Veteran actress Olivia Hussey, who performed Juliet within the 1968 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet and Jess Bradford within the slasher traditional Black Christmas, has died. She was 73.
“It’s with profound disappointment that we announce the passing of Olivia Hussey Eisley, who went peacefully at house surrounded by her family members on December twenty seventh,” learn an announcement posted on Hussey’s Instagram web page.
“Olivia was a exceptional particular person whose heat, knowledge, and pure kindness touched the lives of all who knew her,” the assertion continued. “Olivia lived a life stuffed with ardour, love, and dedication to the humanities, spirituality and kindness in the direction of animals.”
Filmmaker Marc Huestis later confirmed the passing to the San Francisco Chronicle, revealing Hussey died of most cancers. The actress had been recognized with breast most cancers in 2008 and underwent a double mastectomy. She’d been in remission for nearly a decade when the breast most cancers returned in 2017.
The British-Argentine actress was born on April 17 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and moved to London together with her mom and youthful brother when she was seven years outdated. She was accepted into the Italia Conti Academy drama college and commenced performing on stage at 13. Her first on-screen position got here within the tv sequence Drama in 1964.
Her breakthrough got here when movie director Franco Zeffirelli seen her efficiency in a West Finish manufacturing of The Prime of Miss Jean and forged her as Juliet in his 1968 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Her efficiency earned a Golden Globe for New Star of the 12 months (Actress) in 1969.
Hussey was solely 16 when she filmed Romeo and Juliet, which included a nude scene. In 2018, she instructed Selection that Zeffirelli shot the scene tastefully and “it was wanted for the movie.” Nonetheless, she and her co-star Leonard Whiting (additionally 16 on the time) sued Paramount in 2022 for sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, and fraud, concerning the scene.
“It wasn’t one thing I ever agreed to do. I simply did it as a result of I felt like I couldn’t say no,” she mentioned on the time of the lawsuit. The case was initially dismissed in 2023 earlier than Hussey and Whiting sued once more earlier this yr. A choose dismissed the go well with once more in October after ruling the pair had consented to the scenes.
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After her award-winning flip in Romeo and Juliet, Hussey starred within the movies All of the Proper Noises and The Summertime Killer earlier than touchdown the lead position of Jess Bradford within the horror movie Black Christmas in 1974. Black Christmas would develop to be a cult traditional and is thought to be one of many first slasher movies.
Hussey continued her work in horror, showing within the 1978 movie The Cat and the Canary. In 1990, she portrayed Norma Bates within the Psycho prequel Psycho IV: The Starting and likewise starred in It, a TV miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s traditional novel.
Her different TV credit included Homicide, She Wrote, Lonesome Dove: The Sequence, and Boy Meets World. She additionally supplied voices for Pinky and the Mind, Superman: The Animated Sequence, and Batman Past. In 2003, she performed the lead in Mom Teresa of Calcutta.
Hussey’s remaining on-screen position got here within the 2015 movie Social Suicide, the place she reunited together with her Romeo and Juliet co-star Whiting. The film additionally options Hussey’s daughter, actress Indie Eisley, enjoying the fictional daughter of Hussey and Whiting’s characters.
She launched her memoir, The Lady on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life After Romeo and Juliet, on July 31, 2018.
Hussey is survived by her husband, David Glen Eisley; her kids, Alex, Max, and India; and her grandson, Greyson.