BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that Olivia Hussey, best known for her role in the 1968 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, has passed away at age 73 from breast cancer.
Prior to her leading role in Franco Zeffirelli’s adaptation of the Shakespeare tragedy, Hussey appeared on the West End in a production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, starring opposite Vanessa Redgrave.
Zeffirelli decided to cast largely unknown actors as the two lovers and chose Hussey after seeing her onstage in the play. The casting and her portrayal of Juliet brought Hussey into the public eye, gaining her critical acclaim for her performance and a Golden Globe Award. Following her success with the film, she appeared in 1974’s Black Christmas, a slasher holiday flick that has since become a cult classic.
In 1977, she reunited with Zeffirelli and played Jesus’ mother Mary in the prominent television serial Jesus of Nazareth. She also appeared in the Agatha Christie adaptation, Death on the Nile alongside Peter Ustinov, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, and Angela Lansbury, among others.
She played the famed role of Norma Bates, the mother of Norman Bates in the 1990 prequel Psycho IV: The Beginning. Over the years, she lent her voice to several animated series, including Pinky and the Brain, Superman, and Batman Beyond. She also appeared in a 1984 episode of Murder, She Wrote Other film credits include The Summertime Killer, Virus, Undeclared War, Save Me, Ice Cream Man, Headspace, Seven Days of Grace, Tortilla Heaven, and Social Suicide, which was her final onscreen role.
In 2023, she and Romeo and Juliet co-star Leonard Whiting filed a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures for child abuse regarding a nude scene in the 1968 film. The lawsuit alleged that Zeffirelli pressured them into performing the scene nude with body makeup or “the picture would fail.” Hussey was only 15 at the time of filming and Whiting was 16.
The complaint stated that both actors have suffered mental and emotional distress due to the scene and have also lost out on job opportunities. The lawsuit was later thrown out after it was found that the film is protected by the First Amendment.
