, has died at the age of 70.
Olivia Hussey has died. An actor with a 60-year-career to her name, Hussey (later known as Olivia Hussey Eisley) broke out into international attention with her very first major film, starring in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.
(And becoming the leading cause of god knows how many middle and high school English teachers having to keep a piece of cardboard around to block parts of the screen while showing the film to students, owing to the movie’s controversial nude scene.) Six years later, Hussey helped create the template for the modern slasher heroine with her lead role in Bob Clark’s Black Christmas. Born in Argentina in the 1950s, Hussey came to acting at a young age, working in the London theater from the time she was 13. She caught the eye of Zeffirelli while starring opposite Vanessa Redgrave in a production of Romeo and Juliet, and ultimately beat out 500 other young women for the part of Shakespeare’s famed doomed heroine Juliet in the director’s lavish version of the classic tale. Working opposite Leonard Whiting—with whom she’d maintain a 50-year friendship—Hussey got attention for capturing Juliet’s fresh-faced innocence and passion, even if both young leads occasionally fought to master Shakespeare’s complicated dialogues. The film was a critical darling (and moderate box office hit), with Hussey taking home the Most Promising Female Newcomer award at the year’s Golden Globes. Later in life, Hussey often spoke warmly (if also sounding a bit overwhelmed) about her experiences with the film—although she and Whiting did try, unsuccessfully, to sue Paramount Pictures over the aforementioned nude scene, filmed when they were both just 16. (Judges shot the case down both times.) Hussey embarked on a full-fledged Hollywood career, albeit one that often had more success in the realm of B-movies than more A-list material
Olivia Hussey Romeo And Juliet Actress Death Hollywood
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